The Brown Families of Greene County, Missouri

DR. JOSEPH BROWN.

This gentleman is the son of.John D. and Jane (Bray) Brown, and was born in Randolph county, North Carolina, December 8tii, 1828. His father was a native of North Carolina, born October 4th, 1804, and died in December, 1864. His mother was also a native of North Carolina, born February 29th, 1808, and is still living in Christian county, Missouri. Joseph came to Greene county, Missouri, with his parents in 1845, and was educated in the common schools of the county, and at Ebenezer. In the winter of 1858-9 be attended the McDowell Medical College at St. Louis. He then returned to this county, and began the practice in Taylor township, where he lived four years, and at Springfield the same length of time. In 1867 he located where he now lives, four miles east of Springfield, and enjoys a large and lucrative practice, besides, having a farm of two hundred and seventy-five acres. Dr. Brown was married July 7th, 1857, to Martha A. McFarland, of this county, born January 30th, 1838. She was the daughter of William and Martha A. (Roberts) McFarland. Dr. Brown and wife have been best with a family of six children, three boys and three girls. They have lost two children. The doctor is a member of the A. F. and A. M., and is a Democrat in politics.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

Addison Brown has achieved marked success as a lawyer while yet a young man, for the vocation he selected is one of the most exacting of all professions and, too, he has had to win his way in the face of opposition in various ways and in a community long noted for the high order of its legal talent. He throws his whole soul into his work. As a citizen, he stands for the highest ideals in all the relations of life.

Mr. Brown was born on January 19, 1874, in Ozark, Christian county, Missouri. He is a son of E. B. and Sarah A. (Clapp) Brown; the father was born on December 5, 1845; the mother was born on July 15, 1856. These parents received good education, and the father attended the Keokuk Medical College, at Keokuk, Iowa, from which institution he was graduated in April, 1872. He first began the practice of his profession in Ozark, Missouri, where he remained until 1889, when he removed to Billings, this state, and there he is still actively engaged in the practice of medicine, having built up a large patronage. Politically he is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic order, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and other fraternal organizations.

To E. B. Brown and wife nine children were born, all of whom are still living, named as follow: Mollie L., born on August 28, 1872, is single and she has been teaching in the public schools of Dallas, Texas, for the past seven years; Addison, of this sketch; Fred H., born on November 16, 1876, is single, and he is engaged in the practice of medicine at Billings, Missouri; Ross B., born on June 20, 1879, married Elizabeth Berry, and they live in Branson, Missouri, where he is engaged in the real estate business; Frank H., born on July 15, 1883, married Lucy Garroutte, and the)' are living in Billings, where he is engaged in the mercantile business; Minnie V., born in 1886, is single, and is teaching in the public schools of Dallas, Texas; Ned R., born on November 3, 1888, married in 1909; he is a traveling salesman and resides in Colorado Springs; Joseph D., born on January 11, 1893, is a pharmacist and lives in Billings, Missouri; Alta L., born on December 8, 1896, lives in Billings; she is a student in the State Normal school at Springfield, Missouri.

John D. Brown, the paternal grandfather of our subject, married Jean Bray, and to them five sons and three daughters were born, all of the boys being made physicians. Joseph Addison Brown was the father of Dr. William McFarland Brown, a physician and surgeon of Springfield, Missouri, a complete sketch of whom appears on another page of this work, in which will be found a complete genealogy of the Brown family. Dr. G. P. S. Brown, of Nixa, Missouri, is also a physician; he is an uncle of the subject of this sketch.

Addison Brown received a common school education, being graduated from the high school at Billings. Missouri, in 1893. He became a registered pharmacist in Texas on July 15. [893, and for a number of years engaged in the drug business in the city of Dallas with much success. He was manager of a number of drug stores there. Finally he decided to enter the legal profession and began studying law during spare moments. Progressing rapidly, he entered the law department of Washington University, at St. Louis, Missouri, from which institution he was graduated on June 20, 1 901, having made an excellent record. From 1901 to 1905 he was engaged as manager of drug stores in Dallas, Texas.

On September 1, 1905. Mr. Brown located in Springfield for the practice of his profession. He has been very successful from the first and his clientage has constantly increased since coming to this city. During the past seven years he has been attorney for a number of wholesale merchants here. He has long ranked among the leaders of the Greene county bar.

Mr. Brown was married on December 22. 1910. to Lydian D. Berry, of Nevada, Missouri. She is a daughter of J. H. Berry. She received a good education.

Politically, Mr.- Brown is a Democrat. He belongs to the Masonic order, the Young Men's Business Club, and the Christian church.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

THOMAS TOLIVER BROWN.

