For twenty years, I have worked at a law firm located in the historic Charles Brown House in Vancouver, Washington. This unique French Second Empire style home was built right after the Civil War and has a creepy atmosphere. Cupboards often open by themselves, and I've heard unexplained voices and footsteps when I work alone at night. Once, a mailman saw a man dressed in 1800s clothing looking down at him from an upstairs window, holding a pistol. I reassured the mailman that it was just Charlie. Over the years, I have researched the house and its past inhabitants. Many authors of ghost stories have contacted me, and even a popular television show about ghosts asked if they could spend the night in the house with their paranormal equipment. They promised fame and potential TV exposure, but I always declined. Charlie is my friend, and I don't want to share him with the world. Until now.
FORGIVE ME IF YOU CAN
In 1901, scandal rocked the First National Bank of Vancouver, Washington and many lives were affected. However, the community managed to survive despite the turmoil. The person responsible for the scandal, bank president Charles Brown, bore the brunt of the repercussions.
On July 23, 1850, Brown was born into a life of privilege and prestige in Knox County, Illinois. His parents, Sam and Harriet Brown, were well connected - his father even had a close relationship with President Abraham Lincoln and served in the Illinois state legislature. In 1861, when Lincoln needed to choose a new land agent for the expansive Washington Territory, he immediately thought of Sam. The following year, the Brown family traveled to the Pacific Northwest by way of the Isthmus of Panama.
Moving to Vancouver at the age of eleven did not faze Charles. He seamlessly transitioned into school and, later, worked in the printing industry when he moved to San Francisco. However, he eventually returned to Vancouver to ponder his future. It was during this time that Charles met Rebecca Alice Slocum. She hailed from a notable New England family, many of whom had recently relocated out west. The two were wedded on September 10th, 1874, and resided in an elegant French Second Empire style home. Following his marriage, Brown immersed himself in city politics. He held various positions such as mayor, city councilman, and county auditor.
In 1891, Brown was voted as president of the First National Bank. Brown worked alongside E.L. Canby, the elected cashier. Together, they began falsifying records to cover up their shady loans. This deception continued for a decade, with both men keeping the true state of the bank hidden from the public. As Brown's guilt weighed heavily on him, his mental health deteriorated into depression. He struggled to maintain a facade of normalcy and uphold his family's reputation, but it became increasingly difficult to hide the truth from family and friends who noticed something was amiss with Brown's behavior.
It wasn't until April 1901 when bank inspector J.W. Maxwell (who is a maternal great-grandfather of Microsoft's founder Bill Gates) uncovered the hidden secret of Brown and Canby. A local newspaper featured the following description of his confrontation with the two men:
“Well, what is it?” asked the inspector, turning around.
“I may as well own up, old man,” replied Canby. “You’ve caught us. You’ve got onto this thing. No other man ever did, but you have learned it all. There’ nothing left but for me to blow my brains out.”
Saying this, Canby picked up a revolver, which was on another table in the room and dallied with it for a moment. Maxwell made a leap for him to take the gun away, but Canby ran out of the room into a passageway and held the door fast after him.
Maxwell hurried into the main room of the bank where Brown was and exclaimed” “For God sake, go in there: that man is going to kill himself!”
Brown showed no signs of being rattled by Maxwell's shocking declaration. Without any outward reaction, he swiftly returned to the back room and stepped out into the passageway. Canby joined him, and they stood in silence for a few moments. The examiner braced himself, anticipating the sound of a gunshot that would send Canby to his death. But it never came. After waiting anxiously, Brown and Canby reappeared in the back room with Maxwell, with Canby still holding the revolver.
“It isn’t my fault that I’m not dead,” he told Maxwell. “The gun wouldn’t go off.”
“Let me look at it, requested Maxwell, and Canby passed it over. Maxwell promptly put it in his pocket.
“Mr. Brown,” queried Maxwell, “Are you party to the condition of the bank? Have you been in this thing, too?”
“Yes” replied Brown coolly. “I’m equally guilty. I have known about it the whole time.”
After their encounter, Brown and Canby departed. According to reports in the local newspaper, witnesses observed them exiting the building and proceeding north on the street. One individual even claimed to have seen Brown stop by his home and peer through the windows, perhaps taking a final look at his family, and possibly retrieve something from a shed in his yard.
According to the newspaper, Brown and Canby walked together to a field on the outskirts of town. There, they both shot themselves. When their bodies were discovered, they were found facing each other mere feet apart. Canby's body was propped against a stump while Brown's rested against a thicket. The gun was still grasped tightly in Brown's hand, indicating that he had taken his own life after witnessing Canby's death. When Brown was searched, he was found to have ten cents in scattered coins, and a note addressed to his wife that simply stated, “Forgive me if you can.”
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Here is a link to an interview I did back in 2014 with the Columbian newspaper in Vancouver regarding my office. For the record, I’ve only seen Charlie once - bullet hole in his head still smoking.