Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Mordecai Brown

Page 13

Nyesville, Indiana

Mordecai Peter Centennial Brown was born October 19, 1876, in the farming community of Nyesville, Indiana, to Jane, also known as Louisa, and Peter Brown.

Because the year of his birth was our country’s centennial, his proud American parents gave Mordecai an extra middle name. Although it is generally assumed that the quite religious Browns chose their son’s names from the Bible, Peter was his father’s name, and there was an uncle named Mordecai. The family claimed to be of Welsh and English descent.

Nicknames like "Miner" and "Three Finger" were headline writers' of later years’ inventions. To fans and friends he was best known as "Brownie." To his relatives and close friends, he was also known as "Mort."

“Dad played with me a great deal, as dads should do, and our chief sport was baseball. He bought me a hardball when I was three years old, and he used to sit in a rocker on the front porch while I sat on the grass in the yard, and we'd play catch by the hour.” - Mordecai Brown

Mordecai had seven brothers and sisters. One of his brothers, John, also played baseball. According to Mordecai’s great-