Brown, Clawson, and Parvin family papers, 1739-1978

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Brown, Clawson and Parvin families
Title
Brown, Clawson, and Parvin family papers
Dates
1739-1978 (inclusive)
1885-1941 (bulk)
Quantity
1 cubic feet (1 document case, 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
Mss 2506
Summary
Papers of the families of the Brown, Clawson, and Parvin families of Oregon, including materials related to composer and music teacher Zimiri Mullin Parvin (1845-1921), his daughter Mamie Parvin Brown, his grandson Vivian Z. Brown, and Vivian's wife Verne Clawson Brown. Includes correspondence, documents, clippings, and ephemera.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Zimiri Parvin Brown was a composer and professor of music who lived in Salem and Portland, Oregon during the latter part of his life. He was born in Ripley County, Indiana in 1843, served in the Civil War in 64th and 151st Illinois Infantry, and married Addie Sutton in 1866. He studied music from 1868 to 1874, and became the director of music at the State Normal School of California (now San Jose State University) in 1875. In 1883 he was appointed Dean of the College of Music at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, a post he held until his move to Portland in 1906. He was also director of the Albany Conservatory of Music in Albany, Oregon. In Portland he helped to found the Northwestern Normal School of Music and Art. He was an expert on harmony and published many compositions including The wide world knows the Portland Rose.

In 1890, Zimiri Parvin's daughter Mamie married James Nassau Brown (1857-1912), a Portland attorney. Brown was the son of Martin Brown (1809-1902) and Susan Jane Goddard Brown (1819-1868). He was a native of Iowa and lived in Missouri and Idaho before graduating from Willamette University Law School in 1888. He practiced law in Heppner, Oregon, served in the Oregon State Legislature from 1893-1898, and later established a law practice in Portland and Salem.

A son of James and Mamie Brown, Vivian Z. Brown, became a dentist in the U. S. Army Dental Corps. He graduated from Portland's Lincoln High School in 1911 and from North Pacific College in 1917. In that year he married Verne Clawson (b. 1889), the daughter of Walter and Nella Clawson. She had graduated from Portland's Washington High School in 1910 and attended the Northwest Normal School of Music and Art. Vivian Brown became an officer in the U.S. Army Dental Corps in the 1920s and was promoted to Colonel during World War II. Among his children was Walter Zimiri Brown (b. 1922).

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection includes correspondence, clippings, documents, and ephemera, most of which relate to Zimiri Parvin, James Nassau Brown, Mamie Parvin Brown, Vivian Z. Brown, and Verne Clawson Brown. There are also some materials on the Sutton, Taylor, and Price families, all related by marriage to the Parvins and Browns. Included are: musical compositions by Zimiri Parvin, letters from James Nassau Brown to his wife Mamie, a biographical article by Doris Huffman (1976), diplomas and certificates, high school yearbooks, a pocket diary of Josephine Taylor Sutton containing recipes, a program for a banquet honoring Susan B. Anthony in Salem in 1900, a Taylor family history document from the late 18th century, a group of baggage tags from hotels, and a collection of bank notes from the early 19th century. Among James Nassau Brown's letters is one of 1903 from Salem describing a typhoid epidemic.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Brown, Clawson, and Parvin family papers, Mss 2506, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Alternative Forms Available

Souvenir program from banquet in honor of Susan B. Anthony is viewable online in OHS Digital Collections.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series: Series A: Brown family, general, 1896-1978; Series B: Zimiri Mullin Parvin materials, 1860-1976; Series C: Other family members, 1739-1941.

Acquisition Information

Gifts of Colonel and Mrs. Walter Zimiri Brown, 1978 August, Library Accession 14550 and Museum Accession 78-64; and Mr. and Mrs. John Parvin, 1991 July, Library Accession 20363.

