Delving into the history of a Tonopah family

Marjorie Moore Brown is a well-known figure from the Women’s Suffrage Movement and her rich life of accomplishments, adventures and activism has drawn the attention of Terry Forsyth, a writer determined to capture her legacy through his pending book, “Mrs. Hugh Henry Brown: Nevada Suffragette, Dramatic Reader, Financial Planner, Life-long Poet”.

But it’s not only Marjorie whose doings have the budding biographer delving deep into historical records – from her mother and father to her uncle, siblings and children, Forsyth has discovered a wonderful vein of history to pursue and he’s aiming to publish multiple books on this intriguing family.

“Marjorie is the third generation of four generations of giants,” Forsyth explained as he opened a presentation on his research during a trip to Tonopah on Friday, Oct. 10.

Forsyth and roughly 10 others had gathered inside the Tonopah Public Library for the presentation, a location Forsyth was delighted to secure due to its connection to his subjects. Marjorie, who later also went by her married name of Mrs. Hugh Brown, started the Tonopah Library with her mother, Grace, in the early 1900s, where she presided as librarian for nine years, starting in 1909.

“She had great insight as to what to do with the building. She had a huge children’s department, she had foreign language books and dictionaries, she brought in Greek philosophers in both English and Greek, she brought in a lot more modern books,” Forsyth detailed. “And she not only did books. For mining engineers, she had a complete set of magazines and periodicals and all those kinds of things that engineers need, she had repair manuals for much of the mining equipment so if the mines had a book get lost or destroyed or whatever, they had a copy waiting here for them.”

This is just one tie between Marjorie and the Tonopah community, with a variety of other achievements feathering this woman’s hat.

A historic marker sits beside the Mizpah Hotel, where Marjorie was a key leader in the local push for women’s voting rights and she helped to start the Tonopah Red Cross chapter, the second in the state of Nevada. She was an active part of the Woman’s Relief Corps as well as the Federation of Women’s Clubs and she co-founded the Nevada Equal Franchise Society. Marjorie is also credited with securing state support for dozens of French orphans while president of the Fatherless Children of France, Nevada Chapter.

Her story doesn’t end there, however. Throughout both Nevada and California, as well as abroad, Marjorie saw and did many things worth recording and Forsyth is striving to ferret out all of it.

As to her relatives, he offered a few interesting tidbits to highlight some of Marjorie’s more famed family members. Her father, Henry Kingsbury Moore, started a mail steamship company that he eventually retooled as a result of the Transcontinental Railroad and his company was responsible for the transportation of Chinese laborers to build that railroad. Her mother, Grace, graduated as valedictorian of her class and was elected as the first president of the Mills College Alumnae Association. Grace also started the public library in Tacoma, Washington.

Marjorie’s uncle Theodore was a Hollywood film star who is known to have had the longest running career with a studio during the silent movie period. Her husband, Hugh, was a member of the General Council, American Bar Association; executive committee on Uniform State Laws; executive committee for the League to Enforce Peace; counsel for four of Tonopah’s five major silver mines of the time as well as the Tonopah and Goldfield railroads; member and co-founder of the Nevada State Bar Association; and more. Her sister Mary Belle helped create the Palo Alto Men’s Shelter as well as a second such shelter in San Francisco and there is even more to tell as the lines of kinship are followed.

Forsyth is currently working with a copy editor to have his first book, “Mrs. Hugh Henry Brown: Nevada Suffragette, Dramatic Reader, Financial Planner, Life-long Poet” made ready for publication - anticipated for next year - after which he will focus on the rest of the series.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com