Congress 
Welcome to the Brown Family Club's section on "Famous and Notable Browns" which honors Browns and their kinfolk (including descendants) who have served in the United States Congress. The most famous Browns have been in government service and many have been elected to Congress from several states.
If you know family information on any Browns or descendants who have been elected to public office, please send us details with as much family history as you know.
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Aaron Venable Brown was born 15 Aug 1795 in Brunswick County, Virginia, a son of Aaron Brown and Elizabeth Melton. He attended Westrayville Academy in North Carolina and graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1814. He moved to Nashville, Tn. in 1815 and studied law. He was admitted to the bar in 1817 and began practice in Nashville. He moved to Giles County, Tn. in 1818 and set up practice there. He became a partner with James K. Polk. Aaron was elected to the Tennessee State Senate and served from 1821-1825 and to the State House of Representatives, serving 1831-1833.
Aaron was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives of the 26th US Congress and to two more terms, serving from 1839-1845. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Territories. He did not seek reelection in 1844.
He was elected Governor of Tennessee and served from 1845-1847. While he was governor, the US became ingaged in the Mexican War was. Tennessee's quota of soldiers was 2,800 but when the Governor call for volunteers, 30,000 answered; only four regiments were accepted. The state school for the blind at Nashville and one for deaf and dumb at Knoxville were incorporated during his administration. The East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad (later part of the Southern Railway system) was incorporated in 1847.
He lost a bid for reelection. He served as a delegate to the Democratic Party National Convention in 1852. He was appointed by President Buchanan as Postmaster General of the United States on 6 Mar 1857 and served until his death in Washington, DC 8 Mar 1859. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery, Nashville.
Anson Brown was born 1800 in Charlton, Saratoga County, New York. He graduated from Union College, Schenectady, NY in 1819 and then studied law. He was admitted to the bar and set up practice at Ballston Spa, NY. He became one of the first directors of the Ballston Spa State Bank, organized in 1830.
He was elected as a Whig Party candidate to the House of Representatives of the 26th US Congress and served from 1839 until he died at Ballston Spa in 1840. He was buried in the Ballston Spa Cemetery.
Benjamin Brown was born 23 Sep 1756 in Swansea, Bristol County, Massachusetts, a son of Daniel Brown and Ann. He was a grandson of Esek Brown Sr. and Mercy Carr. Benjamin studied medicine and set up practice at Waldoboro, Maine (then part of Massachusetts). He served as surgeon aboard the American frigate Boston during the Revolutionary War, which took John Adams to France to represent the Colonies as minister. He was captured in 1781 while serving on the American warship Thorne and imprisoned on Prince Edward Island in Canada. He escaped and reached Boston. He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1809, 1811, 1812 and in 1819.
Benjamin was elected as a Federalist to the House of Representatives of the 14th US Congress and served from 1815-1817. He then resumed his medical practice at Waldoboro. He was married to Elizabeth ???. He died in Waldoboro 17 Sep 1831 and was buried in the Waldoboro Cemetery.
Charles Brown was born 23 Sep 1797 in Philadelphia, Pa. His family moved to Cumberland County, NJ when he was a boy. He became an officer of the State Militia 1817-1819. He was Town Clerk of Dover township in 1819. He taught school at Dividing Creek in 1820-1821. He returned to Philadelphia in 1823 and was involved in the cordwood business. He was appointed a director of the Philadelphia Schools in 1828. He was elected to the Philadelphia City Council in 1830 and 1831. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives 1830-1833. He served as a delegate to the State Convention to revise the state constitution 1834-1838. He was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate 1838-1841.
Charles was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives of the 27th US Congress and served one term 1841-1843. He did not seek reelection. He served as president of the state convention to nominate candidates for the Board of Canal Commissioners in 1843. He was a member of the Northern Liberties Township Board of Commissioners in 1843.
He was elected to the House of Representatives of the 30th US Congress and served from 1847-1849 and did not seek reelection. He was a member of the Eastern State Penitentiary, 1851-1853. He became Collector of Customs at the port of Philadelphia 1853-1857. He was a member of the board of guardians of the poor of Philadelphia in 1860. He moved to Dover, De. In 1861 and serve as Dover Town Commissioner in 1864 and 1865. He was president of the board of trustees of the Dover public schools 1871-1878. He died there 4 Sep 1883 and was buried at Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia.
Charles Elwood Brown was born 4 Jul 1834 in Cinncinatti, Oh. He attended Greenfield Academy and graduated from Miami University, Oxford, Oh. in 1854. He moved to Baton Rouge, La. where he worked as a tutor. He studied law and was admitted to the bar, setting up practice in Chillicothe, Oh. He became Prosecuting Attorney of Ross County in 1859 and 1860. During the War for Southern Independence, he enlisted as aprivate and was brevetted to the rank of Brigadier General in 1865. After the war, he returned to his law practice. He served as postmaster of chillicothe 1866-1872. He was commissioned pension agent at Cincinnati in 1872.
Charles was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 49th US Congress and a second term, serving 1885-1889. He did not seek reelection in 1888. He resumed his law practice. He was elected to the Ohio State Senate in 1900 and 1901. He died 22 May 1904 at College Hill, Hamilton Co., Oh. and was buried at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati.
