Anna A. Brown was born about 1898–1899 in North Carolina. Tracing her life through census records is complicated by variations in her name, which appears as Anna Harmon, Anna Harrison, Anna Harman, and Anna Smith in different records.
In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Anna was twenty-two years old and living in Ocean City, Cape May County, New Jersey. She resided in a household with her father, Marry, her mother, Dorra, and several children identified as her parents’ grandchildren, including Dorothy, Theodore, and R. Charles Harmon. Although Anna was recorded as married, no husband was listed in the household. She had no occupation recorded but was able to read and write.
By the 1925 New York State Census, Anna had moved north to North Elba, Essex County, New York. At twenty-six years old, she was living with her husband, Lemerel, and four children—daughters Dorothy and Mary and sons Charles and William. Her appearance in North Elba places Anna and her family within the history of African American migration to and settlement in New York’s Adirondack region.
The variations in Anna’s surname and household relationships make her history challenging to reconstruct with certainty. Nevertheless, the surviving census records trace her journey from North Carolina to New Jersey and eventually to northern New York, while documenting the development of her family during the early twentieth century. Anna’s story contributes to a broader understanding of the African American families who made North Elba and the Adirondacks their home.