Separated Materials

Photographs acquired with this collection were separated to photograph collections, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Artifacts acquired with this collection are now housed in the Artifact Collection, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Series A:  Brown family, general, 1896-1978Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder
1
Inventory to Accession 14550
circa 1978
2
Brown family genealogical information
1934; undated
3
Brown, Parvin, Sutton families--Death notices, clippings
1896-1921

Series B:  Zimiri Mullin Parvin materials, 1860-1922Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
Folder
4
Zimiri Parvin letters
1901; 1904; undated
5
Military papers
circa 1860; 1921-1922
6
Clippings
1903-1921
7
Programs for recitals and other events, Normal College of Music, Portland, and Northwestern School of Music and Art, Portland
1910-1921
8
Sheet music, programs, and birthday speech
1889-1914
9
Sheet music for Thine eyes shall see the king, Do you want any stars in your crown, and The whole word knows the Portland rose
1906; undated
10
Doris Huffman, "The music 'doc' of Willamette"
1976
11
"Dr. Parvin's anniversary occasion" (typescript)
1914 April 25
12
Harmony works by Parvin
1915; undated
13
Original lyrics by Parvin
undated

Series C:  Other family members, 1739-1941Return to Top

Container(s) Description Dates
James Nassau Brown papers
Folder
14
Letters to Mamie
1886-1894
15
Letters to Mamie
1894-1903
16
Letter to Lillie la Munyon regarding typhoid fever
1903
17
Letters to Mamie
1904 Aug-1909
18
Letter to Vivian Brown
1904 July 14
19
Letters to Mamie
1904 July
20
Teacher's certificate
1885 October 13
21
Lillia la Munyon correspondence
1899-1902
Vivian Z. Brown papers
Folder
22
Commencement announcement and other documents
1934; 1938
23
Invitations, programs, and other ephemera
1926-1933
24
Letters
1901; 1933; undated
25
Lincoln High School yearbook
1911
26
Walter Zimiri Brown--Birth and graduation announcements
1922; 1941
27
Walter Zimiri Brown letters
1932; 1960
28
William and Susan Burns Carroll letters to Della Carroll Clawson Hartness
1908-1909
29
Marriage certificate of Adelbert T. Harness and Della B. Clawson
1914
30
Grace Clawson Hostetter, letter regarding grandmother's death
1900
31
Matilda Jamieson letters to Nancy L. Clawson
1904; 1907
32
Pension certificate for Addie Parvin
1922
33
Grace Clawson Hostetter letters to Mary L. Clawson Price, and telegram to Grace Hostetter
1905-1907
34
Correspondence, W. H. Clawson, Nancy C. Price
1895-1912
35
Song lyrics sent to Nancy L. Clawson
undated
Verne Clawson papers
Folder
36
Verne Clawson birth certificate and graduation program announcement
1906; 1910
37
Marriage announcement, Verne Clawson and Vivian Brown
1917
38
Graduation announcement, yearbook, souvenir, Washington High School
1910
39
Addie Sutton Parvin letters
1903-1904
40
Addie Sutton Parvin correspondence with Mamie Brown
1923-1926
41
Josephine Taylor Sutton diary with recipes
1872
42
W. P. Taylor letter to Addie Sutton Parvin
1898
43
Alexander B. Price and Mary L. Price--Awards, complaint, and summons
1917
44
Sutton family agreement
1891
45
Susan B. Anthony banquet program and other ephemera
1889-1909
46
Luggage tags
undated
47
Paper money, including "fractional currency"
1824; 1829
Oversize
Diplomas and certificates
Includes manuscript music by Zimiri Parvin to "A piece of pumpkin pie"; Taylor family birth and death document, 1739-1860.
1739-1941

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Music--Oregon--History
  • Typhoid fever--Oregon--Salem--History

Personal Names

  • Anthony, Susan B. (Susan Brownell), 1820-1906
  • Brown, James Nassau--Correspondence
  • Brown, Mamie Parvin--Correspondence
  • Brown, Verne Clawson
  • Brown, Vivian Z
  • Brown, Walter Zimiri
  • Huffman, Doris
  • Parvin, Zimiri Mullin, 1845-1921

Corporate Names

  • Albany Conservatory of Music (Albany, Or.)
  • Lincoln High School (Portland, Or.)
  • Northwestern Normal School of Music and Art (Portland, Or.)
  • Washington High School (Portland, Or.)
  • Willamette University

Family Names

  • Brown family
  • Clawson family
  • Parvin family
  • Sutton family
  • Taylor family

Geographical Names

  • Portland (Or.)--History
  • Portland (Or.)--Social life and customs
  • Salem (Or.)--History
  • Salem (Or.)--Social life and customs
  • United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865

Form or Genre Terms

  • genealogies
  • invitations
  • letters
  • paper money
  • school yearbooks
  • tags

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Brown, James Nassau (creator)
    • Parvin, Zimiri Mullin, 1845-1921 (creator)
    Family Names
    • Brown family (creator)
    • Clawson family (creator)
    • Parvin family (creator)