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Clara is born
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Clara is sold
Her earliest memory was being sold on the auction block -
Clara gets married
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Her master Amrbose Smith dies
After her master's death, Clara's family was split up and sold to settle his estate. For the next twenty years Clara worked as a slave for George Brown. -
Clara gains her freedom
Upon George Brown's death Clara was freed, and set out to find her long lost daughter Eliza Jane. She spent the next three years searching Kentucky, Missouri, and Kansas. Unfortunately she did not find her daughter. -
Clara heads west, still determined!
She considered the possibility that her daughter had traveled to Pike's Peak along with the many other in hopes of finding gold. She then set out on a 700 mile journey west setting her destination in Colorado. She secured a job on a wagon train as a cook in exchange for free transportation of her laundry pots -
Central City
Clara's wagon train lands her in Cherry Creek, where she opens the first laundry business to serve the miners. After about six months, she moved to Mountain City which later became Central City, where she invested her earnings in real estate, earning a small fortune. She becomes known as Aunt Clara becuase she provided food, shelter, and nursing care to the townspeople. -
Civil War ends
Clara returns east, first to Kentucky, and then to Tennessee in search for her daughter Eliza Jane. -
Offering a helping hand
Clara buys the freedom of several slaves that she befriended on her trip through Kentucky and Tennessee, and returns to Colorado with all of them. -
Gaining recognition
Clara is the first women to be made a member of the Colorado Pioneer Association -
Eliza Jane is found!
At age 79 Clara finds her 56 year old daughter in Iowa, and returns home to Colorado with her. -
Passing on
In 1885, Clara Brown peacefully died -
A legacy to be remembered
Clara Brown was induced into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame