The Brown Families of Summit County, Ohio

JOHN BROWN, deceased. The champion of universal liberty, the zealous friend of the colored race, and the hero of Harper's Ferry, was born at Torrington, Conn., on the 9th of May, in the year 1800, and was the son of Owen and Ruth (Mills) Brown. His ancestry is traced back in an unbroken line to Peter Brown, one of the fugitive pilgrims, who landed from the Mayflower on Plymouth Rock in December, 1620. Without tracing the family back to this renowned ancestor, suffice it to say that Capt. John Brown (the grandfather of subject), was an officer in the Revolutionary army, and died of disease during his term of service. He was of the fourth generation from Peter Brown in regular descent. Capt. John Brown's youngest son was named Owen, and was the father of our subject. He came to Ohio in 1805, when the latter was but five years old, and settled in Hudson Township (now in Summit County), where he became one of the principal pioneer settler's of that section. He was commonly called Squire Brown, and was one of the Board of Trustees of Oberlin College; was spoken of as being endowed with energy and enterprise, and of going down to his grave honor-ed and respected, about 1852, at the age of 87 years. Subject's mother died when he was but 8 years old, a loss he mourned long and sincerely.

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

CHARLES W. BROWN, Akron, whose portrait appears in this work, son of Jonas and Mary (Williams) Brown, was born Oct. 2, 1796, in North Stonington, Conn. His father died when he was 5 eai's old, at New London, Conn., of yellow fever. After the death of his father, he went to district school until he was 18 years of age, attending about two months per year. When he was 16 years old, he commenced learning the carpenter and joiner trade, serving as an apprentice two years, at the end of which time he commenced working at Lyme, Conn., where he remained a year. On Feb. 3, 1817, with one years wages as his only- capital, he. in company with two other young men, should- dered their knapsacks and started, on foot, for Ohio — for the purpose of making places for themselves in the great, bustling world — reaching Middlebury, on the evening of the 28th of February, after a journey- of about 700 miles. On his arrival he found about sixteen buildings, the majority of which were log. there being but a very few frame houses then at this place. (Previous to his coming here, he was married in Connecticut, to Miss Henrietta Halsey, which marriage occurred on June 9, 1816; his wife came here in August, 1817, with Capt. Gear, who drove through with an ox team.) At Middlebury he kept house some fifteen years, engaged at his trade, and putting up many of the first frame houses there, and in that vicinity. In 1825, he purchased 45 acres of woodland, where his present place is situated, moving there in 1832, and adding to it various lots, until he owned 115 acres. Several of the early bridges were built by him, and quite a number of buildings in Akron are of his handiwork, among which is the Baptist Church. He helped to cut the way for Market street, and, in after years, graded the same road for five miles, reaching from Akron to Copley. After 1840, he devoted himself to other pursuits. For five years he held a Lieutenant's commission. He raised five daughters and one son, viz., Mary, wife of Kdward F. Pulsifer. of Chicago, and Prudence, wife of

J. W. Sabin, of Akron, both of whom are dead. Antoinette, wife of Benjamin McNaughton, of Akron; Lucy, who died in 1850, and was the wife of Robert Henry; Alice, wife of William H. Mills, of Akron, and Henry H. Brown, of Akron. His wife, Henrietta, died on Sept. 23, 1859. On May 14, 1864, he married Mrs. Lydia Williams, of Connecticut, who died on Sept. 6, 1865. For some years he has enjoyed the rest which his toiling has so richly deserved. At the present time, in the same house, are four generations of the Brown family, each of which is represented by a male member.

