Some people never get to walk the road they help pave, but Jimmy Brown Sr. did.
Lancaster County’s first Black deputy died Wednesday, July 27. Brown was 82 years old.
A local law enforcement fixture, Brown rose from a patrol deputy to second in command of the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office under former Sheriff Johnny Cauthen.
Sheriff Barry Faile, who succeeded Cauthen, called Brown a trailblazer who “worked hard” to make Lancaster County a better place.
“He was always fair to the people he swore to serve, as well as those who worked under his direction,” Faile said. “Jimmy knew the importance of the relationship we had with the community, and he constantly worked to make that partnership stronger.”
The first
A deputy for more than 28 years, Brown was hired Jan. 2, 1973, as the county’s first Black deputy, following the Nov. 7, 1972, election of Nae Parks as sheriff.
While campaigning for office, Parks vowed to put a Black deputy on the force. Parks also hired Black deputies Tim Thompson and Tommy Walker that same year, but Brown was the first.
Brown, who was 33 years old at the time, told The Lancaster News in a 2019 interview that friends persuaded him to apply for a deputy’s position.
“I wanted to do something in our community. I kept thinking about that,” said the Lancaster native and Barr Street High School graduate.
Brown said trying to stay even-tempered and calm in the face of racial tension and adversity was tough for the county’s Black deputies.
They were spat on, called names, including “the N-word,” and mocked, he said. Some white deputies even carried around air freshener, bottles of alcohol and paper towels to wipe down equipment after he had used it.
Brown told TLN that it got so bad that other deputies and Parks came to his home to convince him to come to work. At the time, he and his wife, “Miss Etta” Brown, had six children to take care of. Brown said his wife constantly worried about the hostility he faced on the job.
“I kept saying, ‘I’m not going to stay there. No way. Let them do what they want,’ ” he said.
Brown said little, but noted that his shift sergeant, Charles Small, picked up on how some deputies were treating him and reported it to sheriff.
An angry Parks then called a departmental meeting.
“He said, ‘If you don’t think you can’t treat him like a human being, you let me know right now. Because I’m going to fire every one of you,’ ” recalled Brown.
Brown said the straight-shooting Parks was always a man of integrity who stuck to his work.
Brown was promoted to the rank of corporal in the fall of 1974. When Parks announced his promotion, he told all the other deputies to congratulate him and shake his hand. He hoped the controversy had diminished, but quickly learned otherwise.
“You could tell they didn’t like it, some of them, with their handshakes,” Brown said.
He recalled that one sergeant refused to shake his hand and Parks fired him on the spot.
“He stuck by me,” said Brown of Parks, who died in 1984.
Brown worried about answering some calls, but refused to let it show.
A lifetime member of Mount Moriah AME Zion Church in the Douglas community, Brown said he found comfort in the 23rd Psalm and recited it before every shift. And with God’s help, he made it through the taxing workdays.
“He was with me all these years,” he said.
Brown served under four sheriffs and rose from a patrol deputy to major before retiring Oct. 1, 2001.
Faile recalled working as a young deputy under Brown’s watchful eyes.
“Jimmy was a great leader within the agency that everyone looked up to,” Faile said.
After his retirement, the Browns became local restaurateurs and operated Etta’s Kitchen for five years. The popular eatery was well known for its country cooking.
Despite all the opposition and discrimination he faced, Brown said he looked back over his accomplishments as doing what he was meant to do.
“It was worth it,” Brown said in the 2019 interview. “I feel like I helped somebody. I feel like I paved the way.”
Brown is survived by four sons, four daughters, 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.
His funeral is 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, at Second Baptist Church.
Brown’s obituary is on Page 4 of today’s issue.
Follow reporter Greg Summers on Twitter @GregSummersTLN or contact him at 803-339-6869.
