Isabel Cameron
Born 8 Oct. 1842, probably in Michigan.[1] Daughter of Alexander Cameron and Sarah Flora Paul.[2] Moved to Salt Lake City, by 1879.[3] Married Arthur Brown, 2 Feb. 1881, in Douglas, Otoe Co., Nebraska; one child.[4] Appointed as one of two representatives for Utah at the National Woman Suffrage Association (NWSA) convention held in Washington, DC, 3–4 Apr. 1888.[5] Appointed by the NWSA to help organize an independent territorial suffragist association; asked EBW for assistance.[6] Worked to combine the Orphan’s Home and Day Nursery with the Industrial Home Association.[7] Director of the Orphan’s Home and Day Nursery.[8] Voted against the equal suffrage clause being incorporated as part of the Utah state constitution.[9] Elected as Salt Lake City chair for the Utah Woman’s Republican League; EBW was president.[10] Served with EBW on the committee for the inaugural ball celebrating Utah’s statehood.[11] Corresponded with EBW while living in Washington, DC, after her husband was elected to the U.S. Senate.[12] Spearheaded the organization of the Women’s McKinley Club, predecessor of the Women’s Republican Club, in Salt Lake City.[13] Elected as vice president at large for the Utah Women’s Press Club, initially organized by EBW.[14] Inaugural vice president of the Utah Historical Society, 28 Dec. 1897; EBW also attended the meeting of incorporation.[15] Took an active leadership role with EBW in various women’s clubs, including the Poet’s Round Table, Ladies Literary Club, Federation of Women’s Clubs, Women’s Republican Club, and Utah Women’s Press Club.[16] Elected as a delegate to the Federation of Clubs held in Denver, 1898.[17] Died 22 Aug. 1905 in Salt Lake City.[18]
[1] Greater Omaha Genealogical Society and Friends, Douglas County, Nebraska, Marriages 1854–1881 (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing, 2002), 18. “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 6 June 2018); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 867 (1905), Isabel Cameron Brown. 1900 U.S. Census, Precinct 38, Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 39, p. 8A, Isabelle C. Brown. “Family Tree,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org, accessed 13 Sept. 2018), Isabel Cameron (KZDF-L7F).
[2] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 6 June 2018); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 867 (1905), Isabel Cameron Brown.
[3] “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 6 June 2018); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 867 (1905), Isabel Cameron Brown.
[4] Nebraska Genealogical Records Committee, Daughters of the American Revolution, Douglas Co., Nebraska, Marriages, 1875–1881, p. 94, Arthur Brown and Isabelle Cameron, 2 Feb. 1881, Douglas Co. Courthouse, Omaha, Nebraska. 1900 U.S. Census, Precinct 38, Salt Lake Co., UT, ED 39, p. 8A, Arthur Brown.
[5] “N.W.S.A. Convention,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Apr. 1888, 172.
[6] Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 244, 247–248. “The Sister Suffragists,” Salt Lake Tribune, 8 Jan. 1889, 4. EBW, Diary, 3 and 8 Jan. 1889.
[7] “The Industrial Home,” Deseret Weekly (Salt Lake City), 15 Nov. 1890, 684–686.
[8] “A Praiseworthy Institution,” Deseret Weekly (Salt Lake City), 4 July 1891, 64.
[9] “The Suffrage Clause,” Salt Lake Herald, 4 Apr. 1895, 8.
[10] “Women Will Work with the Men,” Standard (Ogden, Utah Territory), 26 July 1895, 4.
[11] “The First Great Day,” Salt Lake Herald, 1 Jan. 1896, 11.
[12] “Frank J. and Arthur Brown,” Salt Lake Herald, 15 Jan. 1896, 1–2. Carol Cornwall Madsen, An Advocate for Women: The Public Life of Emmeline B. Wells, 1870–1920 (Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 334. EBW, Diary, 25 and 27 Apr. 1896; 28 June 1896.
[13] “M’Kinley Women Meet,” Salt Lake Tribune, 28 Aug. 1896, 8. “Prominent Woman Summoned Away,” Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Aug. 1905, 12.
[14] EBW, Diary, 30 Oct. 1897. Carol Cornwall Madsen, Emmeline B. Wells: An Intimate History (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2017), 339, 367n15.
[15] Articles of Incorporation, 28 Dec. 1897, “Utah State Historical Society Organizational History,” Utah Division of Archives and Records Service (https://images.archives.utah.gov/digital/collection/p17010coll32/id/195/rec/3, accessed 14 Sept. 2020).
[16] “Mrs. Brown Is No More,” Salt Lake Telegram, 23 Aug. 1905, 3. “The Ladies’ Literary Club,” Salt Lake Herald, 1 Jan. 1898, 8. “Women’s Federation,” Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Oct. 1898. “Women in Politics,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 Aug. 1898, 8. “U.W.P.C.,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Feb. 1898 and 1 Mar. 1898, 251.
[17] EBW, Diary, 1 Feb. 1898. “Women in Politics,” Salt Lake Herald, 2 Aug. 1898, 8. “U.W.P.C.,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Feb. 1898 and 1 Mar. 1898, 251.
[18] Salt Lake City, UT, Office of Vital Statistics, Death Records, 1848–Sept. 1950, Death Registers, 1890–1908, p. 283, no. 10744, Isabel Cameron Brown, 22 Aug. 1905, microfilm 26554, DGS 7578790, image 775/874, FHL. “Utah State Archives Indexes,” database and images, Utah State Archives (https://archives.utah.gov, accessed 6 June 2018); Utah Department of Health Office of Vital Records and Statistics Death Certificates, series 81448, file no. 867 (1905), Isabel Cameron Brown. Mount Olivet Cemetery, Salt Lake City, UT, Cemetery Records, p. 156, entry 5289, Isabel Cameron Brown, 22 Aug. 1905, microfilm 26552, FHL. “Prominent Woman Summoned Away,” Salt Lake Tribune, 23 Aug. 1905, 12.