New Haven’s Wild Boy
By Karen Wilson
2020
Once Huron County had its own "wild boy". He was found living in the unsettled swamps of New Haven Township north of Plymouth on the old Dean farm. At 12 years of age, he was brought to the attention of the Humane Society by residents of Plymouth who reported his squalid living conditions and his uncivilized manner and state of dress.
In the early 1900s in Ohio, the welfare of animals, children, and the poor was overseen by a county Humane Society. Such was the case in Huron County when they learned of a "wild boy" in the southwest woods of the county.
After a notification by Plymouth residents in early 1905, the Humane Society conducted a thorough investigation of the unspeakable living conditions of the Anderson aka Brown* family living there in little more than a shack. In a 12x14 space of disgusting odor and squalor, Sheriff Snyder and Norwalk Constable Derby found an old woman aged 73, a man-her son-aged 43, and a young boy around 12 who was dressed in a gunny sack with holes cut for his head and arms. Local hunters told that he could run and climb like an animal.
Authorities arranged to revisit the home for the purpose of taking the boy to Norwalk for a doctor’s care and his well -being. Upon their arrival, the boy had barricaded himself in the attic with a gun and an ax threatening mortal harm if they did not leave him alone. The Sheriff went to Plymouth for assistance, and when he returned the grandmother had joined the boy in his resistance. Sheriff Snyder used formaldehyde and brimstone in the stove to eventually smoke the pair out. The boy was taken immediately to Norwalk where he appeared before Judge Suhr who turned him over to the Humane Society. The boy seemed overwhelmed by the many people and buildings of the city. He was reported to be crazy acting and uncontrollable. The Society planned to place him with a suitable family and to arrange schooling.
At the time of capture, the boy's name was found to be Pompey Brown, the father Emery Brown and the old lady was known as Calamity Jane. They had previously lived in Delphi in Ripley Township where the boy was born. The family was then made up of Emory, his wife and a son. According to stories, the wife and son had died before the move to the marshland.
It is unknown how the family came to live in the filthy unkempt manner hidden away in the woods. A search of census records shows Pompey was born about 1894 as he is listed in 1900 with the family of Emory and Jane Anderson. In 1910 he and Emery Anderson live in New Haven Township and he is 16. By 1920, he is shown as Pompey Brown, a boarder in the household of Lonzo Anderson in Norwalk Twp.
An April 1905 article in the Chicago Times reports that Pompey was attending Benedict School and learning to write. The teacher stated that he was adjusting well as did the Huron County Children's Home where he resides with other needy children. He is also described in an Evening Herald of Norwalk in April 1905 as having an enjoyable time at the Methodist Church Easter program.
On August 31, 1905, the Chicago Times reported the release of Pompey into his father’s custody. The father said he would take the boy to live with an aunt near Ashland and that he plans to move to Arkansas. But an article in the Norwalk Evening Herald reports that they went back to their swamp home. Around that time, Pompey’s father sent him to school in Plymouth, but he was dismissed due to his filthy condition.
In the March 1909 Chicago Times, Pompey is incarcerated in the Norwalk jail along with his father. The charge is the theft of $28.20 from New Haven Township farmer, Frank Rogers.
In another part of Pompey’s life, his great grandmother, listed as "Mammy Brown" in the Cincinnati Enquirer of October 1913, died in the Huron County Infirmary at the age of 103. She had lived there since 1909.
Pompey Anderson/Brown registered for the WWI draft for the draft in 1916 as he indicated his age at 23. He stated he had no known family or dependents, lived in Norwalk Township and worked at farming. He described himself as tall and stout with blue eyes and brown hair. Pompey’s name is written above the X mark on the signature line.
By July 6, 1929, the News Journal, a Mansfield newspaper reported Pompey’s death. The previous week, the Humane Society attorney plead for the Infirmary Directors to bring him back, but they declined. After that he was taken to the Huron County Home as ordered by the Huron County Commissioners. Pompey was not satisfied there and escaped to find work on local farms. He was located and taken back, but his exposure and starvation were too much to overcome.
Pompey was buried July 6, 1929 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk, Ohio.
Sources: Chicago Times, Norwalk Evening Herald, News Journal, Ancestry.com, Jay Follett.
