Charles W. Brown

As printed in 1881

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 History of Summit County, with an outline sketch of Ohio (1881). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.