| Notes |
- Jim, or "Col. William" as he was known in show business, was a colourful man, "one of the last of the old time medicine show men". He was a rebel who ran away to join the circus, or so his story goes. He worked as a telephone lineman, like his brother William, until at least 31 years of age. However, he was also likely a bootlegger in the employ of Canada's most famous mobster. In the last ten years of his life, he became a carnival performer and a "snake oil" salesman who was known to set up his stand on the street corners of Brantford to sell his elixirs. He was the black sheep of the family and was completely cut-off by his brother Tom. Tom's descendants never knew of his existence. His brother William's daughters remember that it was not permitted to speak of Jim in Tom's presence. Even Jim's nephew Stewart Brown never knew of his Uncle Jim's existence. As Stewart's grandson, I only found of his existence from the descendants of Jim and Tom's other brother, the real "William" Brown. Jim died in Brantford while setting up his pitch stand, however he was residing in Galt at the time. He is buried in Mountview Cemetery, Cambridge (Galt), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
It is speculated that the rift may have begun over Jim's dubious military service. Jim claims to have been a member of the Canadian Mounted Rifles and present at the coronation of King Edward VII. He claims to have fought in the Boer War, having served the entire campaign. All of this is possible. His gravestone records him as a Private in the 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles. However the 3rd Regiment, Canadian Mounted Rifles, was formed in Alberta, so it seems somewhat dubious that a Hamiltonian would be part of that regiment. They were deployed in April 1902 in the Boer War after fighting had already ceased. They were disbanded in July 1902 without having seen action. His brother Tom certainly served in the military, but never saw any action (see note: Thomas Brown) and one theory is that Tom was jealous. Another speculation is that Jim's military record is somewhat fictional (he was not a colonel) and that he combined the identities of his brothers William and Tom to create his sideshow persona. It is certain that Tom was present at the coronation of Edward VII. Was Jim present also, or did he "borrow" that story? If he did indeed "borrow" part or all of his military record from his brothers William and Tom, then this would certainly have offended his proper public figure of a brother, Tom, the Chief of Police. The real truth may never be known and may be a combination of both theories.
According to Michael Dean (grandson of Tom Brown), his mother shared a story that her father, Tom Brown, had a brother who was a bootlegger who was always getting into trouble with police, but Tom Brown arranged to have him driven out of town every time he was caught so that he would not be arrested and charged. The most likely candidate for this brother would be James Brown as it fits with his character and his later residence in Brantford which would be "just out of town" for Hamilton. It would also explain the rift between James and Tom. If it is true that James was a bootlegger then he would have had to have worked for either Rocco Perry or Antonio Papalia as they ran all bootlegging in the Hamilton area.
The attached newspaper clipping speaks volumes about the personality of "Col. William" and reading between the lines can reveal much of the division between Jim and the rest of his family. Jim never married, and never had children (that we know of!).
Brown, Jim - Obituary
"Snake Oil" Maker Dies
Brantford Free Press - March 24, 1950
Photo caption: "Col." William Brown, 72, one of the last old-time medicine show men whose snake oil has been bought by thousands of Canadians, died suddenly of a heart attack in Brantford as he was setting up a new pitch.
Medicine Show Man Dies Setting Pitch in Brantford
"Col." William Brown, 72, one of the last of the old-time medicine show men, died suddenly here today. As Col. Brown he was known to thousands of Canadians, and to more thousands he sold his snake oil. His real name was J.S. Brown [sic] and his address was 7 Wellington Street, Galt. He suffered a heart attack outside a Brantford factory and death was almost instantaneous.
Until the last, he was a showman. He was about to set up his pitch outside the Market Street plant of the Massey-Harris Company here when he was stricken. It was payday at the plant and he was going to sell a little of his snake oil, to which, in recent years, he had added the word "liniment". And, according to a druggist friend, it was a good liniment.
His death caused considerable excitement and the circumstances surrounding it were as unusual as some of the stories he told in his spiel when a crowd gathered. In his bag he had a big snake but no one knew if and when he was admitted at the hospital a nurse, Miss Alice Riddell, opened the bag seeking for some identification and the snake popped its head out. Nurse Riddell dropped the lid again, but quick. Almost the same thing happened in Col. Brown's neat and tidy two-roomed home in Galt. A police sergeant and constable went there to look for a hidden store of money he was, by popular opinion, supposed to have. They started the search aware there might be a snake around but they didn't spot it for a minute. They found it curled up on top of a box. Another big one, it apparently was allowed the freedom of the house while the Colonel was away.
Colonel Brown called his snakes rattlesnakes, but D.S. Sossin, perhaps his closest friend, said one was a blue racer and the other a yellow bull snake. It was the yellow bull snake the police found. They got it back in its box and it will go for biological study to the collegiate at Galt if the school wants it. Traffic Officer James Davison has the other snake at the police station here. It is likely that it will be destroyed.
"Man of Mystery"
Colonel Brown, who was a striking figure in his 10-gallon hat, white goatee and mustache, was often called "a man of mystery." He wore his hair long and flowing. For years he had his own medicine show that travelled all over the content. He travelled, too, with circuses and carnivals. The colonel, wherever he appeared, looked like a man who had just come from where the sweet magnolias blossom, every girl is a belle, a gentleman is "suh". But he never saw the south, except with a medicine show. His had been a more rugged career. He was a member of the Canadian Mounted Rifles at the coronation of King Edward VII, he liked to recall, and before that he had fought in the Boer War, serving in the entire campaign. He told interviewers that he was considered "the black sheep" of his family and he declined to give any of his family background. He was, he admitted, the oldest pitchman still on the road. His snake oil liniment was guaranteed by him to help or cure corns, colds, coughs, drawn cords, sprains, asthma, catarrh, hay fever and rheumatism among other things.
"Real Actor"
The colonel always put on a show before he started selling and anyone who ever stood on his pitch was satisfied they were listening to a fine talker and watching a real actor. He covered 30 of Ontario's major fairs every year in the last ten years and was a star attraction.
The dignity he assumed on the pitch to match the title he had acquired the same way he never let drop in his spiel. What he had to offer, he pointed out, with some flourish, was an educational lecture on American snakes. At the right time, he would relate how a dying Indian chief had revealed to him the power of snake oil as a cure-all.
At one time he had 50 to 100 snakes in one of his show pits - he used to relate. He also could remember one huge python he owned. "It was 38 feet long and weighed 400 pounds," he once told an interviewer. "It took eight men to carry it every time the show moved."
The colonel loved his snakes like pets. One he startled the staff of a Kingston hospital when he walked in to report he had been bitten by a rattlesnake. He wouldn't have gone in, he said, if the fangs had not stuck in his finger and he was afraid of an infection.
The colonel said he was a bachelor. His body was taken from here to Galt today. No one in either city seemed to know of any immediate relatives though it was reported that the colonel had a brother who was at one time chief of police in one of Canada's largest cities."
In 1891 he was residing in Hamilton with his parents and siblings.
In 1901 he was residing in Hamilton with his parents and siblings. He was employed as a telephone lineman.
In 1911 he was residing in Hamilton with his parents and sister, Minnie Kells. He was employed as a foreman for a hydro-electric company.
He has not been found in the 1921 or 1931 census. He may have been living in the USA during those years.
His gravestone records him as Pvt James C Brown, 3rd Canadian Mounted Rifles.
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1882 - 1950 (67 years)
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