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

ALMON BROWN, County Coroner and Justice of the Peace, Middlebury (Sixth Ward, Akron), was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., Nov. 26, 1801, on his father's farm, and is the third child of a family of eight children, born to Holland and Sarah (Mix) Brown. They were natives of Brimfield, Mass., and Litchfield, Conn., and were married in Tompkins Co., whither they had removed with their parents. In January, 1814, Mr. Brown and family, then consisting of seven children, came to Ohio. His means of transportation was a sled, drawn by two yoke of oxen, the stronger members of the family, of whom was Almon, our subject, walking the entire distance. The trip required twenty-six days. Upon his arrival he bought 160 acres of timber land, and, while building a cabin, lived with a friend. The cabin put up by Mr. Brown was twenty feet square, and of round logs; there was one room, " cut down " inside, oiled paper window, board door, made from the sled box, and a stick chimney. He lived here two years, then sold his improvements and bought 135 acres adjoining, on which he erected another log cabin, and commenced clearing his land. He lived in the vicinity some ten years, making in the meantime several improvements. He then removed to what is now Wadsworth Township, Medina Co., where he bought land, upon which he lived until his death, which occurred in April, 1844. His wife died in Medina in. 1861, where she had lived with a daughter most of the time after her husband's death. Almon Brown, our subject, made his home with his parents until he was 21 years of age. He received but a limited education — his schooling amounting to about four months' attendance, one month each at four different terms of district schools. He was married, Jan. 1, 1828, to Miss Rosalind Hinman, a native of Allegany Co., N. Y., who came to this county (Coventry Township) with her parents about the year 1818. She died May 13, 1847, leaving five children. He was a second time married, on Sept. 9, 1847, to Miss Evan Shively, a native of Columbiana Co., Ohio. She died June 17, 1857. Two children were born of this marriage. May 13, 1858, he was again married, to Mrs. Read, formerly Miss Catharine Paulus, a native of Huntingdon Co., Penn. She was born June 13, 1811, and was the third of five children born to Daniel and Hannah (Miller) Paulus. They were natives of Pennsylvania and Virginia, and were married in Pennsylvania, removing to Ohio in the year 1815. They settled in Jackson Township, Stark County, where Mr. Paulus died the next year after settlement. His widow, two years later, married Mr. Jacob Jubb, and bore him five children. They lived in Stark Co. until his death, when she went to Indiana, and passed the remainder of her life with her children. Catharine, the wife of our subject, lived at home until her first marriage to John Read, a wagon-maker in Middlebury. He died Aug. 18, 1856; they had no children. She has since resided here, with the exception of about eight years passed in the western part of the county. After the first marriage of our subject, he followed carpentering for about twenty years, and then worked at wood-turning in Norton Township, and, in 1866, came to Middlebury, where he has since resided. He has served most of the time as Justice of the Peace; also served as Ward and Township Assessor some eight or nine years. He was mail agent for several years, and is now serving his fifth term as County Coroner. He was Mayor of Middlebury two terms, the last during the vote to annex it to Akron. He has been a member of the Disciples' Church since 1834,. and an Elder of the same a number of years. Mrs. Brown was a Methodist about thirty years, but since 1860, has been a member of the Disciples' Church. Mr. Brown's first vote for a Presidential candidate was for John Quincy- Adams. He was a Whig until 1840; then anti-slavery until the organization of the Republican party, since which time he has been a zealous member of it.

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

CHARLES W. BROWN, barber, Akron, a son of John and Margaret (Groves) Brown, was born in Cleveland, Ohio, May 7, 1843, where he lived until 15 years of age, attending the public schools of that city. At the age of 14 he entered his father's barber shop as an apprentice; he, being a leading barber on Superior street for some fifty years. Subject worked in the shop until the war broke out. He had drilled with a company of colored men under Capt. Paddock of the " Cleveland Grays." This company, through John Brown (subject's father) tendered their services to Gov. Tod, who telegraphed in response: " When we want N-----s we'll let you know." Subject then recruited fifteen men, and upon offering themselves to Rhode Island were accepted. He then returned and raised twenty men more, but Ohio had, in the meantime, discovered that "N-----s" would stop bullets as well as whites, and got out an injunction against their leaving the State. Gov. Sprague of Rhode Island was notified, and sent two of his ablest attorney's to manage the case. In the trial of the case, Gov. Tod's telegram was offered in testimony, and after a full discussion of the pros and cons, the " N-----s " were allowed to follow their own bent, and at once reported to Rhode Island, where they were mustered into the lath Rhode Island Heavy Artillery. They entered the service in October, 1862, and were discharged at New Orleans in the spring of 1865. Subject served in the Gulf Department, and was in the battles of Red River, Mobile, Plaquemine, La., and was ist Sergeant of Co. K. He came to Akron in the fall of 1865, and has done a good business as barber ever since. His shop is located under the Academy of Music, and runs from three to five chairs with competent artists, and has a bath room attached. He has always been a stanch Republican and is the first colored man elected to office in Summit County, by a popular vote, being elected Trustee of Portage Township in 1880, an office he has faithfully filled. He was married, July 29, 1867, to Miss Laura V. Lewis, of Cleveland; they have two daughters and one son. His parents were free-born and came to Cleveland about 1820, where the mother still lives, aged 85: father died in 1868. They had two sons and two daughters. Subject is a fine musician, and was leader of the first colored band ever raised in Akron.

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

JOSIAH BROWN, funeral director and furniture dealer at Cuvahoga Falls, was born in Summit County. Ohio. April 28. 1838. and is a son of Simon and Elizabeth (Pontious) Brown.

