The inconquerable, inimitable Josephine Beal Brown
Posted: Tue Jul 25, 2023 4:52 pm
Jo deserves so much more attention than she gets. She will be remembered for following Townsend faithfully, and dutifully, without question, wherever he was called. But she was brought to her breaking point and ready to call it quits more than once. Each time, somehow, she found the strength within herself to chose Townsend, even with all the drama and disruptions and drama that came with the job.
Throughout much of the thirties, young Mrs. Townsend Brown wa quite the Zanesville socialite, chairing this committee, attending that event, and hosting something else, all the while playing a mean game of bridge. That brief period of time would be her last taste of the life she might once have expected to be hers for the duration.
But Jo was more than just another of the "ladies who lunch" group. The bright and ambitious young women of the times knew that good secretarial skills could take them far in life, and, Jo made certain to master hers early on. As Townsend's personal secretary, she would transcribe and type his correspondence with perfect accuracy. She also kept the family books and held outside jobs as well, one of which I will write about in another post. She could have become an executive, in her own right, had she not been following a happy-footed man.
But her most interesting job and the one know of only second-hand, via "Twigsnapper," was her reported service as a courier in Stephenson's WWII NYC-DC network. But I, personally, I think she was a little on the spooky side herself, even before Intrepid took up residence in the Rockefeller Building. Jo, oh, Jo...when did you know what you were signing up for?
You could had have not the slightest idea, when you let your heart be wooed on Buckeye Lake!
Throughout much of the thirties, young Mrs. Townsend Brown wa quite the Zanesville socialite, chairing this committee, attending that event, and hosting something else, all the while playing a mean game of bridge. That brief period of time would be her last taste of the life she might once have expected to be hers for the duration.
But Jo was more than just another of the "ladies who lunch" group. The bright and ambitious young women of the times knew that good secretarial skills could take them far in life, and, Jo made certain to master hers early on. As Townsend's personal secretary, she would transcribe and type his correspondence with perfect accuracy. She also kept the family books and held outside jobs as well, one of which I will write about in another post. She could have become an executive, in her own right, had she not been following a happy-footed man.
But her most interesting job and the one know of only second-hand, via "Twigsnapper," was her reported service as a courier in Stephenson's WWII NYC-DC network. But I, personally, I think she was a little on the spooky side herself, even before Intrepid took up residence in the Rockefeller Building. Jo, oh, Jo...when did you know what you were signing up for?
You could had have not the slightest idea, when you let your heart be wooed on Buckeye Lake!