Multiple family generations standing and sitting in front of a house

Brown Sisters and Family, c. 1941. Back row: Mayme Brown, Art Lemos, Mae Lemos, Annie Brown Stone, Emily Brown Lemos. Front row: Carrie Brown Redmayne, Tom Lemos, Patricia Lemos, and Mary Redmayne.

On May 11, 1885, Annie L. Brown was born in Mendocino. Her parents were John Q. and Maria Brown, immigrants from the Azore Islands and early day settlers of Mendocino. John and Maria had ten children, eight of whom survived to adulthood. Annie attended school in Mendocino.

Annie married Bert Stone in Oakland in 1911. Bert was the son of Oscar M. Stone, a Mendocino watchmaker and jeweler. At the time of Annie’s marriage, Oscar owned the Lansing House across from the Presbyterian church. This home was built in 1855 by Captain David Lansing, one of the first pioneers of Mendocino, and the newlyweds lived with the widowed Oscar here. In 1922, Oscar deeded the property to Bert and Annie, and they also inherited the family jewelry business located on Main Street after Oscar’s death in 1924.

Bert operated Stone’s Jewelry Store until 1930, when the couple moved to Oakland. Bert passed away in 1940 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery next to his parents.

Annie continued to live in Oakland until her death in 1963. Survivors included her brother, Frank Brown of Mendocino, and sisters, Mrs. Emily Lemos, also of Mendocino, and Mrs. Carrie Redmayne and Miss Mayme Brown of Oakland. The Reverend Father Bertram Mulligan officiated at grave side services at Evergreen Cemetery. Acting as pallbearers were Joe Mendosa, Antone Lenhares, Joe Gomes, Joe Recardo, James O’Donnell, and Herman Fayal.

From Maidens to Mavericks, Mendocino’s Women by Molly Dwyer – Mendocino boasts some strong and remarkable women in its past. This volume honors and remembers some of them. For anyone who loves Mendocino, who lives on the Coast or claims some piece of it for themselves, discovering our foremothers can be transformational. $20.