Photograph of Marie Gwynne Brown

This black-and-white portrait photograph shows Marie Gwynne Brown, circa 1900-1910, posing next to a chair.

Marie was a great-great-granddaughter of Worthington founder James Kilbourne. She and her husband, Frame C. Brown, owned the Brown Fruit Farm from 1912 to 1936. Frame’s father, William C. Brown, purchased the farm from its original owner, Frank Bower, in 1911, and then turned it over to Frame in 1912. Frame had just graduated from Yale and he and Marie, newly married, moved into a farmhouse on the farm. Their daughter Molly was born in 1913, and after Frame and Marie passed away in 1936, she carried on operations of the farm for another 20 years.

Marie's obituary in the August 13, 1936 "Worthington News" said that she "was widely known and highly respected in this community" and was "very active in community events in the Flint Community." A tribute to her in that same issue describes: "At Christmas time, she, assisted by her daughter, Mollie, brought joy to the children of the neighborhood by bringing Santa Claus to their homes, with gifts and goodies. Many children, as well as grown-ups, would have had no Christmas had it not been for this very lovely person. She is gone but her good works will long be remembered, and truly of her it may be said, 'She went about doing good.'"

The Brown Fruit Farm operated north of Worthington for nearly fifty years, from around 1912 to 1958. The farm grew and sold apples and apple products such as juice, candy and apple butter, as well as cherries, plums and honey. As of 1925, the farm encompassed 100 acres planted with 4000 fruit trees and was the largest fruit farm in central Ohio. It was renowned not only for the quality of its produce, but also for its innovative roadside marketing, including signs telling motorists how many miles they were from the farm.