Clara Brown (1800-1885) Clara Brown was born into slavery on a plantation near Fredricksburg, Virginia, in 1800. She exemplifies the ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit of many African Americans who ventured west in search of better opportunities. Brown married a fellow slave and raised a family of four children. Upon her master's death, the plantation's slaves were sold without concern for keeping families together--a common practice. Brown endured the painful separation of her family, always holding out hope to find them. In 1856, she was granted her freedom. In search of her family, Brown cooked on wagon trains to earn passage west. Responding to the growing population of Gregory Gulch and a pervasive gold rush fever, Brown anticipated the miners' needs for laundry and cooking services. Brown was able to forge a new life in Colorado and achieve success in both business and community. She amassed property exceeding $10,000 and reinvested much of her savings for the support of Colorado's first Methodist church and to aid needy townspeople. With community support she returned to Kentucky and paid the expenses for sixteen relatives to come west. At age eighty-two, her life-long search for her family was rewarded. Clara was finally reunited with her daughter Eliza, who was found through a community letter writing campaign. For many African Americans the West represented a place to start anew. Blacks used their freedom to create new communities and to take advantage of various opportunities for earning a living and bettering their lives.