When Thomas T. Brown, one of Greene county's honored citizens of a past generation, passed away, there was added to the list of lamented dead whose earthly records closed like the "good and faithful servant" spoken of in Holy Writ, and as long as memory remains to those who knew him the influence of his noble life will remain as a source of encouragement and inspiration. "Our echoes roll from soul to soul and grow forever and forever," according to the poet Tennyson, and the good we do lives after us through all the ages, handed down from generation to generation. Who, then, can measure the results of a life work? Not to condemn, hut to aid, Mr. Brown made the practice of his life, and many of his friends and acquaintances are better and happier for his having lived, for though the voice is stilled in death, the spirit of his work remains as the deep undercurrent of a mighty stream, noiseless hut irresistible. His influence was as the delicate fragrance of a flower to those who had the pleasure of his friendship. His sympathies were broad and ennobling, and his life was beautiful in its purity and virtues.

Mr. Brown was born May 20. [856, in Newton county, Missouri. He was a son of Smith \Y. and Mary (Goodman) Brown. The mother had been previously married to a Mr. Brock. The father came from Tennessee to Missouri in [856, and the mother of our subject also came from that slate. Smith \Y. Brown was a man of fairly good education. He studied law in his youth, was admitted to the bar, and practiced his profession in Greene county for several years. During the Civil war he enlisted in Company F. Eighth Missouri Volunteer Infantry and served three years in the Union army, taking part in several battles and a number of skirmishes. He was also recruiting officer for a time. After the war he returned to Greene county and took up masonry, also continued practicing law. He drew a pension from the government in later years, having been wounded in one of the battles of the war. He continued the practice of his profession until his death in [C/IO, but spent many years on the farm, and he was active in the affairs of the Masonic Order. Thomas T. Brown was one of two children by his father's first marriage, he having been the eldest. The other child, a girl, died in infancy, the mother dying about the same time. I lis father married a second time but did not live long with this wife, separating when the subject of this sketch was two and one-half years of age. The elder Brown hired a family named Bailies in Bois D'Arc. this county, to take care of Thomas T. and the latter remained in that home three years then went to live with his grandfather, with whom he remained until he was about seven years of age, when Smith W. Brown married a third time, moved to Greene county after the war and here spent the rest of his life. Upon his last marriage he took our subject into his home and there he remained until he was fourteen years of age when he left home. In the meantime he had been attending school and obtained a meager education. When he was nineteen years of age he was married to Nancy Owens, September 16, 1875. She is a daughter of Richard and Nancy (Garoutte) Owens, natives of Tennessee and Indiana, respectively. To Mr. and Mrs. Owens eleven children were born, namely: James was a soldier in the Civil war and was killed in the battle of Pea Ridge, Arkansas; Isabelle married And)- Chaisteen, of Greene county, is deceased; Andrew J. lives in Oklahoma; Charlotte married Martin Marias and is now deceased; Richard W., deceased; Bernice is the wife of William Brakebill and they live in Greene county, Missouri; Mary married George Likens and they live in Greene county; Napoleon B. lives in Douglas county, Missouri; Nancy Elizabeth is the widow of the subject of this sketch; Sampson B., and Jeremiah both live in Lawrence county, this state. All the above named children lived to be grown, and the youngest one living was fifty years old in April, 19 14.

To the union of Thomas T. Brown and wife the following children were born: Effie is the wife of Robert Nelson and they live in Barry county, Missouri, and have ten children; May, deceased, was the wife of Ferd Jackson, and left five children; Dollie F. is deceased; Lulu, deceased; Sam R. lives in Pond Creek township, this county, and has four children; Katherine is the wife of Roy Browning and they live in Greene county and have five children; Richard, and Smith, both live in this county also; Martha W. is the wife of Chris Bielier and they live in Greene county, and have one child; Alary V. is the wife of Dal Davis of this county and have one child; the two youngest children were twins and died in infancy. Mrs. Nancy E. Brown has twenty-nine living grandchildren and one great grandchild, all of this generation, and all but one live in Greene county. Mrs. Brown owns an eighty-acre farm of rich bottom land, one of the desirable small farms of this part of the county. It is operated by her youngest son who has remained at home. He is married and has one child.

Thomas T. Brown devoted his active life principally to agricultural pursuits; however, he was for many years engaged in other occupations. Soon after his marriage he went into the drug business which he followed about two years, then sold out and started a nursery business on his farm, which he managed in connection with farming for six years. Later he took stock in the corporation known as Owen & Cahill, which manufactured fence building machines, and was connected with this concern for four years, then secured employment with the L. E. Lines music house of Springfield, with which he remained for a period of seven years, or until his health failed, causing him to give up active business and retiring to his farm in Ponk Creek township, where he remained until his death about six years later, on September 4, 1909. He was very successful as a business man and gave entire satisfaction to his employers. He was broad-minded, farsighted and was a good mixed, and, dealing honestly with the business world, always had the confidence of those with whom he came in contact.