*Emory’s mother was Delilah Brown. In 1880 census, she is listed as divorced indicating that she might have been married to an Anderson hence the use of the Anderson or Brown name. KW
By Karen Wilson
2020
Once Huron County had its own "wild boy". He was found living in the unsettled swamps of New Haven Township north of Plymouth on the old Dean farm. At 12 years of age, he was brought to the attention of the Humane Society by residents of Plymouth who reported his squalid living conditions and his uncivilized manner and state of dress.
In the early 1900s in Ohio, the welfare of animals, children, and the poor was overseen by a county Humane Society. Such was the case in Huron County when they learned of a "wild boy" in the southwest woods of the county.
After a notification by Plymouth residents in early 1905, the Humane Society conducted a thorough investigation of the unspeakable living conditions of the Anderson aka Brown* family living there in little more than a shack. In a 12x14 space of disgusting odor and squalor, Sheriff Snyder and Norwalk Constable Derby found an old woman aged 73, a man-her son-aged 43, and a young boy around 12 who was dressed in a gunny sack with holes cut for his head and arms. Local hunters told that he could run and climb like an animal.
Authorities arranged to revisit the home for the purpose of taking the boy to Norwalk for a doctor’s care and his well -being. Upon their arrival, the boy had barricaded himself in the attic with a gun and an ax threatening mortal harm if they did not leave him alone. The Sheriff went to Plymouth for assistance, and when he returned the grandmother had joined the boy in his resistance. Sheriff Snyder used formaldehyde and brimstone in the stove to eventually smoke the pair out. The boy was taken immediately to Norwalk where he appeared before Judge Suhr who turned him over to the Humane Society. The boy seemed overwhelmed by the many people and buildings of the city. He was reported to be crazy acting and uncontrollable. The Society planned to place him with a suitable family and to arrange schooling.
At the time of capture, the boy's name was found to be Pompey Brown, the father Emery Brown and the old lady was known as Calamity Jane. They had previously lived in Delphi in Ripley Township where the boy was born. The family was then made up of Emory, his wife and a son. According to stories, the wife and son had died before the move to the marshland.
It is unknown how the family came to live in the filthy unkempt manner hidden away in the woods. A search of census records shows Pompey was born about 1894 as he is listed in 1900 with the family of Emory and Jane Anderson. In 1910 he and Emery Anderson live in New Haven Township and he is 16. By 1920, he is shown as Pompey Brown, a boarder in the household of Lonzo Anderson in Norwalk Twp.
An April 1905 article in the Chicago Times reports that Pompey was attending Benedict School and learning to write. The teacher stated that he was adjusting well as did the Huron County Children's Home where he resides with other needy children. He is also described in an Evening Herald of Norwalk in April 1905 as having an enjoyable time at the Methodist Church Easter program.
On August 31, 1905, the Chicago Times reported the release of Pompey into his father’s custody. The father said he would take the boy to live with an aunt near Ashland and that he plans to move to Arkansas. But an article in the Norwalk Evening Herald reports that they went back to their swamp home. Around that time, Pompey’s father sent him to school in Plymouth, but he was dismissed due to his filthy condition.
In the March 1909 Chicago Times, Pompey is incarcerated in the Norwalk jail along with his father. The charge is the theft of $28.20 from New Haven Township farmer, Frank Rogers.
In another part of Pompey’s life, his great grandmother, listed as "Mammy Brown" in the Cincinnati Enquirer of October 1913, died in the Huron County Infirmary at the age of 103. She had lived there since 1909.
Pompey Anderson/Brown registered for the WWI draft for the draft in 1916 as he indicated his age at 23. He stated he had no known family or dependents, lived in Norwalk Township and worked at farming. He described himself as tall and stout with blue eyes and brown hair. Pompey’s name is written above the X mark on the signature line.
By July 6, 1929, the News Journal, a Mansfield newspaper reported Pompey’s death. The previous week, the Humane Society attorney plead for the Infirmary Directors to bring him back, but they declined. After that he was taken to the Huron County Home as ordered by the Huron County Commissioners. Pompey was not satisfied there and escaped to find work on local farms. He was located and taken back, but his exposure and starvation were too much to overcome.
Pompey was buried July 6, 1929 at Woodlawn Cemetery in Norwalk, Ohio.
Sources: Chicago Times, Norwalk Evening Herald, News Journal, Ancestry.com, Jay Follett.
*Emory’s mother was Delilah Brown. In 1880 census, she is listed as divorced indicating that she might have been married to an Anderson hence the use of the Anderson or Brown name. KW
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