Edward I. Brown

As printed in 1914

EDWARD I. BROWN.

The most of people who have never lived on a farm think that it does not require any special skill to conduct the operations of husbandry. They are accustomed to think that the driving of a team of horses to a plow or harrow, a reaper or a wagon, the scores of other duties connected with general husbandry do not require a finished education or a high degree of intellectual activity. Neither does it to conduct a grocery store, a hotel or a foundry. In these cases it does require, however, a thorough knowledge of the subject. The farmer must know how to sow grain, how to select the best varieties and whether it is in good condition, when to cut his wheat and his grass, how it should be cured, when it is ready to stack, whether it has gone through the sweating process and is ready to thresh, in fact, "he must know a thousand such things, without a proper knowledge of which he is certain to lose heavily, a thing he can not afford to do, because the farmer's profits are some years small and he must figure very close if he is adequately repaid for his expenditure of hard labor. Such a farmer is Edward I. Brown, of Washington township, Randolph county.

Mr; Brown was born in Darke county, Ohio, April 29, 1850. He is a son of Elisha and Nancy W. (Thomas) Brown. The father was born in the same township and county as was our subject on November 17, 18 19. He was a son of John Brown, who was a native of Maryland from which state he came to Ohio when a young man and was one of the pioneer settlers of Darke county, where he spent the rest of his life, as did also his wife Sarah Stockdale, who was a native of Maryland, too. Elisha Brown grew to manhood amid pioneer conditions and had little opportunity to obtain an education. He followed farming in his native county until 1867 when he removed to Champaign county, Illinois where he lived two years, then came to Randolph county, Indiana and located in Greensfork township, buying one hundred and twenty acres which he farmer until his death, May 30, 1888. Politically, he was a Democrat and while living in Ohio was a school director in his district. He was an active member of the Christian church. He and Nancy W. Thomas were married March 1, 1849. She was born in Wayne county, Indiana, November 28, 1833 and her death occurred May 16, 1890. To the parents of our subject seven children were born, five sons and two daughters.

Edward I. Brown grew to manhood on the home farm and he received a common school education. He began teaching in 1868 which he continued until 1871, teaching two terms in West River township and one in

Greensfork township, this county. He then took up farming, buying forty acres of land in Washington township and has continued general farming and stock raising to the present time, now owning a valuable farm of one hundred and sixty acres here. He makes a specialty of Poland-China hogs He takes a great interest in public affairs as affecting his own locality, especially the schools and has done much to improve them. Politically, he was formerly a Republican, but is now inclined to the Progressive party. In religious matters, he belongs to the Christian church and fraternally is a member of the Knights of Pythias.

Mr. Brown was married March 1, 1871 to Mellsena J. Hinshaw, who was born in Washington township, February 22, 1852. Her death occurred July 7, 1892. She was a daughter of Timothy and Jane (Wright) Hinshaw. To this union four children were born namely: Aria M., who is secretary of the Poland-China Record Association in Winchester; William E., bom February 8, 1878, died October 16, 1897; Anna E., born March 12, 1882, married James E. Jennings, a farmer in Washington township; Grace R., born October 2, 1885 is the wife of Jesse A. Wright, a farmer of Washington township. Mr. Brown was again married on February 26, 1898, his last wife being Louisa O. (Wilmore) Lesley. She was the daughter of John L. and Mary Wilmore and widow of Charles Lesley. She had one son, Eldon T. who was born October 16, 1882. He graduated from Purdue in Civil Engineering in 1908 and is located at Memphis, Tennessee. Mrs. Brown before her marriage was a teacher in the public schools of Randolph county.

As printed in Past and present of Randolph County, Indiana : with biographical sketches of representative citizens and genealogical records of many of the old families (1914). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.