Women Who Built Milford:  Mary “Mollie” Adkins Brown

Over the next few weeks, in honor of National Woman’s Month, Milford Times will feature the women who built Milford. The first in the series is Mary “Mollie” Adkins Brown who opened Milford’s first library.

Mary Adkins Brown, who was known to Mollie by her friends and family, was born in 1854, the daughter of John W. and Eliza Hudson Adkins. She had six siblings, Henry L., born in 1838; John W., born in 1843; Sallie, born in 1846; Eliza, born in 1849; Isaiah, born in 1873 and Irving Clark, born in 1875.

In 1879, Mollie graduated from Smith College in New Hampshire, returning to Milford after completing school. On April 24, 1883, Mollie married Edward M. Brown who was raised in Schoolfield, Michigan. It is not clear where the couple lived after their marriage, but in an account written by Molly, after the death of her husband in 1908, she returned to Milford and “took up residence in my childhood home”  at 106 Northwest Front Street. The historic building, now known as the Sorden-Adkins House, still stands. The lot was first sold to William Sorden in 1787 and, after his death in 1806, sold to Dr. William Burton who then sold it to Isaac Davis. It then became owned by Leonard Adkins, a banker. Mollie was a descendant of Leonard Adkins.

“My husband, being a scholar, had a valuable library and I also had many books,” Mollie wrote. “It seemed a pity for this collection to be used only by me. At that time, Milford had no public library, so I decided to share my precious books with the children of Milford.”

Mollie set the library up at the rear of the house which had an outside entrance from the side porch. Children entered through a gate under an arch with a vine-covered trellis, walking down a path to the steps. The library was open fixed hours, after school and Saturday.

“I was the librarian, story-teller and the instructor on how to handle books,” Mollie wrote. “My young borrowers were required to have clean hands, to wipe their feet before entering and to cover with brown paper, supplied by me, a book being taken out. The children came and they browsed to their hearts content before deciding which books they wanted to take home. Oh yes, the children took good care of the books because they considered it a privilege to visit “Miss Mollie Brown’s library” and to be permitted to borrow her books.”

When Mollie decided to move in with her sister and sell her home, she stored the books in Milford. At that time, the Community Building was under construction and Mollie requested that a room in it be set aside for a public library. Permission was granted and when the building was completed in 1926, Mollie returned to Milford for several weeks to catalog and set up her books which had been in storage. In addition to her books, 2,300 of them came from Mollie’s cousin, Mrs. George S. Adkins.

While staying in Milford, Mollie organized a meeting with prominent Milford citizens to begin fundraising for the new library. The group was able to secure state aid and officers were elected. The first librarian was Edna Barker and, in 1930, Edith Simpson was appointed her assistant. In 1931, Edith Simpson became the librarian, a job she held for decades.

“She carried on my work in the spirit of sharing books as friends,” Mollie wrote. “It is a pleasure for me to watch, from my frame on the wall, the service rendered from such a small beginning.”