Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1891
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 543
J. D. BROWN

J. D. BROWN, present Postmaster at Missouri Valley, was born in Uxbridge, Worcester County, Mass., October 14, 1842. He is a son of Pemberton and Paulina (WHITMORE) BROWN. The father was a blacksmith by trade, and also conducted a hotel; he was quite a prominent State militia man in Massachusetts, was Captain of the Uxbridge Grenadier for some years. There were four children by his first marriage and the same number by his second marriage, our subject being the third child of the last marriage. Henry H., a Unitarian minister, is in Salem, Oregon, and Pemberton W., is purchasing agent for the D. S. S. & A. Railroad Co., and located at Marquette, Mich., the other being deceased. The father died March 30, 1870, and is buried at Uxbridge, Mass., but died at new Boston, Conn. His wife, the other mother of our subject, died at Missouri Valley, Iowa, February 24, 1874, her remains being taken to Uxbridge, Mass., and laid away to rest by the side of her husband.

Our subject's early education was received in Massachusetts, but later in Connecticut. He learned the machinist's trade at Holyoke, Mass., and followed this until the war broke out. August 8, 1862, he enlisted in Company D, Eighteenth Connecticut Infantry, and was on detached duty, guarding railroads, etc., until the summer of 1863, when his regiment joined the army in the Shenandoah Valley, under General MILROY. The battle of Winchester, in the Shenandoah Valley, June 14 and 15, 186, was the first engagement his company was in. He was mustered into service March 15, 1864, as Captain of the Forty-third United States (colored) Regiment, and was with them until October 10, 1865, but disbanded in November of that year. He took part in the battle of the Wilderness, the sieges of Petersburg and Richmond, and was afterwards stationed on the Rio Grande. He was mustered out at Brownsville, Tex. At the siege of Petersburg, when the attempt was made to blow up the Rebel fortifications, July 30, 1864, sixteen men from his company were missing, either taken prisoners or lost their lives, and the Captain received a wound in the breast and foot. After the close of the war he returned to Massachusetts, attended Commercial College, and worked for a time in a straw factory in Malden, Mass., and in June 1867, came West, and was first located at Dakota City, Neb., and in October of that year, came to Missouri Valley, where he entered the employ of the Sioux City and Pacific Railroad Company, and held the following positions: Superintendent's clerk, store keeper, paymaster, freight and ticket agent. In August, 1885, he took charge of the Consolidated freight offices of the Sioux City & Pacific and Chicago & Northwestern railroads, at Missouri Valley, and for three years acted as joint agent for both roads, making twenty-one years of railroad service. At the time of entering the employ of the Sioux City & Pacific Railroad, he was made agent for the sale of town lots and lands belonging to the Blair Town Lot and Land Company, as well as for lands belonging to the Iowa Railroad Land Company; also the Missouri Valley Land Company. Mr. BROWN remained agent for the above companies until March 12, 1889, when the Missouri Valley Real Estate and Improvement Company (of which Mr. BROWN is the Secretary and one of the original organizers) purchased the lots and lands in Missouri Valley and adjacent territory. December 21, 1889, our subject was appointed Postmaster at Missouri Valley, taking possession January 25, 1890, and is the present incumbent. He has held many local offices, including the presidency of Rose Hill Cemetery Association; also, of the School Board, at the time the High School was erected.

He belongs to Missouri Valley Post, (Belden Post No. 59), of the G. A. R., in which he has held several offices, including Commander of Post, and politically, is a stanch supporter of the Republican party, and always has been.

Mr. BROWN was united in marriage September 18, 1869, at Worcester, Mass., to Miss Fannie C. NOYES, whose parents are both deceased. They are from the old Granite State--New Hampshire.

Mr. and Mrs. BROWN are the parents of four children, two of whom died in infancy. Those living are: Leon W., born August 24, 1872, and Adin NOYES, born June 23, 1880.

Both, our subject and his wife, come from good old New England stock, and have been active factors in every community in which they have lived. Mr. BROWN's grandfather, Elihu BROWN, entered the federal army when fifteen years old, and fought during the Revolutionary struggle, while our subject himself took the part of a brave soldier during the late war for the union.

Whether one views Mr. BROWN from a business or social position, or as connected with the enterprise of his community, he is the same prudent, accurate and methodical gentleman.

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