Fraternally he was a member of the Modern Woodmen. Politically he was not a party- man, voting for the man rather than the party. He was a man of upright character and loyal in his friendships, and his death was a loss to the community.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JOHN J. BROWN, M. D.

Dr. Brown is a son of John and Ellen {nee Henderson) Brown, both of his parents being natives of Virginia. He was born in Rockcastle county, Kentucky, February 5, 1847, and grew up in his native county, receiving his education in St. Mary's College and the University of Kentucky. Early in life he began the study of medicine. In 1866 and 1867 he attended the medical college at Cincinnati, Ohio, and on leaving there began the practice at Mt. Vernon, near where he was born. In 187-5, he entered the medical department of the State Universit;% returning to Mt. Vernon and resuming his old practice after he took his degree of M. D. in 1876. He was appointed the same year by Got. McCrary to serve as official examiner for the fifteenth district, to pass upon applicants who desired to practice medicine before graduating from a chartered college of medicine. For eight years Dr. Brown filled the office of county school commissioner in his native county. He was married December 15, 1867, to Miss Mollie E. Snodgrass, a native of the same county as himself. They have seven children, all living at this writing. In the fall of 1882, Dr. Brown came to Green county, locating at Bois D'Arc. So well-informed and experienced a physician will, doubtless, win for himself that full share of the professional practice which his ability and general fitness so fully merit.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

JAMES M. BROWN.

The name James M. Brown dues not sound very Irish-like, neither lues the bearer of this plain old cognomen possess many of the outward characteristics of the Celtic people, but it is evident that he has inherited many of the praiseworthy traits of his ancestors, which have resulted in his success in his chosen field of endeavor and in his popularity among his associates. For we all know that there is no better blood in this country than Irish blood. Our subject is filling the responsible position of master mechanic at the Springfield (.las and Power Company. Such positions are not attained without careful preparation.

Mr. Brown was born in fCnoxville, Tennessee. May 28, 18O4. lie is a son of John and Mary (Perry) Brown, the latter dying in [910 at the age of seventy years. The father was born in County Cork, Ireland, where he spent his boyhood, immigrating to the United States when he was about nineteen years of age, and located in Tennessee, where he became a railroad contractor, making his home at Greenville, Greene county, that state, where his death occurred at the early age of forty-eight years, in 1894, and he was buried at Quaker Knob, Greene county. As a contractor he built railroads in eastern Tennessee. Virginia and Georgia. His family consisted of six children, namely: William M. is an engineer for a railroad company, operating coal mines in Xorth Carolina; Thomas, formerly a stationary engineer, lives at Little Rock, Arkansas; Daniel is engaged in farming in Texas; James Al., subject of this sketch; Alary, a trained nurse, resides at Morristown, Tennessee; Sallie is married and also resides at Alorristown, Tennessee.

James M. Brown received his education in the public schools, but left his text-books when only twelve years of age to go to work in a saw mill at Bull's Gap, Tennessee, where his duties were to keep the sawdust thrown back out of the way and to pull the whistle three times a day, considering the latter privilege an honor. He was later fireman at the mill, receiving a dollar and fifty cents per day. after he had been working only six months at the plant. He held this position for two years, and. being a close observer and a willing worker, became a full-fledged engineer before he was he worked on a farm two years; then worked in a water mill on Clear fifteen years of age. lie then went to McDonald county, Missouri, where creek, hauling flour from the mill for one year; then came to Ash Grove, Greene county, about 1880, securing a position with the Likins Milling Company, and helped erect a plant there, of which, when it was finished, he was engaged as engineer, which position he filled until 1895, then came to Springfield and was employed by the Springfield Electric Light Company, later the Springfield Traction Company, as engineer, and three months later was appointed chief engineer, continuing in this position until 1913. The work became too heavy and he then took a position as repair man, and is now master mechanic at the Springfield Gas and Power Company, in whose service he has been employed for a period of twenty years. He has given eminent satisfaction in every respect, being not only an expert engineer and mechanic, but is faithful, reliable and trustworthy.

Mr. Brown was married on October 28, 1890, to Annie E. Sanford, of Walnut Grove, Missouri. She is a daughter of Robert C. and Mary (Holder) Sanford, To this union two children have been born, namely: Millard F., who was educated in the Springfield ward and high schools, is single, and he has been employed in the main office of the Frisco railroad for five years; Sanford, who was educated in the high school, Drury College and a local business college, is connected with the Heer Dry Goods Company, of Springfield.

Mr. Brown owns a pleasant home on North Main street. Politically, he is a Republican, and, religiously, a Presbyterian. He is a member of the National Association of Steam Engineers, of which he was formerly secretary. Fraternally, he belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

HARRY I'. BROWN.

