George A. Brown, Sr.

George Augustine Brown, Sr. was born on July 24, 1893. He was the fifth of six children born to Mary Margaret Moquette and George Alexander Brown of Baltimore. He attended Baltimore City elementary and high schools. The family were prominent members of the old St. Francis Xavier Church which the Moquettes had helped to establish. George held the distinction of being appointed the First Grand Knight of the Knights of Peter Claver founded in Baltimore, Maryland at St. Francis Xavier's. He served on the altar there until his marriage to Sarah Jane Smith on June 29, 1925. Ten children were born of this happy 70 year union. George was very proud of the fact that his grandfather,  Nelson Moquette, was Baltimore's first Black physician.

For several years George was employed as a chauffeur and enjoyed driving up and down the east coast.. A few years after his marriage, he entered the U.S. Postal Service and remained there until his retirement in 1958.

Over his nearly 101 years on earth, George was proud to have witnessed some of the most dramatic and significant events in history: The Great Baltimore Fire of 1904, World War I, "the war to end all wars"; World War II, and four other American wars; the rise and fall of communism; the first airplane flight over Baltimore; the first man on the moon and more.

George Brown, Sr. received many honors and awards recognizing the value of his good, wholesome life. He was honored on "Channel 13 Salutes' and commended several times in the Congressional Record by both Senator Paul Sarbanes and Representative Kweisi Fume. He also received public acclamations honoring his birthdays from Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke. Above all however, George took pride in his achievements as a family man. He and his wife raised their children to be honest, God fearing family men and women like themselves. George Brown will be best remembered as a simple, unselfish man of integrity who loved people.

He was survived by nine of his ten children, Clarice Richardson, Dorothy Press, Juliette Carpenter, Harold Brown, Hilah Glaze, Augustine Gloster, T. Elroy Brown, Earl Brown, Bette Roche; one son, George A. Brown, Jr. had recently passed; thirty-one grandchildren, forty-nine great grandchildren; ten great-great grandchildren; one sister-in-law; one daughter-in-law; four sons-in-law; nieces, nephews and a host of other family members and friends.

As seen in this advertisement found in the Baltimore Afro-American newspaper on September 26, 1919, George A. Brown was an active member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver, Baltimore Council Number 13.

While on vacation in 2011, I met a historian, Mr. Jari C. Honora, who was writing the history of the Knights of St. Peter Claver. He told me that his research showed that George A. Brown was a member of the first council in Baltimore, Maryland, Council No. 13, that was established on September 12, 1915. The first Grand Knight was T. Wallace Lansey, founder of the Ideal Savings Bank. From what Mr. Honora could tell, the council originally met on the first Monday of the moth in the auditorium at St. Francis Xavier.

The Grand Knight after Mr. Lansey was George A. Brown, who was succeeded by Major Charles E. Gladden. Some other members were Charles Marcellus Dorsey, George McKim, I. Walter Adams, R.H. Butler, Gabriel B. Maddox, Charles Woodland, and William Campbell.