Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens
Lawrence County Pennsylvania 1897
[p. 366] an affluent and influential farmer of Pulaski, Lawrence Co., Pa., was born in the above township, June 25, 1826. His father, James Brown, came from Mercer County, and his mother, who was Elizabeth Malone before her marriage, came from the eastern part of the State. The Brown family are Pennsylvanians from away back. John Brown, the grandfather, came from east of the mountains toward the close of the last century, and preempted 500 acres of land, which he found as nature left it, a wilderness of forest; in the first year he cleared a part of this tract, and dressed the soil for the reception of the seed for the new crop. Thereafter from year to year he employed his spare time in felling the forest trees, and performing such other labor as was necessary to put his farm in first-class condition. He was a man of some importance in his time, and served in the War of the Revolution, possessing a captain's commission at its close. He became the head of a family, and his wife brought into the world: Joseph; Jehu; James; William; and John. The family held liberal views on religious subjects.
James Brown, the father of James P., the present representative of that name, enlisted in the War of 1812, when his school-days were scarcely over and served until the war was over as a private. When he had received his honorable discharge, he labored for a while in Ohio and then bought the farm in Pulaski township that is now the property of his son. At that time the land was a part of Mercer County. By thrift and good management, he laid by property, and gave to his surroundings an air of prosperity that led him to be accounted one of the best agriculturists in the community. He wedded Elizabeth Malone, and their only child was James P., whose name figures as the heading of this article. Politically, our subject's father was a Democrat. He obeyed the summons of death before he reached middle life, at the age of thirty- five, in 1826.
James P. Brown was given an ordinary schooling in the district school, and after serving a full apprenticeship at the carpenter's and joiner's trade, worked at his trade in Ohio, and then came to Lawrence County, where he had considerable employment as a builder; he was considered a skillful workman, and ranked among the best artisans in wood in Western Pennsylvania. He is an uncompromising, loyal Republican, and has been a school director, although he has not aimed at office-holding. In 1851 were celebrated the nuptials of James P. Brown and Lorena W. Corning, daughter of S. L. Corning of Hartford, Conn. She was born in Brookfield, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and has borne Mr. Brown a family of five sons: Carson C.; Frank N.; Wells A.; Dawson A.; and James Alpheus. The eldest son, Carson C., wedded Margaret Judy of Pulaski, and they have two children—J. Burton and Charles A. Frank N., the second son, was a promising young lawyer of New Castle, who died in 1893 at thirty-five years of age, after a successful practice of four years succeeding his admission to the bar. Wells A. married Lottie Browlee of New Bradford, Pa., and they have two children living—Stewart and Ronald. Dawson A. was united in the bonds of matrimony with Daisy Shields of New Bradford. James Alpheus, the youngest son, chose Grace Johns for his wife, and lives in Pulaski; one son, James Russell, has blessed their marriage.
In religious belief, Mr. Brown holds liberal views, and Mrs. Brown is a member of the Disciples Church of Pulaski. Mr. Brown is one of the foremost farmers of Pulaski township, and has an unlimited amount of farm lore, which is the result of his long experience. He is a good, substantial citizen, interested in the welfare and growth of the county, and merits the recognition that is accorded by the best citizens to his worth.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens Lawrence County Pennsylvania
Biographical Publishing Company, Buffalo, N.Y., 1897
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Updated: 30 May 2001