Brown, Wilbur N.

BROWN

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/28/2021 at 23:05:34

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.856

WILBUR N. BROWN
The farming interests of Lincoln Township find a worthy representative in Wilbur N. Brown who owns and cultivates one hundred and eighty acres of land, having one hundred acres in the home place on section 17. He was born March 3, 1866, in Warren County. His father, Robinson Brown, was a native of Butler County, Ohio, born in 1821. There he was reared and on leaving Ohio went to Parke County, Indiana, where he married Miss Almira Silcott, who was born and reared in that state and was a daughter of Lewis E. Silcott. Mr. Brown, following his marriage, engaged in farming in Parke County, Indiana, for fifteen years or until after the birth of four of their children, when in the fall of 1865, he removed with his family to Iowa, settling in Warren County, where he purchased the farm upon which his son Wilbur now lives. This he began to cultivate and improve and at one time owned two hundred acres of rich and productive land. He erected a good residence upon the property, also put up a substantial barn, and still resides upon the farm at the venerable age of eighty-seven years. He lost his wife, however, in May 1898. Of their children E. B. is now living in Kansas; Rachel grew to womanhood, married and afterward passed away; E. W. is living in Indianola; and Emma L. is the wife of J. S. Hardin, a resident farmer of Lincoln Town­ship.
W. N. Brown, the only member of the family born in this County, was reared upon the old homestead farm and after pursuing his early education in the common schools attended Simpson College. When his education was completed he took charge of the home farm and the business connected there­with and has since carried on general agricultural pursuits. As a companion and helpmate for life's journey, he chose Miss Eva G. Barlett, whom he wedded in Lincoln Township March 14, 1889. She was born in Jasper County, and reared and educated in Milo, a daughter of Lewis Barlett.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown began their domestic life on the home farm and in the intervening years he has given his undivided attention to the work of further developing and improving the place. He has enclosed the entire farm with woven wire fence and has also used the same material in cross fencing the place to some extent. The work of improvement has been carried steadily forward until the farm is one of the best properties in Lincoln Township in the character of its resources and in the nature of its advantages. He uses the latest improved machinery to carry on the work of the fields and annually gathers golden harvests as a reward for his labors. He also raises and feeds high-grade cattle, hogs and horses, handling about a carload of hogs annually. He likewise conducts a dairy business and fattens some cattle and he likewise raises Silver Laced Wyandotte chickens.
Politically he has been a lifelong Republican, but has never sought nor desired office, preferring to concentrate his energies upon his business affairs. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church in which he is serving as one of the stewards and trustees, while his wife is a teacher and active worker in the Sunday school. They have four children: Roy L., Paul R., Ruth G., and Helen, who attend church with them, for it is the desire of the parents to so rear their children that they shall become useful and respected citizens. Mr. Brown is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, while both he and his wife are connected with the Modern Brother­hood Association, which is a fraternal insurance society. Mr. Brown is widely known in the county by reason of the extent and success of his business affairs, as well as a genial manner and an upright character which have gained for him the friendship and regard of those with whom he has been brought in contact. He has always lived in this county, and as one of its native sons, his record reflects credit upon the community which has ever been his home.