From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 702.

About twenty years ago E. E. Brown relinquished the heavy cares of an agricultural life and retired to the village of Onslow. His has been a life of many varied experiences for he was one of the young men whose ambitions were fired by the report of the finding of gold in California and who left their New England homes confident that in a few months they could make more in the west land than through a lifetime of toil upon the farm. He was born in Springfield, Vermont, March 30, 1828, and is a son of Enos and Hannah (Griswold) Brown. Both his paternal and maternal grandfathers had fought for the independence of the colonies in the American Revolution so that the stories of that conflict which people of today accept unthinkingly as a part of the history of the world, had for him a meaning closely connected with the memories of his childhood. His parents were natives of Vermont and died in that state, having reared a family of eight children, only four of whom now survive: Samuel, who lives in Vermont; E. E., the subject of this sketch; Leverett, who is residing in Dallas county, Iowa; and Helen, who is the widow of A. L. Robinson and is now living in Los Angeles, California.

Until he was twenty-one years of age E. E. Brown remained at home, working with his father upon the farm, and then in the city of Springfield learned the trade of a molder, at which he worked for one year. About that time, the rumor of the discovery of gold in California reached his home and with seven other young men he embarked upon a steamship which would carry them to the new country. On the 13th of April, 1850, the vessel put out to sea and in September arrived in the port of San Francisco, having taken one hundred and forty-two days to make the journey. They had counted on requiring only forty days and had accordingly provisioned for sixty days from Panama to San Francisco, but they were delayed by bad weather and head winds, so that their eatables had been exhausted for some time ere they reached their destination and an almost starved band of men set foot on the western shore of this continent. Immediately upon his arrival Mr. Brown began prospecting for gold, with such success that during the two years and eight months he remained there he accumulated twenty-five hundred dollars. With this he returned to Vermont and, after spending the summer with his parents, started west to look for a home. He left Vermont August 28, 1853, made his way across the country to Kane county, Illinois, stopping for a short time in St. Charles, where he had some friends. Next he went to Springfield, that state, then after a few days to Alton, whence he took a boat for Dubuque, Iowa. From there he came to Jones county, locating upon a farm in Clay township. It consisted of two hundred and sixty acres and was at that time in the first stages of its development, for the only building upon it was a log house, the home of its previous owner. It was also the abode of Mr. Brown for about three years, when he built the frame house in which he lived until 1875. Then he erected the fine brick residence in which he looked forward to spending the remaining years of his life, but in 1889 he decided to give up the active pursuit of farming and to retire to Onslow, where he had put up a fine house in which he has since lived.

After the inauguration of the Civil war Mr. Brown enlisted in Company H, Second Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He served one year in the conflict, participating in the battle of Bentonville, North Carolina, and several skirmishes, but he remembers most distinctly his experiences as a member of Sherman's army on its historic march to the sea. On the 7th of November, 1853, Mr. Brown wedded Miss Gracia Allbee, who was born in Vermont and was a daughter of William and Lucretia (Johnson) Allbee, both natives of that New England state and both now deceased. Eight children have been born to this union: Forrest W., who is living in Nebraska; Prairie E., a resident of Garnett, Kansas; Mary E., and Ada L., deceased; Leverett E., of Jones county; Carlton E., of Chicago, Illinois; Gracia S., deceased; and Jessie Helen, who lives at home.

Mr. and Mrs. Brown are active members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Politically he affiliates with the republicans, the patty which supported the nation in her hour of need and has been well known in the public affairs of this township, for he served as trustee for five years, acted as assessor for nine years, and for five years was the county supervisor. In short, in looking over the record of his life, it is seen that he is a man who has ever been on the alert to distinguish himself, from the days of his youth when he sought to find a fortune in the west, during the war when he sought for an occasion to prove his patriotism and then in the arts of peace, in which he won a reputation as a successful tiller of the soil. He is a member of the Grand Army Post at Wyoming, Iowa, and for twenty years his wife has been prominently connected with the Relief Corps, having served as vice president of the organization. They have a wide circle of friends and acquaintances in Jones county.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 506.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 622.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Western Historical Company, Chicago, 1879, page 651.

Gravestone of George C. Brown, brother of James, who died at age 11. Photo courtesy Jim Christianson.

He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, September 27, 1842, being a son of John and Margaret (Lockie) Brown, natives of Berwickshire, Scotland, where he was born July 25, 1810, and his wife August 17, 1812. They were married in 1837. In 1838, they became residents of Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1844 removed to Davenport, Iowa. Not being suited with the place in two weeks they left it for Galena, Illinois, where they remained about ten years, and finally came to Jones county, Iowa, settling near the present farm of James Brown on section 11, but the house now stands on section 2, Jackson township. Here the father died October 10, 1891, while his wife preceded him, having passed away February 28, 1989. In their family were the following children: Margaret, who died in Galena, Illinois, aged six years; Janette, who died in Galena when three years old; George, who died when eleven years two months and twenty-two days old, in August, 1865; James, who was the fourth in order of birth; John who owns two hundred acres in Jones county, Iowa, but lives in Los Angeles, California; and two children who died in Cincinnati.

On March 20, 1884, James Brown married Mary McBride, who was born in Pennsylvania, and was brought to Jones county, Iowa, by her parents, John and Isabella Jane (Craig) McBride. She died May 27, 1888, at the age of thirty-five years two months and twenty-one days, leaving two children; Margaret Janette and John N. In 1891 Mr. Brown married Minnie Ahlrich who was born in Oldenberg, Germany, in August, 1863, and was brought to Jones county by her parents John and Katherine Ahlrich when she was twenty years of age. By this marriage there were two children: James George, who was born April 3, 1892, and died January 17, 1909; and Katherine Elizabeth, born August 24, 1900.

Mr. Brown owns two hundred and sixty-eight acres of rich farming land on sections 2 and 11, Jackson township. At one time he had ninety acres more but disposed of it. In addition he owns nine hundred and sixty acres of land in Nueces and Starr counties, Texas, in partnership with his son. He has other investments which pay well and he enjoys a large income annually. It has always been his practice to live economically, to save a portion of his earnings and to invest them wisely, and thus it is that his holdings have increased to their present proportions. In politics he is a republican and he was elected school director when twenty-one years of age, which office he held for a number of years. His religious affiliations are with the United Presbyterian church. Such men as Mr. Brown are a credit to any community and he can always be depended upon for a sound, conservative judgment upon matters of public import.

In the early years of his residence here Mr. Brown has seen as many as forty deer in one herd in Jackson township as the country was then wild and unimproved, the prairie grasses being higher than a man's head when on horseback. In 1854 he once started out on foot to hunt his cows which had strayed from his home one mile west of Center Junction and before finding them walked four or five miles northwest of that town, traveling about four miles before he came to a fence of any kind. In the work of development and progress he has ever borne his part and is recognized as one of the honored early settlers of the county.

From History of Jones County, Iowa, Past and Present, R. M. Corbitt, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1910, p. 376.