—From “What We Are Coming To,” in the March 21, 1874, issue of The Saturday Evening Post
We asked her if Mr. Willis did not wish to change his name to Brown. She said: “Oh, no; he’d be dumb if he did, Willis being a much prettier name; besides, had his name been Higginbottom he would have preferred to retain it, considering it was his own, and the one he had always been known by.”
So it is John Henry Willis and the Rev. Olympia Brown. He attends to his grocery business. She preaches to her congregation of saints and sinners every Sunday. They keep a snug little house in Bridgeport, on Golden Hill, and the name on the door is “Olympia Brown” — that partner in this matrimonial firm being the better known of the two.
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Comments
Well, Ms. Brown certainly knew what she wanted. Why would/should she have to give up her given last name, particularly being a preacher, with her congregation knowing her so well as the Rev. Olympia Brown? Evidently her husband was on board with the unconventional surname practice, and it worked out just fine. Good for them!