Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Dr. Mary. R. "Bernice" Haynes Brown

Photo contributed by E. Brooks. aka Dr. Bernice Brown. Daughter of George Washington Haynes and Elizabeth Jane Payne/Haynes Haynes Lewis (she was their youngest child). Wife of Alex "Harold " Brown. Born 8/22/1904. She appears on the 1910 Census in Greenbrier County, Irish Corner District as a mulatto female, age 6. She and Alex had no children but she had a stepson named "Sonny". Her husband was the founder of Brown's Transfer in Beckley, WV. Sonny (along with his wife) took over the operation of Brown's Transfer. The business was later sold to Charles "Bussie" Allen. Bernice was a podiatrist. She owned property at 7916 Cedar Avenue in Cleveland Ohio. The property had formerly been a Hungarian Restaurant. She used the name Dr. Bernice H. Brown throughout her career. The H must have been for her maiden name "Haynes". The house was a huge double. She had her podiatry office on one side. The other side had at least four bedrooms. She chose to live in the attic and allowed her siblings to live with her - especially Nola (sometimes Edna who was married to Dr. Robert Howard and who ended up buying 1/2 of the property). She died on 12/13/1981 at age 73. She was a member of the Antioch Baptist Church (which was down the street from her home on Cedar Avenue). She is buried at Lakeview Cemetery in Cleveland, Ohio. She also owned a home at 539 East Main Street in Ronceverte, WV. She had formerly been a school teacher in Ronceverte. She moved to Cleveland in 1937. She attended Hinton High School, Bluefield State College, and the Ohio School of Chiropody. Two grandchildren Alexis Brown and Alex Brown. See Journal of the Greenbrier Historical Society, Volume 7, #6, 2004, page 60.

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