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Margaret Tobin Brown, Unsinkable and Remarkable

© Katie Anne Gustafsson

In common with many other people, I became aware of "Molly Brown" as a result of Hollywood's portrayal of her life. At first I didn't realise that this was the story of someone's life, albeit glossed up. It was when I learned of her actual existence that my imagination was sparked. I was interested in finding out more about her life, and this turned out to be far more fascinating than the movie showed.

Born July 1867, Margaret Tobin was the 3rd youngest in a family of 6 children. Two of whom were her older half-sisters, as both her father and mother had a daughter from previous marriages. Margaret was known through her life as Maggie, and NEVER as Molly. She was a high-spirited child who attended grammar school until the age of 13 and held various jobs in her hometown of Hannibal, Missouri. At the age of 18, she and her older brother Daniel left Missouri for the gold mines of Colorado. Settling in Leadville, they both soon found work.

Although not a beauty, she was bright, attractive and exuberant, and she soon caught the eye of James J. Brown. Following a whirlwind courtship, Maggie and J.J. (as he was better known) married in the Annunciation Church, Leadville, in 1886. Maggie was 19 years old, and J.J. 31.

These Leadville days were the happiest of Maggie's life. She travelled back to Hannibal for the birth of Larry (Lawrence Palmer) their first born in 1887. By the time Helen, their second and final child, came along in 1889, most of Maggie's Tobin family had moved from Hannibal to Leadville and so their daughter was born in Colorado.

J.J. loved mining, and when others were almost ready to quit on the Little Jonny Mine, owned by Ibex, he persevered and with some innovative techniques, stabilised the mine, and his belief in it paid off. When it was opened in 1893, the mine yielded large amounts of high-grade copper - and more importantly - GOLD! As J.J. was part owner of IBEX, Maggie's earlier dreams of marrying a rich man were unexpectedly realised.

The following year, the now extremely wealthy J.J. and Maggie, now 27, moved to Denver, and after a brief period of time, purchased 1340 Pennsylvania Avenue, in the stylish Capitol Hill neighbourhood of the City. Here Maggie's life became disenchanted as she longed for social acceptance amongst not only Denver's Society circles, but also the Sacred 36 Bridge Club. It was the pursuit of this goal that would haunt Maggie's existence for most of her life, and eventually drive a wedge between the redheaded Browns.