BROWN, Judge Alexander: Died 1910

BROWN, RANKIN, GIBSON, JOHNSTON, CRAIG, SLOAN, MANNING, DAUGHRITY

Posted By: Volunteer: Sherri
Date: 8/15/2016 at 00:08:24

**Handwritten: St. Line Dem. Thurs. 18 Aug. 1910
THURSDAY, AUGUST 18, 1910

LATE ALEX. BROWN
FUNERAL WAS HELD FRIDAY AFTERNOON

THE SKETCH OF HIS LIFE
Held Many Positions of Trust and Was Beloved and Trusted By All

The funeral of the late Judge Alexander Brown, whose death occurred Wednesday, August 10, was held from the residence Friday, the 12th inst. It was one of the largest funerals that has been held here for some time, friends of the Judge form every part of the county coming in to pay their tribute of respect to the memory of one whom they esteemed not only as an affiable and genial gentleman but a tried and true and sincere friend. The attendance must have been between 200 and 300.

Revs. Chas. E. Perkins, J.W. Cheney and W.G. Thorn participated in the funeral service proper. Mr. Perkins read a chapter of Scripture, (the chapter that had been read the day before Judge Brown's death in family worship) and made a fervent and eloquent prayer; Rev. J.W. Cheney, an army comrade, read an excellent biographical sketch of the deceased, which no one was so able to prepare as he; Mr. Thorn delivered a short funeral discourse. The excellent choir of the M.E. church rendered the music.

The burial service was in immediate charge of the Grand Army of the Republic, as Judge Brown had requested, members of El Chanan commandary, Knights and Templars, acting as an escort. There were 40 old soldiers in line, more than we shall perhaps ever see here again on a similar occasion, and 18 Sir Knights. A special escort of six members of Judge Brown's company marched beside the hearse, they being Rev. J.W. Cheney, Col. W.P.L. Muir, Martin Corns, Christy Warren, W.H. Harryman, and George DeHart. The pall bearers were reatives of the deceased, viz., Dr. J.A. Craig, J.A. Brown, H.B. Sloan, Lee Daughrity, Craig Miller and S.W. Manning.

Judge Brown was always held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. That is shown by the positions of honor and trust to which he was called at different times by his fellow citizens. The attainment of such positions was not the result of self-seeking. He was always recognized as being the man for the place, and its acceptance urged upon him. He was a man of high ideals and great goodness of heart. He entertained a kindly feeling for every human being, and we are sure it can be said he never in all his life consciously wronged anyone. He always advised his clients in the line of their best interests instead of advising them into a course in which he would get a fee out of them; and we do not believe he ever advised a client to pursue a course that would wrong his adversary. He followed St. Paul's injunction to live at peace with all men as far as possible, and advised his clients to do the same. The writer knew Judge Brown intimately from the time he was serving his first term as county auditor. He was not only a good lawyer and safe counsellor, but he had native ability far above the average of men. He was an able man as well as a good man, and his death is keenly felt throughout the community and county.

This community seems to be singularly afflicted in the loss of those whom it esteemed and delighted to honor. Recently we have lost Eno, Valentine, Burns, Morton, Fleming and Wilkin, and in the not distant past Manning, Nourse, Baldwin, Rankin, Lea, Bonney, Kinnersley, Smith, Starr, Gebhardt, Fasnacht, Shepherd, Knapp and many, many others, and now Judge Brown has joined them on the silent shore. Our people surely feel like calling out in the lines of Longfellow:

"Come back! ye friendships long departed!
That like o'erflowing streamlets started.
And now are dwindled, one by one,
To stony channels in the sun!
Come back! ye friends, whose lives are ended,
Come back, with all that light attended,
Which seemed to darken and decay
When ye arose and went away!"

Judge Brown's useful, noble and eventful life is so well covered by the excellent obituary sketch prepared by Rev. J.W. Cheney and ready by him at the funeral, that we give it in full as follows:

THE LATE ALEXANDER BROWN

SKETCH OF ALEX. BROWN BY REV. J.W. CHENEY.

