H. G. BROWN (1852-1911)

E-Sylum Feature Writer and American Numismatic Biographies author Pete Smith submitted this article on Spokane businessman and numismatist H. G. Brown. Thanks! -Editor

In his book, The Rare Silver Dollars Dated 1804, Q. David Bowers mentions H. G. Brown.

"Brown lived in Portland, Oregon (having recently moved there from Spokane, Washington) and seems to have been piqued by the idea of owning a rare 1804 dollar. He owned one, kept it but briefly and then consigned it and most if not all of the rest of his coins to Lyman H. Low, of New York. Otherwise, Brown is little remembered in the annals of the numismatic hobby."

I took that as a challenge. This is a story that has not been told before in the numismatic media.

H. G. Brown was born in Kentucky in February of 1852, the son of Andrew J. and Susan Brown. He graduated from the State College of Iowa and trained as a druggist. Later he was known as "Doc" Brown.

By 1870 he had established a reputation as a billiard player. He went to New York to work in a gambling house. He went to Panama to work as a clerk. He was a gambler who made a fortune, lost his fortune and gave much of his fortune away.

He married Ella in Iowa in 1884. At the time he was 32 and she was 13. There is probably a story there that I don't know.

In about 1887, he opened the Old Arlington gambling house on the northwest corner of Main and Howard in Spokane. The building was destroyed by fire and he reopened business in a tent. This was rebuilt as the Frankfort. In 1890, the Frankfort was raided and Brown charged with operating a gambling house. He claimed that he was approved to conduct gambling in a private room on the second floor. Brown was fined $50.

The business was later called The Owl. His partners were James Dewey, Charles Pratt and Ed Duffy. Local ordinance shut down gambling in Washington in 1904. The Owl resort had been one of the largest gambling establishments in the west. Its closing was a great financial loss.

In 1902, there was a display ad for The Owl that ran 150 times. It offered the "Finest collection of coins." I don't know if this was an exhibit or sales inventory.

Brown was well known and well liked in Spokane. He was known to give free meals to gamblers who were down on their luck. He donated food for community dinners and gave Christmas gifts to inmates in prison. He would never turn down a request for a small loan.

Brown donated money to support youth baseball in Spokane. He invested heavily in the Spokane team in the northwestern league. In 1902 he was elected president of the Spokane Professional Baseball club.

Brown acquired the "Dexter" 1804 Dollar from the estate of James V, Dexter via Roland G. Parvin of Denver on January 1, 1904. The deal had been made on November 5, 1903.

On Saturday, January 16, 1904, The New Owl opened at Fifth and Alder Streets in Portland. The proprietor was Doc H. G. Brown. It was described in glowing terms.

"The fixtures of this handsome resort were furnished by the Mearle & Heaney Co, of Chicago through Rothchild Bros. of this city. The bar fixtures were especially designed for this place and it is expressing it very mildly when it is stated that they are unique and beautiful in design.

The billiard tables and Pullman settees in the Bohemian room adjoining the bar, are designed and furnished after the same unique style as the barroom. As a gentleman's resting resort, it is doubtless if it could be furnished or arranged with more comforts. Everything that goes to make up an up-to-date gentleman's resort is found here."

His coin collection was put on exhibit there. It included 6000 coins acquired over eight years. Coins were displayed in cases with plate glass covers with small brass screens around two sides of the main room.

This was described in a newspaper. "The Brown collection is thought to be the most valuable and most complete west of the Mississippi, and among the best private exhibits in the world." The newspaper description goes on for more than 200 lines.

The Brown coin collection was dispersed through four auctions conducted by Lyman W. Low. At the first sale on October 11, 1904, his 1804 dollar. lot 431, realized $1100. Lot 258 was a 1792 half disme that realized $9.00. With only the obverse plated, I am unable to match it to any other known example.

The second sale, dated November 16, 1904, featured foreign gold coins. The third sale of January 19, 1905, featured coins and medals including other consignments. The fourth sale dated April 18, 1905, had several additional consignments,

On June 15, 1904, Brown told Jeff B. Nye that he would pay $1000 commission if Nye could find a buyer for the Owl Saloon willing to pay $12,000. Nye claimed that he introduced Brown to a prospective buyer on August 30 who was offering to pay $12,600. Brown would not pay the commission and Nye sued to collect.

Brown's numismatic claim to fame was his brief ownership of the Dexter 1804 dollar. During ten months in 1904 he acquired the coin, opened his luxurious casino resort, exhibited his collection, sold his casino and sold the 1804 dollar. His life was pretty much downhill from there.

On September 28, 1905, the Owl Saloon property was acquired to be demolished by a land developer who proposed building a skyscraper on the spot. The quarter block location was purchased by J(ohn) B(aptiste) Yeon for a fifteen-story building designed by his son, architect John Yeon. When the building was completed in 1911, it was the tallest building in Oregon.

Brown took his business to Tonopah and Goldfield, Nevada, with some small success. By 1909 he was broke and back in Spokane. He took his wife to California in January of 1910.

On April 17, 1911, broke and in failing health, Brown scaled a small fence around City Hall Park in Oakland, California. At 12:15 in the morning, he ended his life with a shot to the head from a ,38 caliber revolver. He left two letters to his wife saying he did it so she could get the insurance money. With no money for a funeral, the local Elks club arranged to have him buried at Oakland. "We were married 25 years ago in Iowa," said Mrs. Brown. "I was a girl of but 13 years of age at the time, and we fell desperately in love with each other. Our married life has always been a happy one and he cared for me and made my life happy."

Tributes poured in with friends testifying to his honesty and generosity. His business partners invested in real estate and became rich. He gave it all away and died broke.

By the way, for QDB and anyone else who cares, his first name was Henry. I read about twenty articles published after his death and only one mentioned his first name.

The newspapers.com site has 1424 articles mentioning Henry G. Brown during 1852-1911. However, when these were checked against the state where he resided, only the one article was found.

For H. G. Brown, there were 19,707 articles for the period. These included 181 artciles in the Spokane Chronicle during 1877 to 1911. He was as well known in Spokane as he was little known in numismatics.

Great sleuthing, Pete! There are many intriguing nuggets seeded throughout numismatic literature just waiting for a researcher to pull the thread and see where the trail leads. Sometimes it's just another dead end. But often the search can reveal long-overlooked details that have been waiting patiently to be found. -Editor