William Joseph "Joe" Brown was born in Tazewell County, Virginia on 29 June 1868, a son of William Patton Brown and Lucinda (Whitt) Brown of that county. After coming to Randolph County he married Susan (Snyder) Summerfield at Barman, and was lynched at Whitmer in March of 1909. Being by birth a member of a Brown family and by adoption a descendant of the Summerfields, I once took considerable interest in this man and this incident, to see what if any connection Joe Brown might have had to my family.

While I found that I am not related to Joe Brown, I did uncover a different Joe Brown than the one portrayed in the papers at the time. An apparent alcoholic with a violent temper, Joe Brown was also a true friend, kind to children, and had many advocates on the Dry Fork among those he called friends.

Perhaps much of what was written about him at the time was an outgrowth of his labor agitations, and may have amounted to a "smear" campaign on the part of the big out of state timber operators to discredit an individual who was giving them trouble by demanding that they hire local folks rather than Europeans.

Below will be found a sort of "catalogue" of various items of interest that pertain to the Joe Brown incident. The shorter ones I have abstracted here. The ones listed below without particulars are ones that were longer and more detailed, and interested persons can procure copies for themselves of the items that they are interested in.

I myself have published articles on Joe Brown in the ELKINS INTER MOUNTAIN (14 May 1988), and I published a picture in the WEST VIRGINIA HILLBILLY the in the fall of following year, along with an article entitled "Information Please on Joe Brown Lynched at Whitmer". The photo was provided and identified as a photo of Joe Brown by Anna Nelson, of Whitmer, WV, who knew Brown as a child. The picture was on a post card mailed to Anna Nelson's sister, Dorah Day, at Laneville, in November of 1909 by Charlie Sites, a mill worker and restaurant owner at Laneville.

Sites wrote on the back of the card: "Miss Day as asking you for correspondence, hope to hear a joly reply this is not a very good picture but I have a better wan for you best C Sites"

I have often wondered what Mr. Sites' motive was for such a message on a photo of Joe Brown, but Mrs. Nelson was adamant that the man in the photo WAS Brown and that her father knew him. She reported that as a child she sat on Brown's knee when he would visit her father's house, and that Brown brought her candy. The photograph bears a strong resemblance to the deceased Brown, pictured in various publications since his death. It has been suggested that since Brown made national news perhaps pictures were being distributed by Sites or others as novelty items.

In addition to the items below there are also a number of interesting letters relating to the lynching of Joe Brown in the papers of Governor Glascock at Colson Hall archives in Morgantown. Interested parties are referred to those letters in addition to the following. The list of articles below should not be taken as a complete list of available stories on Joe Brown, but reading the ones listed should give interested persons a good start in researching this most interesting chapter in West Virginia law enforcement history.

RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE 1 Mar 1905 "Flew the coup"

POCAHONTAS TIMES 2 Mar 1905 "State News" A prisoner named Brown from Kentucky, in Randolph County Jail for assault, broke jail by cutting the bars

PARSONS ADVOCATE 2 Mar 1905 copies the Randolph Enterprise article entitled "Flew the Coup"

RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE 25 Mar 1909 "Lynched Man's Career Sketched" and "Paid Penalty for Crime"

PHILIPPI REPUBLICAN 25 Mar 1909 "Taken From Jail and Strung Up"

CLARKSBURG WEEKLY TELEGRAM 25 Mar 1909 "Mob Hangs man to Pole"

PHILIPPI REPUBLICAN 25 Mar 1909 "Taken From Jail and Strung Up" Brown was hanged from a telephone pole at 1:15 AM the morning of March 19th. Brown broke jail 4 year ago, and eluded officers since. He appeared at Whitmer Thursday drunk. The party was about fifty lynchers. Young Nordeck of Whitmer was one of the guards over Brown, says lynchers were alol disguised and wore masks. He believes there were about 25. Six pistols were pointed at him when Brown was taken. A posse of about 15 hunted Brown for two hours

CHARLESTON GAZETTE 23 Mar 1909 "Kump Wires He's Doing His Best To Punish" Brown buried Saturday afternoon in Potters field at Horton, after a tilt of 24 hours between officials of Horton cemetery and authorities. Cemetery officials stoutly refused Browns body and triumphed. Internment attracted a small crowd of curious but no mourners. Body hauled to Potters field in road wagon.

CLARKSBURG WEEKLY TELEGRAM 25 Mar 1909 "Mob Hangs Man To Pole" 1:30AM; Body was cut down 7:00AM; Justice Hedrick empannel coroner's jury

RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE 29 Apr 1909 "Brown Was Wanted At Port Huron" a letter received by chief of police W M Harper would indicate that Joe Brown was wnated at Port Huron, Michigan. The letter from John S. Whitliff recites the fact that the writer saw Associated Press accounts of the Brown lynching inquires whether the initials "JB" were tatooed on his arm. the writer further states that Brown left Michigan several years ago to go south. Dr. Crittenden of Whitmer, who attended Brown after he was shot, says that Brown was covered with tatoo marks. On one arm was tatooed "WJB" together with the picture of a woman under which was the word "mother".

RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE 13 Dec 1911 Hendricks, WV, Charles Edward Hedrick suicide due to remorse from participation in Lynching of Joe Brown at Horton several years ago. The matter constantly preyed on his mind and drove him to use drugs. He was found along the railroad track with a bullett in his head. Was once constable of Dry fork District and later chief of police at Whitmer. Unmarried, he lived with a sister at Hendricks.

WEST VIRGINIA HILLBILLY 24 Nov 1956 "Dry Fork Incident of 40 Years Ago"

RANDOLPH ENTERPRISE 5 Nov 1958 "Lynching of Joe Brown at Whitmer" by Homer Floyd Fansler

WEST VIRGINIA HILLBILLY 26 Jul 1969 "Story Back of the Hanging of Joe Brown" byy E. C. Wyatt