Francis Gray Brown

Francis & Hoyt were adopted in Richmond VA by Alice Lucas Johnston & Howard Henry Gray.

Francis was baptized into the Hillboro Baptist church Sept 9,1918. This church bordered the Brown's property.

This is the home the Brown's owned while raising the boys. It was a fruit orchard farm. This is the way the home looked when built. Stucco over brick. It sits up on a hill. Later HWY 250 was built and ran right in front of their house, it was about that time the Brown's sold their house. Later, Alice Lucas Johnston & Howard Henry Brown moved to Florida, near Miami, and Mrs. Brown lived the remainder of her life there. One picture shows the original columns at the end of the driveway, before HWY 250 was built. Standing just to the right of these colomns is the Hillsboro Baptist church.

Francis' was in Agusta County, VA on the 1930 Census, only a few miles from the Brown's house in Albemarle, VA. He was still single on the 1930 Census. Virginia Oakley Shutt kept in touch with her (half) brother, and said he named a daughter after her. I would really like to meet/hear from Francis family so I can share pictures etc. And to hear Francis and his family's stories.-Julie Cabitto

Alginon Gray married Theresa India Dortch. He had two daughters, Fannie (my gr. grandma) & Maude. Theresa had epilepsy and died young from it. Then Alginon married Theresa's younger sister Martha Dortch and had Francis & Hoyt. Alginon died in a railroad bridge accident in Oct 1912. He was helping to build the bridge. Not too much later, the boys were adopted by Alice Lucas Johnston & Howard Henry Brown. The boys kept their biological name as their middle name. When the boys were about 21, the Browns brought the boys to meet their mother, Martha Dortch in Winston-Salem, NC. Virginia Oakley, Martha's oldest child with Artie Oakley, spent the summer with the Browns and kept in touch with Francis & Hoyt. Our family unfortunately, had orphan situations, lack of ability to read and write, not much money for letters, and lost touch with most of the family. In about 1950, Fannie asked her daughter Catherine Stowe (in my profile picture) to help her try to find her brothers, and other family from Mecklenburg County, VA.  Fannie was born in Mecklenburg & both her parents were raised in the Bracey area of Mecklenburg. Fannie never saw her brothers or Martha again. In about 1945, the boys lived near Washington DC, according to a family letter. So I continue grandma Fannie's search to find her brother's families. I have found Hoyt's family & wish to find Francis family, so I created this page in hopes someone will recognize what I have written. 

Note: Alginon Gray's father, John Gray, immigrated to this country from Ireland in 1838. So Francis, Hoyt, Fannie & Maude are second generation American.