Jacob Brown, the paternal grandfather oT Josiah Brown, wa.s born in Pennsylvania, but died in Stark County, Ohiu, where he was engaged in agricuUural pursuits. He had a family of thirteen children and of these Simon wiis the eldest. The latter was born in Pennsylvania and came to Summit County about 1835. He died in 1895, aged eighty-four years. After reaching Cuyahoga Falls he learned the cabinet-making trade, with J. T. Holloway, and then went into partner.'ship with Addison McConkey, under the finn name of McConkey & Brown. About 1848 he purchased his partner's interest and continued alone, alto carrying on undertaking, and being the only undertaker in the place for many years. He.supported the candidates of the Republican party. His wife, who was a daughter of Solomon Pontious, was born at Uniontown, Stark County, Ohio, and died December, 1901, aged eighty-four years. The three children of Simon Brown and his wife were: Josiah, subject of this sketch; Mrs. Harriet Goble, residing at Cuyahoga Falls; and Ezra, who is now deceased. The family belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church.

After completing his education in the High School at Cuyahoga Falls,.josiah Brown learned hi* father's trade, and continued to be associated with him until 1873, when he w-ent to Akron, where be worked through the summer and fall as a carpenter, and then entered the employ of Turner, Vaiighn & Taylor. For twenty years he remained with that firm as a carpenter and then returned to his father. After the latter's death, he managed the business for his mother until her death, when he took en tare* charge. It is one of the oldest business houses at the Falls.

Mr. Brown is a veteran of the Civil War. On September 10, 1861, he enlisted in Battery D. First Ohio Light Artillery, and re-enlisted in the same battery, in January, 1864, and was commissioned second lieutenant at that time. He took an active part in all the engagements in which his battery was concerned and he was honorably discharged in June, 1865. Mr. Brown is a member of Eddy Post, No. 37, Grand Army of the Republic, at Cuyahoga Falls, and enjoys meeting with his old comrades and living over again the dangers and triumphs of army days.

Mr. Brown married Lucy E. Warner, a daughter of John Warner, of Cuyahoga Falls, and they have had three children, namely: Ida, deceased, who married William Graham, of Akron; Charles Arthur, residing at Toledo, a mechanical engineer in the employ of the Toledo Railway and Light Company; and Birdie B., who is the widow of John Wilson, residing at New York City. Mr. Brown and family attend the Methodist Episcopal Church. He is affiliated with Howard Lodge, No. 62, Odd Fellows. Politically ne is a Republican.

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

JAMES W. BROWN, secretary of the I. S. Myers Company, at Akron, leaders in the clothing line, is one of the city's active business men and has been identified with this concern for many years, both before and since its incorporation. He was born at Morris Run, Pennsylvania, in 1871, and is a son of the late William R. Brown.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

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

JAIHES BROWN, farmer; P. O. Twinsburg; was born Dec. 1, 1806, in Hampden Co., Mass, to James Brown, whose father's name also was James. The mother of our subject was Orvilla Phelps, of Connecticut; his father, being a poor man, he left home at the tender age of 7, and was buffeted about from place to place until he was 11 years of age, when he was bound out until his majority, after which he worked out by the day and month, receiving small compensation for his labor. In his 27th year, he married Emeline Waterman, daughter of Zebedee, a soldier in the war of the Revolution. Mr. Brown came West in the spring of 1839, to Twinsburg, where he manufactured shoes, which business he had followed to some extent before he came West. In 1841, he purchased the land where he now resides, which then was mostly unimproved. April 14, 1843, his wife died, leaving one daughter — Caroline, now Mi's. John W. Barge, who is a resident of Cleveland. Jan. 10 of the following year, he married Maranda Hanchett, born July 1, 1825, in Yates Co., N. Y., daughter of Seth and Patty Remington Hanchett, who were natives of Connecticut, and removed to Yates Co., N. Y., prior to the war of 1812. To them were born nine child'en. The family came West to this township in 1833, locating in the southeastern part. Mr. Brown, by his last marriage, has one child only — Almon James, who perpetuates the family name. To James, the grandfather of our subject, were born James, William, Nicholas, Daniel, Thomas, Lewis, Israel, Petsey and Jennie. To James and Orvilla Phelps were born Hcinnah, Orvilla, James, Roswell and Almon. Almon James was born Feb. 16, 1846, and, on March 5, 1868, married Miss Danchee, who was born Dec. 18, 1848, to Harrison and Sylphinia (Nye) Dunchee. Almon J. has one son: James H, born Dec. 27, 1877. The farm consists of 300 acres, the result of hard labor and rigid economy.

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