Elmer J. Brown

As printed in 1912

ELMER J. BROWN.

The great task of clearing the land of its timber in early years can scarcely be realized by the people of today. Not a crop could be sown nor an orchard tree planted until the large trees, the patriarchs of the forest primeval, had been cut down and removed with fire or with a team of oxen or horses. Even then the stumps were a great hindrance, and it is doubtful if so much as a half crop could be raised until they had been gotten rid of in some manner. The amount of hard labor required to remove the timber seems almost incredible. It was a task that seemed never to end, and all members of the family were required to assist early and late and at all seasons of the year. The ancestors of Elmer J. Brown had their full share of this work, for they invaded Knox county when it was still wild and the home of the Indian and various species of wild beasts; but they were men of sterling traits and never permitted obstacles to thwart them in their purposes, undergoing the hardships and privations incident to the life of a first settler in such a wilderness without a murmur and here carving out good farms and did their full share in the early development of the county, and their descendants have carried on most admirably the work that they inaugurated here.

Elmer J. Brown was born on October 20, 1865, in Wayne township, this county, and spent most of his life in Monroe and Pleasant townships. He is the son of Joseph and Anna (Scott) Brown, both also natives of this county. Grandfather William Brown came from Maryland to this county in the early pioneer days, where he established his home. The father of the subject was born and grew up to manhood in Monroe township, and he spent his life here engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1890, when he went to Effingham county, Illinois, and there engaged in farming. The mother of the subject died when he was a small boy. A brother of the subject, Harry M., is a dentist in Elwood, Indiana, and a sister, Mary E., is a professional nurse in Indianapolis, Indiana, the subject having been third in order of birth in this family.

Elmer J. Brown spent his youth on the farm, and he attended the district schools and later the Northern University at Ada, Ohio, taking the teacher's course. Thus well prepared for his chosen profession, he taught for a period of fifteen years in the public schools of Knox county, and became one of the leading educators of the county, his services being in great demand. His teaching was principally in Monroe and Pleasant townships. He also engaged some in farming during that period.

Mr. Brown was married on June 6, 1891, to Jennie C. Sellers, daughter of Frank and Frances (Durbin) Sellers, of Knox county, and this union has resulted in the birth of five sons, namely: Sterl C., a graduate of the Gambier high school of the class of 1910. He has prepared himself for a teacher. Ray, who is attending high school at Gambier; Paul C., Carl S. and Lloyd.

Mr. Brown has lived on a farm since his marriage, and in 1897 he gave up teaching and devoted his exclusive attention to general farming, making

;86 a specialty of raising potatoes and chickens, making a great success with both. He has sixty-two acres of finely improved and productive land. He farms on the “intensive” plan, and employs the most advanced methods in all his work.

Politically, Mr. Brown is a Democrat and a member of the school board in Pleasant township. He has been a frequent delegate to county, district and state conventions. He and his family belong to the Methodist Episcopal church, and he is a trustee and steward in the church and active in church and Sunday school work. Personally, he is a broad-minded, well educated and obliging gentleman, indorsing all movements having as their object the general improvement of his locality along all lines.

As printed in Past and present of Knox County, Ohio (1912). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.