Home and Family
After their wedding, Robert and Bessie Brown moved into a two-story frame house near the school in Bradley, South Dakota. This would be their home for the rest of their married lives and from this home, they experienced the joys and challenges of raising their four children, Mary, born in 1925, Robert Elmer, in 1926, Eldred, nicknamed Teck, in 1929, and Verna, also called Vern, in 1931. When Bessie gave birth to the youngest, the physician, Dr. McIntyre, held her up for the mother to view and proclaimed, “Here she is. Perfect, just like the other three.” Robert and Bessie referred to their oldest two children, Mary and Robert, as the “big kids,” and Teck and Vern as the “little kids.”3 The four children grew up in a loving home. Nonetheless, the girls felt that their brother received preferential treatment and thus, had an idyllic life. He always rode with his parents in the front seat of the car, while their parents relegated them to the back seat.4
The Brown family worshiped at the First Baptist Church in Bradley and the children received their elementary and secondary education at the Bradley school. Robert remained a partner with his brother in the Brown Auto Company and supported his family, as he had supported himself when single, by selling automobiles. Tenants worked Bessie’s two farms, which brought in
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Being the oldest and the inspiration for the scheme, Mary naturally became the supervisor. Since Verna weighed the least, she would be the test pilot. Eldred had an aptitude for building things, which earned her the nickname, Teck. Therefore, she could assist Mary in the construction of the aircraft. In their yard, a storm had broken off one of the trees, leaving a stump several feet tall, which would serve as the perfect launch