Brown, Elijah S. (Reverend)

BROWN, HARRELL, ROOKER, RESSLER, CONAWAY, BARR, BISH, LEE, STARKEY, DOYLE, NORRIS, RUSSELL

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/27/2009 at 11:30:23

Brown, Reverend Elijah S.

The good done by such a life as that led by Rev. Elijah S. Brown cannot be estimated for such a light as his example has been "shines more and more unto the perfect day," and it is entirely consonant that in this work be included at least a brief resume of his long, active and eminently useful life work. He is a man who has sought to do his full duty in all the relations of life, without thought of reward or the praise of his fellow men, contented merely to feel that he is doing the will of the lowly Nazarene.

Rev. Mr. Brown, now living retired in Jasper County, is known and beloved not only in this locality but throughout the state as well. His has been a remarkable career, without a parallel, perhaps, in that for forty years without a break he did not take a day's vacation, nor was he incapacitated by sickness. Forty years does not cover the full period of his ministry. He has been a most zealous worker in his chosen field and has nobly earned the respite which he now enjoys, leading a retired life with his faithful wife beside him, who has with fortitude and fidelity shared his labors and trials during his long career in the service of the Master.

Rev. Elijah S. Brown was born March 29, 1834, in Brown County, Illinois, being the son of James T. and Nancy (Harrell) Brown, the mother having been born in Adair County, Kentucky, and the father was born in Botetourt County, Virginia. When a young man he left his native state, going to Kentucky where he engaged in farming, and there he married, continuing to reside there until 1825, when, with his family, he moved to Illinois where he entered a quarter section of land from the government, in Brown County. Selling his farm in 1848 he brought his family to Davis County, Iowa, buying a section of land ten miles from Bloomfield, the County seat, paying for the same only one dollar and twenty-five cents per acre. This was done by means of land warrants, which the United States government had granted to the soldiers of the Mexican War. Here the family home was maintained until 1874, in April of which year the death of the father occurred, at the age of seventy-two years, his wife having preceded him to the great beyond five months before, in November 1873. She was seventy-four years old. They had established a good home and developed an excellent farm and were prominent among the pioneers of that locality, highly honored and influential in local affairs.

Their family consisted of nine children, namely: P. F., who resided in Kansas at the time of his death, left a large family; Mary, who married Z. B. Rooker, died leaving three children; W. B., who was a soldier in the Civil War, died in Mississippi; C. H. died in Harrison County, Missouri, leaving a large family; J. P. lives in Chicago, where he is extensively engaged in contracting; he was a soldier in the Civil War; Sarah is the wife of John Ressler and died in Davis County; W. W. is a farmer and lives in Barton County, Missouri; S. M., who was a soldier in the Civil War, is living in Ottumwa, Iowa, and Elijah S., of this sketch.

Rev. Elijah S. Brown, who was the fifth child in order of birth in his father's family, received his early education in the country schools and he remained at home until he was twenty-one years of age, assisting with the general work about the farm. On December 23, 1855, he was united in marriage with Elizabeth E. Conaway, who was the daughter of Aquilla and Margaret (Barr) Conaway, and she was born November 20, 1834, in Vermilion County, Illinois. Her father was a native of Maryland and her mother of Pennsylvania. This family moved to Davis County, Iowa, in the year 1838, being among the first settlers there. This family consisted of twelve children, namely: Richard, died in Missouri; Malinda, wife of David Bish, died in Davis County; Joseph, who was a soldier in the Union Army, died in the service near Helena, Arkansas; William died in Davis County, Iowa; America married Joseph Bish, of Davis County; Eliza A. married John Lee, of Davis County; Amanda is the wife of James Brown; John died in Missouri: Sarah J. died in infancy; Nancy married Isaiah Starkey; Fanny married Will Doyle, of Unionville, Missouri; Elizabeth, wife of the subject. The father of these children was a large landowner, a substantial and influential citizen of Davis County.

Until he was twenty-six years of age Rev. Elijah S. Brown engaged in farming during the summer months and teaching school in the wintertime; he also preached in a local way. He was ordained a minister of the Methodist Protestant Church in 1862, and from that time until he retired in 1900 he was engaged in pastoral work continuously, becoming one of the notable men of his day and generation in the work of the gospel in Iowa. He did considerable circuit work, the places on the circuits where he preached being Drakeville, in Davis County; Montezuma, Millersburg, Osceola, Attica, Milton, Jessup, Newton, Ohio Station in Iowa County; Marne in Cass County; Downey in Cedar County. He was stationed at Osceola, Newton and Bussey in Marion County. In each of these places he did a great work, strengthening the church in a general way and building up the congregations. He was president of the Iowa conference of his church for thirteen years, filling this high office in a manner that reflected much credit upon his ability and fidelity and to the entire satisfaction of all concerned, proving himself to be a good organizer and financier, a trustworthy and conscientious servant of the people and a learned and eloquent exponent of the divine word. Fraternally, Rev. Mr. Brown has been a Mason since 1866.

In 1881 Mr. Brown purchased the property where he now resides, owning a very choice place of thirteen acres which adjoins the east corporation line of the city of Newton. He has valuable and highly productive land and a substantial and comfortable home, where, surrounded by his books and all the comforts of life, he is spending his declining years in peace, with no compunction for the past and no fear for the future. In July 1911, the degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on the subject by the Kansas City University.

His home has been blessed by the birth of four children, namely: Mary, who was born on July 15, 1857, married John Norris, of Newton, and they are the parents of seven children; Martha Brown, born in June 1860, died when nine years old; Sadie, who was born in September 1862, married Henry Russell; they are the parents of two children and they are living in Willows, California; C. S., born in October 1868, is a lumberman at Atlantic, Iowa, where he is connected with the W. T. Joyce Lumber Company; he and his wife are the parents of two children.

The Brown family is of English and Irish ancestry, and Mrs. Brown is of Irish and Welsh descent. No family in Jasper County is better or more favorably known than this or is more deserving of the high esteem in which it is held. Past and Present of Jasper County Iowa B. F. Bowden & Company, Indianapolis, IN, 1912 Page 888.