Francis Horatio BROWN II

     Francis Horatio BROWN II, son of Francis Horatio BROWN and Frances May ABNEY, was born on 9 April 1920 in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama. Francis Horatio BROWN II also went by the name of Rasch.

Francis Horatio BROWN II appeared on a census, enumerated 21 April 1930, in the household of his parents Francis Horatio BROWN and Frances May ABNEY in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama. Horatio F. Brown was recorded as 9-years-old and attending school.¹

Francis Horatio was educated between 1938 and 1940 at Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama. In 1938 he was listed in the freshman class. In 1940 he was listed as a sophomore in agricultural science and a member of the Theta Chi fraternity.²

Francis Horatio BROWN II appeared on a census, enumerated 21 April 1940, in the household of his parents Francis Horatio BROWN and Frances May ABNEY in Maplesville, Chilton County, Alabama. He was 19 years old and attending his first year of college.³

Rasch was registered for the draft during World War II on 1 June 1941 while living in Sylacauga, Talladega County, Alabama. He was employed as an inspector at the Alabama Ordnance Works in Childersburg. He was living at 1505 Broadway, in Sylacauga. He was discribed as 5'11", 140 lbs., with light complexion, gray eyes and brown wavy hair. He had a broken nose.⁴

Francis began military service at age 22 on 16 May 1942 in Ft. McClellan, Alabama, as a sergeant in the 138th Army Air Corps. He trained at Bryan Field in Texas and served as trainer in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Advanced single-engine flight training was performed at Lake Charles until 13 January 1943 when it was reassigned to the newly established Aloe Army Airfield, Texas. AAF Flying Training Command was replaced by Third Air Force, which established a tactical bomber group training school at the airfield, being redesignated as Lake Charles Army Airfield. n May 1943, the 336th Bombardment Group (Medium) was activated as a B-26 Marauder Replacement Training Unit. He was honorably discharged 17 Dec 1945 at Maxwell Field in Montgomery, Alabama. At the time of his enlistment he had 2 years of college and his civilian occupation was listed as general office clerk.⁵

Before the war Rasch had been working as a lumber inspector. He graduated Auburn University in 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy and was an ardent Auburn football fan for the rest of his life. After college he worked for many years in agricultural sales and retired from the Alabama Department of Agriculture. His job resulted in his family living at various times in Montgomery, Cullman, Alabaster, and finally in Warrior. He graduated in 1948 at Alabama Polytechnic Institute in Auburn, Alabama. He apparently had taken a break from his studies due to the war. He returned in 1947 for his junior year. He graduated in agricultural science.⁶

Francis married Virginia SANDERS on 12 September 1956 in the First Methodist Church, Montgomery, Alabama. Their marriage license application listed him living at 59 E. Patton Avenue and Virginia at 602 S. Court Street.⁷

In 1960 Francis Horatio BROWN II and Virginia SANDERS were living at 535 Burgwyn Rd., Montgomery, Alabama. The Montgomery City Directory for that year listed him as a salesman for American Agricultural Chemicals.

Francis Horatio BROWN II died on 2 February 1991 in Warrior, Alabama, at age 70. He was buried on 4 February 1991 in the Abney Family Cemetery, Maplesville, Chilton County.

Rasch's obituary was printed on 6 February 1991 in the Clanton Advertiser newspaper, published in Clanton, Alabama. It read: "Funeral services for Francis H. Brown, Jr., 70, of Warrior, AL were February 4 at 1:00 p.m. at Martin Funeral Home Chapel with burial in the Abney Cemetery. The Rev. Richard Coggins and the Rev. Gary Sanders officiated with Martin Funeral Home directing. Mr. Brown died February 2 in Birmingham. He is survived by his wife, Virginia Brown of Warrior; one son, Francis Brown III of New Orleans; one sister, Frances Gulledge of Birmingham; four brothers, Thomas Abney Brown and Frank Brown of Maplesville; John Brown of Prattville and George Brown of Birmingham."