Cameron Lavon Brown
Cameron - 1952
I, Cameron Lavon Brown, was born to Floyd Alonzo Brown and Elmina Mortensen July 6, 1933. I had a delightful childhood with my parents and siblings. Following are a few things I remember that happened.
At the age of five or six my Dad put me on the cultivator with a team of horses pulling it. He told me to take it up to Grandpa and Grandma Brown’s house. I was scared, but my Dad had faith in me and the horses. I drove the horses there safely.
Sometime boys do things they wish they hadn’t done. This is one of those things: Us boys were riding in the back of the pickup with a basket full of freshly picked cucumbers mother had for canning pickles. We thought it would be fun to see how many signs we could hit with the cucumbers, needless to say time we arrived home there were no cucumbers left.
A lesson of honesty learned from a wonderful Dad: I was in the onion field with my Dad and the onions were ready to harvest. A man stopped and walked down to the onion field, wanting to buy some onions from my Dad. My Dad told him he had already promised the onions to another man. The man then said, but I will pay you 15 cents a bag more, besides how will anyone ever know if you sell some to me. My Dad put his hand on my shoulder and said, “We will know, won’t we Cam?” A lesson I never forgot.
Stupid things kids do: One day Steve and I were playing in the wash. We were jumping over this bush. There happened to be a rattlesnake in the bush and every time one of us jumped over it the snake would jump up and strike. How we kept from being bitten is a real wonder – a blessing from our Heavenly Father.
After losing both parents and living with my Uncle Marion for three years, I was off to college at Eastern Arizona Jr. College in Thatcher, Arizona. There I met and married Donna Gay John. Married life was good. Our first son Kendall Lavon was born Nov 5, 1953. He was a joy, but at 9 weeks of age we lost him to pneumonia – a real sad day in our lives. We lived in Safford, Arizona at the time. Other places we lived were: Glendale, Arizona (Aug. 1958-1961), Roswell, New Mexico (May 1961-Sept. 1961), Las Vegas, Nevada (Oct. 1961-May 1963), Roseburg, Oregon (May 1963-March 1964), Corvallis, Oregon (March 1964-Aug. 1971), and New Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada (Aug. 1971 to present). The most important things that happened during those years were the eight remaining children that were born to us: Cameron, Roxsanna, Shannon, Roland, Randall, Pamela, Floyd, and Mitchell.
While living in Corvallis, Oregon, I attended Oregon State University, while slowly building up a cow herd. We started with one Jersey cow named Jonie. I bought baby calves and – with the boys’ help – we fed them by hand. It was a lot of work, but we persevered and by the time I graduated from O.S.U. we had 125 head of cattle. We bought a haybine and a hay bailer and did custom hay work.
When I had the chance in 1970 to buy 132 acres of land in Canada for back taxes ($32), I did it. The next year in August, I moved our family to Canada. That was an experience. Once in Canada we bought another 200 acres so we have 332 acres of treed property.
The angels were watching over us as we moved to Canada. Coming through Seattle on the freeway, the man that was driving our diesel truck (with the Oliver Tractor on it and pulling a 30-foot trailer with a haybine and hay bailer on it) stopped to check it out. I was following him in a red Ford 3-ton truck, and I stopped with him. He said, “Cam, you better come and have a look.” I went with him and the hitch on the trailer had come off. It was being held by a small chain. Because it was loaded evenly, it was riding along. I think more because the angels were watching over us. There would have been one big mess if it had come off going down the freeway. The red Ford 3-ton truck was another miracle; one time when I stopped to check things out, there was only 1 lug bolt left on the rear back wheel.
Moving to Canada was a new way of life. Forty-below winters, ice growing on the walls, wood heaters and no Mormons, plus people who didn’t like Americans! Holding church in our home especially on Fast Sunday when dinner was on the stove cooking (boy did it smell good) being asked to leave the Indian reserve because we were Mormons, having the elders in our home almost daily, and BEARS!
We cleared some of our land and raised cows. Keeping cows in was a real fun job until we got all our fences up. We also did custom hay work.
We still live in New Hazelton. I built us a home with the help of our family and a neighbor. Besides our eight children, we now have 39 grandchildren and (at present) 24 great grandchildren with more on the way. It’s been a good life and we have been a very blessed family. How proud and thankful we are for all our children and the things they have accomplished, and what a big help they have been over the years.
At the age of five or six my Dad put me on the cultivator with a team of horses pulling it. He told me to take it up to Grandpa and Grandma Brown’s house. I was scared, but my Dad had faith in me and the horses. I drove the horses there safely.
Sometime boys do things they wish they hadn’t done. This is one of those things: Us boys were riding in the back of the pickup with a basket full of freshly picked cucumbers mother had for canning pickles. We thought it would be fun to see how many signs we could hit with the cucumbers, needless to say time we arrived home there were no cucumbers left.
A lesson of honesty learned from a wonderful Dad: I was in the onion field with my Dad and the onions were ready to harvest. A man stopped and walked down to the onion field, wanting to buy some onions from my Dad. My Dad told him he had already promised the onions to another man. The man then said, but I will pay you 15 cents a bag more, besides how will anyone ever know if you sell some to me. My Dad put his hand on my shoulder and said, “We will know, won’t we Cam?” A lesson I never forgot.
