JOHN R. BROWN. We are always glad to accord a place in all records and accounts of the worthy pioneers to the brave soldiers of the late war, who, in addition to having done so much for the county in which they made their home, have deserved a place in the history of their country, for which they dared and suffered untold privations and hardships on the field of battle. The subject of this sketch remained with his parents until nearly twenty years of age, when he enlisted in the Union army at Elizabethtown, Ill., being commissioned First Lieutenant of Company F, One Hundred and Thirty-first Illinois Infantry, when only twenty-one years of age. The date of his enlistment was November 13, 1862, when he enlisted for a three-years term of service, the call for troops being made by Gov. Yates. Mr. Brown was honorably discharged from service at Paducah, September 16, 1863, on account of poor health. He returned to his home, and during the remainder of his life suffered greatly from disease contracted and the exposure incident to life in the army.
Mr. Brown was born in Hardin County-, this State, August 2, 1841. The mother, whose maiden name was Sarah Morris, was born in old Virginia, while his father was a native of Mobile, Ala. Our subject attended the common schools, where he received his elementary education, and later entered Hewitt & Twinham's Business College, from which he received a good recommendation and a diploma. Before going to the army he attended school at Elizabethtown, paying for his tuition by driving a horse in a tanbark mill, for which he received ten cents a day. In 1863 he engaged in the mercantile business, carrying on a general store in Colum bus until 1880, at which time he sold the business and continued to reside here until his death, October 30, 1884.
Our subject was twice married, his first union being with Ourilla Schuhart, June 2, 1868. She was called from this life January 1, 1874, and Mr. Brown chose for his second wife Miss Maggie Ruble, to whom he was married January 21, 1877. Mrs. Brown was born in this county September 23, 1856. Her mother was likewise a native of Illinois, but her father was born in the Buckeye State. Since her husband's death Mrs. Brown has carried on the Brown Hotel, in the village of Columbus and in that hospitable hostelry the weary traveler always finds a pleasant resting-place and a cheerful welcome. The genial landlady is known far and wide as the proprietor of one of the best hotels of southern Illinois. On April 2, 1885, she was appointed Postmistress at Columbus, the office being known as Brownfield, named in her honor. She has held that responsible position up to the present time, and is a thoroughly capable business woman. She is the owner of twenty-one lots in Clark's Addition to Columbus, and also owns several houses in the village, which she rents, besides a store building and her hotel. Mr. Brown left two children, George IL, a son by his first union, and John R., born May 1, 1879, the child of the second union. Mrs. Brown is a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, and in social circles has always occupied an enviable position in the esteem of all. Her husband was a stanch Republican, and the boys in blue wore particularly dear to him.
Extracted from Biographical Review of Johnson, Massac, Pope, and Hardin Counties, Illinois, published in 1893, page 229-230.
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| Livingston KY Crittenden KY | ||
