clara brown (1800 - 1885)
Clara Brown was a formerly enslaved woman from Virginia who became an entrepreneur, community leader, and philanthropist. She aided with the settlement of newly freed slaves during the time of Colorado's Gold Rush. She was known as the “Angel of the Rockies” and is one of Colorado's first Black settlers.
Ms. Brown was born into slavery in Virginia in 1800. At nine years old, she and her mother were sold to a farmer in Kentucky. By the age of 18 she married and later gave birth to four children. At 35, she was sold by her owner at auction and tragically separated from her husband and children. She vowed to work for the rest of her life to reunite her shattered family.
Finally freed at 56 years old, she was required by law to leave Kentucky. She began searching for her family. Hearing that one of her daughters, Eliza Jane, may have moved West, Ms. Brown headed in that direction. She had money to travel, but Black people at the time were forbidden from buying stagecoach tickets. She journeyed to Denver by working as a wagon train cook in exchange for transportation.
Unable to locate her daughter, Ms. Brown traveled with gold seekers to Central City, where she established the first laundry as a way to make enough money to live independently and find her family. She also worked as a midwife, cook, and nursemaid. By 1866, she had accumulated $10,000 and invested in properties and mines in nearby towns. As “Aunt” Clara Brown’s profits grew, she became more charitable, never turning away anyone in need. Her business and her home became community hubs where she would house and care for sick and injured miners as well as homeless individuals.
Ms. Brown returned to Kentucky in an attempt to locate her family. While she was unable to find them, she brought with her sixteen freed women and men back to Colorado. Under request from Governor Pitkin, she helped relocate many escaped Black slaves from Kansas to Colorado. She also donated her own money to help establish new Black communities.
Ms. Brown reunited with Eliza Jane in Iowa just a few years before her passing at 85 years old. Today, a stained glass window of Clara Brown can be found in the rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol.
Ms. Brown was born into slavery in Virginia in 1800. At nine years old, she and her mother were sold to a farmer in Kentucky. By the age of 18 she married and later gave birth to four children. At 35, she was sold by her owner at auction and tragically separated from her husband and children. She vowed to work for the rest of her life to reunite her shattered family.
Finally freed at 56 years old, she was required by law to leave Kentucky. She began searching for her family. Hearing that one of her daughters, Eliza Jane, may have moved West, Ms. Brown headed in that direction. She had money to travel, but Black people at the time were forbidden from buying stagecoach tickets. She journeyed to Denver by working as a wagon train cook in exchange for transportation.
Unable to locate her daughter, Ms. Brown traveled with gold seekers to Central City, where she established the first laundry as a way to make enough money to live independently and find her family. She also worked as a midwife, cook, and nursemaid. By 1866, she had accumulated $10,000 and invested in properties and mines in nearby towns. As “Aunt” Clara Brown’s profits grew, she became more charitable, never turning away anyone in need. Her business and her home became community hubs where she would house and care for sick and injured miners as well as homeless individuals.
Ms. Brown returned to Kentucky in an attempt to locate her family. While she was unable to find them, she brought with her sixteen freed women and men back to Colorado. Under request from Governor Pitkin, she helped relocate many escaped Black slaves from Kansas to Colorado. She also donated her own money to help establish new Black communities.
Ms. Brown reunited with Eliza Jane in Iowa just a few years before her passing at 85 years old. Today, a stained glass window of Clara Brown can be found in the rotunda of the Colorado State Capitol.