Stupid things kids do: One day Steve and I were playing in the wash. We were jumping over this bush. There happened to be a rattlesnake in the bush and every time one of us jumped over it the snake would jump up and strike. How we kept from being bitten is a real wonder – a blessing from our Heavenly Father.
After losing both parents and living with my Uncle Marion for three years, I was off to college at Eastern Arizona Jr. College in Thatcher, Arizona. There I met and married Donna Gay John. Married life was good. Our first son Kendall Lavon was born Nov 5, 1953. He was a joy, but at 9 weeks of age we lost him to pneumonia – a real sad day in our lives. We lived in Safford, Arizona at the time. Other places we lived were: Glendale, Arizona (Aug. 1958-1961), Roswell, New Mexico (May 1961-Sept. 1961), Las Vegas, Nevada (Oct. 1961-May 1963), Roseburg, Oregon (May 1963-March 1964), Corvallis, Oregon (March 1964-Aug. 1971), and New Hazelton, British Columbia, Canada (Aug. 1971 to present). The most important things that happened during those years were the eight remaining children that were born to us: Cameron, Roxsanna, Shannon, Roland, Randall, Pamela, Floyd, and Mitchell.
While living in Corvallis, Oregon, I attended Oregon State University, while slowly building up a cow herd. We started with one Jersey cow named Jonie. I bought baby calves and – with the boys’ help – we fed them by hand. It was a lot of work, but we persevered and by the time I graduated from O.S.U. we had 125 head of cattle. We bought a haybine and a hay bailer and did custom hay work.
When I had the chance in 1970 to buy 132 acres of land in Canada for back taxes ($32), I did it. The next year in August, I moved our family to Canada. That was an experience. Once in Canada we bought another 200 acres so we have 332 acres of treed property.
The angels were watching over us as we moved to Canada. Coming through Seattle on the freeway, the man that was driving our diesel truck (with the Oliver Tractor on it and pulling a 30-foot trailer with a haybine and hay bailer on it) stopped to check it out. I was following him in a red Ford 3-ton truck, and I stopped with him. He said, “Cam, you better come and have a look.” I went with him and the hitch on the trailer had come off. It was being held by a small chain. Because it was loaded evenly, it was riding along. I think more because the angels were watching over us. There would have been one big mess if it had come off going down the freeway. The red Ford 3-ton truck was another miracle; one time when I stopped to check things out, there was only 1 lug bolt left on the rear back wheel.
Moving to Canada was a new way of life. Forty-below winters, ice growing on the walls, wood heaters and no Mormons, plus people who didn’t like Americans! Holding church in our home especially on Fast Sunday when dinner was on the stove cooking (boy did it smell good) being asked to leave the Indian reserve because we were Mormons, having the elders in our home almost daily, and BEARS!
We cleared some of our land and raised cows. Keeping cows in was a real fun job until we got all our fences up. We also did custom hay work.
We still live in New Hazelton. I built us a home with the help of our family and a neighbor. Besides our eight children, we now have 39 grandchildren and (at present) 24 great grandchildren with more on the way. It’s been a good life and we have been a very blessed family. How proud and thankful we are for all our children and the things they have accomplished, and what a big help they have been over the years.
Information for Cameron Brown
Parents: Floyd Alonzo Brown & Elmina Mortensen
Birth: 6 July 1933
Place: Virden New Mexico
Marriage: 9 October 1952
Place: Mesa, Arizona
Sealed: 9 October 1952
Place: Mesa, Arizona
Spouse: Donna Gay John
Birth: 13 October 1935
Place: Glenbar, Arizona
Parents: Joseph Edward John & Ruth Curtis
Children
Kendall Lavon Brown (5 Nov 1953 – Jan 1954)
Cameron Alonzo Brown (16 Dec 1954 – present)
Roxsanna Brown (4 Aug 1956 – present)
Shannon D Brown (29 Oct 1958 – present)
Roland Samuel Brown (2 Sept 1960 – present)
Randall Lee Brown (18 Dec 1961 – present)
Pamela Sue Brown (26 Mar 1964 – present)
Floyd Daniel Brown (14 Mar 1968 – present)
Mitchell Wayne Brown (23 Dec 1972 – present)
Birth: 6 July 1933
Place: Virden New Mexico
Marriage: 9 October 1952
Place: Mesa, Arizona
Sealed: 9 October 1952
Place: Mesa, Arizona
Spouse: Donna Gay John
Birth: 13 October 1935
Place: Glenbar, Arizona
Parents: Joseph Edward John & Ruth Curtis
Children
Kendall Lavon Brown (5 Nov 1953 – Jan 1954)
Cameron Alonzo Brown (16 Dec 1954 – present)
Roxsanna Brown (4 Aug 1956 – present)
Shannon D Brown (29 Oct 1958 – present)
Roland Samuel Brown (2 Sept 1960 – present)
Randall Lee Brown (18 Dec 1961 – present)
Pamela Sue Brown (26 Mar 1964 – present)
Floyd Daniel Brown (14 Mar 1968 – present)
Mitchell Wayne Brown (23 Dec 1972 – present)