By Victor Omondi
Lawrence Bernard Brown was born in 1856 in Wacahoota in Florida. Though a black man born into slavery, Brown overcame the circumstances to become a renowned rich black man.
He moved to Bartow in Florida, where he built many homes, tallied to be as many as 50 to 60 in number, some that he sold and others rented.
The president and custodian of L.B. Brown House Restoration Project, Clifton Lewis, praises Brown’s achievement as historical.
Brown was married to his wife, Anna Belle, with whom they had 7 children and 1 grandchild, who unfortunately passed away. “That one grandchild passed away not too long ago but he didn’t have any kids; I was glad to take ownership of this home, which is now a museum, the school kids love coming to learn about L.B. Brown with me,” said Lewis.
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Lewis revealed that Brown’s father was a plantation minister, and his mother was Native American. Brown was a proactive, talented man who became a self-taught master carpenter, building homes within the Black community in Bartow. He built his own house in 1892, a historical two-story Frame Vernacular house that bears his name to date.
“There’s a notation in his records that when he bought the property in the early 1890s and paid $250. Now either that $250 included the materials or lumber — it just says house cost. Back then an acre of land was going for about $200 an acre,” said Lewis.
Lewis took over ownership of the home in the 1990s and has dedicated himself to preserving the history inside those walls. “We changed a few things on the exterior and added some things inside, but mostly, this is all original; most of the furniture is original,” he said.
Several Architects have since come out to evaluate the home. Professionals did the architectural work, but Brown made it work.
Source: Lawrence B. Brown, A Former Slave’s Historical House Honored by Florida
