MR. NICHOLAS BROWN ILL OLDEST CITIZEN IN MALAHIDE
Mr. N. Brown, is perhaps without a doubt the oldest citizen of
the Township of Malahide and perhaps of the county of Elgin and only very few in the
Province of Ontario will have reached his age which will be ninety-four years if he should
live until about the middle of next month.
Mr. Brown has spent all his life in the Township of Malahide and
is one of the most original characters in the Province of Ontario.
He was endowed with remarkable faculties and his reasoning powers far above the ordinary
are particularly unimpaired at over ninety years of age. He could give to any
preacher remarkable ideas in regard to passages of the Holy Scripture that he would not find
in any of the commentations either ancient or modern.
He attended the First World's Fair in the city of Philadelphia in
the year 1850 and can remember all the changes that have taken place during his long life.
He tells a very remarkable incident in connection with the Rev. L.
Dowe, a pioneer preacher of Ontario, who made a wonderful prophecy at the close of one of
his meetings about ten years before the events took place. The preacher said, "In
the year of 1834 there will be no president of the U.S.A., there will be King of England
and there will be snow in the month of June in Canada." These things all came to
pass, the King of England died and the Queen took his place and the President of the U.S.A.
was assassinated and the Vice-president took his place and there was a snow storm in June
in the same year in Canada. The only comment that can be made in such a
remarkable incident said Mr. N. Brown is that the secret of the Lord is with "them that
fear Him" but let every other preacher beware of attempting to be a Lorenzo Dowe.
Mr. N. Brown at the present time has taken to his bed and feels
that perhaps he may never get up again and he is resting in quietness and peace conscious
of the fact as he has said that he has served his day and generation according ot the will
of God, and his long life is an exposition of the scripture which saith "With long life
I will satisfy thee and shew thee my salvation."
THE PASSING OF NICHOLAS C. BROWN
After an illness of about three weeks, during which time he was
confined to his bed, Nicholas C. Brown, one of the most highly esteemd and most
highly respected residents of East Elgin, passed peacefully away on Thursday morning,
February 19th. He had not been in good health for the past few months prior to
which time he enjoyed remarkably good health. Deceased was born in 1826 on the
homestead on which he died, and the funeral which took place on Sunday, the 21st inst.,
occurred on his 94th birthday. He was the eldest son of the late Walter Brown
and Jemima Carter, and was the last member of his family. Surviving him are
four children; Merritt A. Brown, barrister, Toronto; Dr. Leopold A. Brown, Aylmer;
Colonel Walter J. Brown, A.G.G.M. Military District No. 1, London; Mrs. Oscar Chase on
the homestead at Dunboyne, and two grandchildren, Miss Margaret Chase, Dunboyne, and James
N. Brown of the World staff, Vancouver, B.C., all but the latter being present at the
funeral. The late Mr. Brown was a life-long temperance advocate, a staunch
Liberal in politics, and a Methodist in religion. A short sketch of his history
was given in these columns some three weeks ago.
The funeral service took place from his late residence on Sunday
and the remains were laid to rest in the family plot, Dunboyne cemetery. The
service was conducted by Rev. Kiteley, of Lambeth, a former pastor on the Malahide
Circuit. Mr. Edgar Haight, of the Society of Friends, Sparta, and Rev.
Patterson of Luton. Relatives were present from Ypsilanti, Mich., Toronto,
Hamilton, Woodstock, St. Thomas, Pt. Stanley, Brownsville, Vienna etc.