Partner Ward Corley
Queer Places:
1111 38th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
338 39th Ave E, Seattle, WA 98112
7503 Eads Ave, La Jolla, CA 92037
The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square, 335 Powell St, San Francisco, CA 94102
Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home
Lake Forest Park, King County, Washington, USA
Monte Edgar Brown (October 3, 1914 - July 14, 1999) was the chairman and publisher of the Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.
He was the son of Monte Frank Brown (1880–1941) and Nettie Cecilia Curran (1884–1968). He graduated from University of Washington, class of 1937. After serving as a major in the Marine Corps during World War II, Brown returned to Seattle to help run the Journal of Commerce which was published by his father, Monte F. Brown, until his death in 1941. Monte Edgar Brown became sole publisher in 1964. After WWII, Ward Corley came to Seattle in 1945 for an unknown reason, and slowly became part of Seattle's gay artistic circles. He was briefly involved with architect Robert Shields and later had a longterm relationship with Monte Edgar Brown, who had a distinguished career as a captain in the Marine Corps during WWII. It is not known if the two men met in the marines or if Brown was the reason Corley moved to Seattle.
Monte Brown came from a prominent and successful family that owned and operated the Daily Journal of Commerce, where Ward found employment until 1959. In 1959 he was diagnosed with a terminal liver disease. He went immediately in California for treatment from a liver specialist. In a letter to Morris Graves dated April 21, 1959, Corley wrote: "My week-end in San Francisco was made extremely pleasant because of Monte (prior to becoming set up here in Palo Alto). He had me in the finest suite, as those things go, in the St. Francis, even asking them to give me quarters that were not modern, but with antique furniture or at least French in feeling... The result was a king of high-powered almost savage elegance that was so pleasant under the circumstances." Unlike Corley, his boyfriend Monte Brown had a very supportive family in Seattle who were aware of their relationship. Ward returned to Seattle to live with Monte in a home built directly behind Monte's parents' that included a studio where he could paint. They continued to support Ward through his illness and even cared for him in their own home when he was particularly weak.
Monte Brown died on July 14, 1999, at his Seattle home. The newspaper was later run by Monte Brown's nephew, Denis Brown, and Denis' son, Phil Brown.
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