Charles R. Brown

Charles Russell Brown was born in Culpeper, Virginia, on April 15, 1881.¹ When Brown was thirteen years old, he met Presley M. Rixey, a doctor and officer in the U.S. Navy. Brown started working for Rixey as his servant and coachman.² When Rixey became the personal physician to presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, he spent time at the White House and brought Brown along with him. Brown even accompanied President Roosevelt and Rixey on hunting trips.³ Newspaper articles published later in Brown’s life identified him as a “former White House coachman” who served there under President Theodore Roosevelt. Articles also describe how he “accompanied the children of President Roosevelt on outings” and “was likewise the companion of President Roosevelt” and “held in high regard by the energetic President.”⁴ This suggests he may have been hired by Roosevelt sometime during his presidency after meeting him through Rixey. However, there are currently no other known records confirming he was actually employed there in this capacity; as such, Rixey may have performed these tasks for President Roosevelt and his family merely as an extension of his service to Rixey. 

By 1910, Brown was no longer a coachman but was instead working as a clerk and messenger at the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in the Navy Department. By the time he retired from the Bureau in 1933, he had become head of their mail room.⁵ After retiring from government service, he worked as the manager of the Rixey family estate in Arlington County, Virginia.⁶ 

Brown passed away on January 26, 1938, and was buried in Mount Salvation Baptist Church in Arlington County, Virginia.⁷