This highly esteemed citizen died Aug. 10, 1910, after having resided in Keosauqua almost continuously for nearly 68 years. He was of Scotch descent. His father, Hugh Brown, and his mother, whose maiden name was Mary Gibson, were natives of Scotland, were married in that country and partly reared a family there. They were zealous adherents of the Presbyterian church. Hugh Brown was a man of energy, ability and honorable character, and his wife was an estimable woman. They emigrated to American in 1820, lived for some time in Albany, N.Y., then settled in Pennsylvania. From there they came to the territory of Iowa, in 1842, and settled in Keosauqua, when Mr. Brown, in connection with his son-in-law, James Johnston, erected and operated a flouring mill. He died in 1847; but his widow survived him for 30 years, dying in 1877 at the age of 80 years. They were the parents of nine children, eight of whom lived to maturity, and beyond, but all of them are now dead; Alexander, the subject of this sketch, being the last one to leave the shores of time.
(pg. 161)
+ + + + + +
(pg. 162)
**Handwritten: Alexander Brown

He was the next youngest child born near Carbondale, Luzerne county, Penn., May 3, 1837. He was therefore but five years old when the family came to Keosauqua, and only ten when his father died. He attended various schools in this town, and here he studied law under the tutelage of Judge Geo. G. Wright, and was admitted to the bar in 1859.

In the fall of 8161 he and his older brother, Hugh, enlisted in Company E. 15th Iowa Infantry. Hugh was made 2nd lieutenant at the outset, served with the company about a year and then on Gen. Ord's staff for the remainder of the war, after which he joined the regular army, in which he served many years, retiring with the rank of major.

The 15th regiment was organized in Keokuk, Ia., and spent the winter of 1861 and 1862 in quarters there. Alex. Brown was promoted March 1, 1862, from private to sergeant major of the regiment, which left Keokuk March 19, and arrived at Pittsburg Landing April 6, - on the first day of the great battle of Shiloh. The regiment was immediately sent to the front, became heavily engaged, and came out of the battle with a casualty list of 213 killed, wounded and missing. Sergeant Major Brown was severely wounded in the hip; he recovered in time to reach the regiment and participate in the battle of Corinth Oct. 3, 1862, in which the casualties o the regiment were 109, and Brown was dangerously wounded in the shoulder. His wound unfitted him for further service, and became a severe drain upon his vitality through subsequent life. He was discharged upon the surgeon's certificate in February, 1863, and returned home. Shortly afterwards he was appointed to a clerkship in the office of Provost Marshal Robert Rutledge at Burlington, which position he held until October, 1865. He returned to Keosauqua, and in the fall of 1867 was elected judge of Van Buren county, and held that office until it was abolished by legislative enactment two years later.

He was then elected Auditor of the county and served in that capacity for six years, after which he entered upon the practice of law, his chosen profession, and was successively in partnership with W.A. Work, the Sloans and E.R. Harlan.

In 1881 he was elected to the state senate, his opponent being the noted T.O. Walker, at that time of Bloomfield. During his term in the senate he secured some amendment to the law so as to permit a larger appropriation for county bridges, and the building of river bridges at Pittsburg, Bentonsport and Farmington was the result.

He also secured the passage of a bill forfeiting the roadbeds of abandoned railroads, which applied to the old narrow gauge railroad between Keosauqua and Mt. Zion and was the principal factor in getting the Rock Island into Keosauqua.

In 1894 he was elected county attorney for the term of two years. He was mayor of Keosauqua continuously for a period of ten years until 1908, when on account of growing infirmities he declined to run again for that office.

He was a member of the school board as early as 1878, and had been on that board the greater part of the time since then, and was its president at the time of his decease. He had also been a member of the board of trustees of the M.E. church for many years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also of the G.A.R.

In 1870 Judge Brown was married to Mary Rankin, who survives him. Their only child, Ord, grew to manhood and was for some time associated with his father in the abstract business, but he died nearly five years ago. Our friend's love for and great attention to his aged mother indicated what he would make of a home of his own. His domestic life was beautiful and was largely the result of a Christian faith, which he did not loudly publish but strongly felt. He habitually attended the public worship of God, and it was his custom to read the scriptures and pray in his own home. He was a constant and careful reader of the Christian Advocate and other religious literature.

Source: Van Buren Co. Genealogical Society Obituary Book G, Pages 161 & 162, Keosauqua Public Library, Keosauqua, IA

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