Southern Sierran
Owen Brown gravesite will remain open to the public

By Joe Young

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn’t the only man whose life was commemorate on Jan 15. Eighty people convened on the summit of a hill near Altadena the same day to celebrate the recent legal victory granting public access to the gravesite of Owen Brown, son of famed abolitionist John Brown. About one-fourth of the group in attendance are Sierra Club members.

Photo by Joaquin Valadez Paul Ayers, lower right, and attendees, including many Sierra Clubbers

Owen Brown lived in the Altadena area in the late 1800s. In his later years he tried unsuccessfully to build a monument to his father on what is now known as Brown Mountain. Hundreds attended Owen Brown’s funeral 1889.

Owen Brown’s gravesite, on a hill named Little Round Top, had been visited frequently during the century following his death. However, the land including the gravesite and surrounding property was sold in 2002. The new owner refused to permit access across his property to the gravesite. The gravestone also disappeared in 2002.

A group called Save the Altadena Trails filed suit against the owner. In December 2005 the group won a ruling in the Pasadena Superior Court granting access to the gravesite.

Paul Ayers, the attorney who represented Save the Altadena Trails, opened the ceremony on Dr. King’s birthday by recounting a brief history of Owen Brown’s gravesite. He also summarized the litigation and the meaning of the Court ruling granting access to the site.

Then local historian Michele Zack shared the history of John Brown and his family, and described how Owen Brown, the only survivor of his family, had moved to California. She spoke of Owen Brown’s commitment to the use of nonviolent means to achieve social objectives and how his approach mirrored that of Dr. King.

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