Sarah Barnes was the wife of James Irving Brown. They married March 22, 1855 in Cedar, Missouri. (She was also married to Henry Ware on April 2, 1885.)

Sarah and her children survivied the civil war times. Several times (3) during the civil war irregular troops raided their farm and took all the animals and produce while the famly hid in the woods. With all the young men off to war, the farms were easy pickings. James Jr. was the man of the house as an almost teenager. All immediate family survied the war.

A letter written by Sarah's son David upon her death....
Dear Brother and sister
I seat my self down to write you the saddest news I a ever had to write. Our Dalin mother is dead. She died Dec 12, and was buried yesterday. She has been sick 5 months the 15 of this month. She had a stroke of paraylis the 15 of July and has been helpless ever sence. She had another stroke the 10 of this month which caused her death. She died at the P Hospital we let her go thinking it best - the Doctor told us the climate was better over there and that she would receive the best of care they promised to let us know if there was any change if they had done as they promised we could have been with her. We have wrote over there to know all about it - if we find out anything we will let you know next time. We buried Mother nicely. I will close this time hoping to hear from you some soon. from David Brown to Jerry and Allie Brown

The following obituary is from [email protected] -
** Date of newspaper is not always the date of the incident - this was a
weekly, and stories were written, set, and the printing was done after the
facts were typeset, often days later.

Chico Weekly Chronicle Record, Saturday, December 21, 1895, pg 1 col 3:
Funeral of Mrs. Brown. The Mother of Sixteen Children Laid to rest. The
funeral of Mrs. Sarah Brown took place from the undertaking parlors of
Fetters & Williams at 11 a.m. yesterday. Quite a number of friends of the
deceased were present, and a short service was conducted by Pastor T.H.
Stephens.

Mrs. Brown was a member of the Baptist Church. She had been a consistent
Christian for nearly fifty years. She was born in Kentucky, but lived many
years in Missouri, and came to California in the spring of 1884. She was
the mother of sixteen children, several of whom survive her. Two daughters
and one son live in Chico. Her death was not unexpected. Last July she was
stricken with paralysis, and since that time she had been confined to her
bed. She bore her affliction patiently, and even manifested a spirit of
resignation. While in active life she was faithful in the discharge of her
duties, devoted to her family, and respected by all who knew her. At the
time of her death she was fifty-nine years, three months and ten days old.