We are so accustomed to think of man as a material composition complete in the food that matches his hunger, in the water that lakes his thirst, in the air that trades with his lungs, in the raiment and roof that protects him from the cold, in the money that relates him to the world's commerce, that we fail to recognize that the person who has no mental above in which to shelter his higher self, and the moral, spiritual and intellectual furnishments necessary for its equipment, health and inspiration, lives on a level not much above that of the animal. Harry F. Brown, who has charge of the storeroom of the reclamation department in the South Side Frisco shops, Springfield, is not of the class referred to, but while laboring for the material comforts of life, as if natural and right, he has not neglected to provide what might be called an intellectual above, being a thinking man of good ideals and practices.

Mr. Brown was born in that great country which all Americans admire — England, he having first seen the light of day at Farlingdean on July 24, 1876. He is a son of Walter E. Brown, also a native of England, in which country he grew up, attended school and was married, residing there until the year 1881, when he immigrated with his family to the United States, landing in New York. Coming on west he selected Springfield, Missouri, as the best place in which to locate, and although he had followed gardening in his home country, he here sought and found employment with the Frisco railroad, in the North Side shops, where he became foreman of a labor gang. He is now employed in the Florence Bottling Works in this city, being owner of same. He remained with the Frisco ten years, from 1882 to 1892, then spent ten years in the grocery business, in which he was very successful, giving that line of endeavor up in 1902 to engage in the bottling business at the corner of Lyon and Division streets, where he has a modernly equipped and excellent plant, employing a number of hands and from which he sends out large consignments of his products all over this section of the state. He has been very successful as a business man, being now a man of considerable means, although he landed in this city with very little capital. Politically, he is a Republican. He was a member of the city council for eighteen months. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen of America and the Masonic lodge.

The mother of our subject was known in her maidenhood as Fannie Madden, who was born in England, where she grew to womanhood and attended school. She became the mother of five children, namely: William, who lives at Lebanon, Missouri, is a machinist and electrician, and has charge of the city's lighting plant there; Harry F., of this sketch; Bert is engaged in the bottling business with his father; Florence married Thomas Hixon, who was formerly engaged in the meat business in Springfield; Fannie married John W. Crow, who lives at Strafford, this county, and is in the employ of the Frisco.

Harrv F. Brown was five years old when his parents brought him from England to America, and he grew to manhood in Springfield, and here attended the public schools and a business college. When twenty years of age he went to work, in 1896, for the Frisco system as baggage-man at the Springfield station, working there three years, then, in 1899, was transferred to the store department at the North Side shops. In 1902 he went to work for the Kansas City Southern railroad, with which he remained six months, then worked six months with the New Phoenix Foundry and Machinery Company, after which he engaged in the grocery business for himself until 1906, then went to work again for the Frisco in the store department at the North Side shops, and was assistant there until 1909, in which year he was sent to the new shops as foreman of the store department, which position he held a year, then was sent back to the old North Side shops as general stock clerk, remaining there a year, then was shipping and receiving foreman in the storeroom there for a year. after which he was transferred to the reclamation plant in the South Side shops, November 1. 1914, and is now foreman of the store-room, and is giving his usual high-grade service.

Mr. Brown was married, in 1898, to Ollie Oliver, a daughter of Benton Oliver, of Springfield, a well-known dry goods merchant here, on Commercial street. Mrs. Brown was reared and educated in this city. The union of our subject and wife has been without issue.

Politically. Mr. Brown is a Republican. Fraternally, he belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. South.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

FRANK E. BROWN.

Successful farming calls for the best of judgment It means good crops, good live stock well fed and handled, and a thoroughly balanced business in every way. No business needs better management all around than farming. So many chances for failure are present that it is the exceptional farm that is strong in every particular. Most farms succeed in spite of certain weaknesses. Some of these weaknesses can be corrected; others are due to conditions that cannot be improved, such as naturally poor soil, short growing seasons, steep hills and various things. No better example of a good general farmer, stock man and horticulturist than Frank E. Brown, of Campbell township, near the Springfield city limits, could be found in Greene county. He has applied business principles to his farming and has used his mind as well as his brown. He hails from the far-away rugged state of Maine, but before casting his lot with the people of the Ozarks, engaged in mercantile pursuits in Minnesota a number of years.

Mr. Brown was born August 6, 1860, at Sangerville, Maine. He is a son of Francis and Tamar (Brown) Brown, and a grandson of Oliver Brown, who was a native of Maine his parents being among the pioneers of that state, lie grew up and married in his native locality and later removed to Sangerville. having been among the first settlers at that place, and there he spent the rest of his life engaged in farming and died there, and there occurred the birth of his son Francis Brown, our subject's father.

As printed in the source². Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.