Charles Harrison Brown was born 22 Oct 1920 in Coweta, Wagoner County, Oklahoma. He attended Drury College, Springfield, Mo. for three years and George Washington University, Washington in 1939. He became program director for a radio station at Springfield in 1937 and 1938 and radio publicity director for the Missouri Conservation Commission in 1940. He worked for an advertising agency in St. Louis 1934-1945. He founded the Brown Radio-TV Productions, Inc. company at Springfield. He was also a partner of the Brown Brothers Advertising Agency in Nashville, St. Louis and Springfield. He served as a delegate to the Democratic Party National and State Conventions in 1956, 1960 and 1964.
Charles was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representative of the 85th US Congress and to a second term, serving from 1957-1961. He was defeated for reelection in 1960. He then worked as a public relations consultant in Washington and Los Angeles from 1973-1979. He lives in Incline Village, Nv.
Clarence James Brown Sr. was born 14 Jul 1893 in Blanchester, Clinton County, Ohio, a son of Owen Brown and Ellen Barerre McCoppin. He attended the Washington and Lee University school of law 1913-1915. He was an Ohio state statistician in 1915 and 1916 and then was engaged in the newspaper business. He became president of Brown Publishing Co. at Blanchester and published several rural newspapers. He also owned and operated several farms. Clarence was elected Lieutenant Governor of Ohio and served 1919-1923. He was elected Secretary of State of Ohio and served 1927-1933. He was the Republican Party nominee for governor in 1934 but lost the election. He was a delegate to the Republican National Conventions in 1936, 1940, 1944 and 1948. He served as a member of the Republican National Committee in 1944-?.
Clarence was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 76th US Congress and to 13 more terms, serving from 1939 until he died 23 Aug 1965 at Washington. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Select Committee on Newsprint. He was buried at the IOOF Cemetery in Blanchester. He was succeeded in office by his son, Clarence J. ("Bud") Brown Jr.
Clarence James ("Bud") Brown Jr. was born 18 Jun 1927 in Columbus, Ohio, a son of Congressman Clarence James Brown Sr. He graduated from Duke University in 1947 and Harvard Business School with a masters in 1949. He served in the US Navy 1944-1946 during World War II and again in the Korean War. He worked for his father's newspaper company, Brown Publishing Co. from his youth until 1953 and again from 1957 to the present. He served as president of the company 1965-1976 and chairman of the board since 1976. He was a co-owner of the Franklin Chronicle in Ohio 1953-1959. He also owns a farm. He was general manager of a radio station in Urbana, Oh. in 1965. He was a delegate to the Republican Party National Conventions in 1968, 1972, 1976 and 1984.
Bud was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 89th US Congress to succeed his father when he died in 1965 and to eight additional terms, serving from 1965 - 1983. He did not seek reelection in 1982, when he ran for governor of Ohio but lost. He was appointed Deputy Secretary of the US Department of Commerce by Ronald Reagan and served 1983-1988. He served on the board of the Overseas Private Investment Corp. 1988-1989. He was president and chief executive officer of the United States Capitol Historical Society 1992-1999.
He is the father of Roy Eldridge Brown, currently a Republican candidate for Congress and Clancy Brown, a well-known Hollywood movie and television actor.
Elias Brown Jr. was born 9 May 1793 in Baltimore, Maryland, a son of Elias Brown Sr. and Ann Cockey. He was a grandson of Abel Brown and Susannah Shipley. He was a Presidential Elector from Maryland on the ticket of James Monroe and Tompkins in 1820 and that of John Adams and Rush in 1828.
Elias was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat-Republican to the House of Representatives of the 21st US Congress in 1828 and served 1829-1843. He was elected to the Maryland House of Representatives in 1834 and 1835. He was elected to the State Senate and served 1836-1838. He was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1836.
Elias married Susannah Brown, a daughter of Moses Brown and Mary ("Polly") Snowden, in 1819 and they had three children. He died 7 Jul 1857 near Baltimore and was buried in Brown-Owings Cemetery, Sykesville, Carroll County, Md.
Foster Vincent Brown Sr. was born 24 Dec 1852 near Sparta, White County, Tennessee, a son of Joseph Brown and Martha Mitchell. He graduated from Burritt College, Spencer, Tn. in 1871 and from Cumberland University law department in 1873. He was admitted to the bar and set up practice at Jasper, Tn. in 1874. He was a delegate to the Republican Party National Conventions in 1884, 1896, 1900 and 1894. He moved to Chattanooga in 1890 and established his law practice there.
Foster was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 54th US Congress in 1894 and served one term 1895-1897. He did not run for reelection. He was appointed by William H. Taft as Attorney General of Puerto Rico in 1910 and served until 1912, when he resigned and returned to his law practice in Chattanooga. He headed the local draft board during World War I.
G
arry Eldridge Brown was born 12 Aug 1923 in Schoolcraft, Kalamozoo County, Michigan. He graduated from Kalamazoo College in 1951 and George Washington Univ. Law School in 1954. He was admitted to the bar the same year and began practice at Kalamazoo. He served in the US Army as a 2nd lieutenant in Japan. He was named Commissioner of the US District Court for the Western District of Michigan 1957-1962. He served as a delegate to the Michigan Constitutional Convention of 1961-1962. He was elected to two terms in the Michigan State Senate, serving 1962-1966, during which he was minority floor leader and chairman of the Republican Senate policy committee.Garry was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 90th US Congress and to five additional terms, serving from 1967-1979. He was defeated for reelection in 1978. He resumed his law practice in Washington until his death 27 Aug 1998. He was buried in Schoolcraft, Mi.
George Edward Brown Jr. was born 6 Mar 1920 in Holtville, Imperial County, California, a son of George E. Brown Sr. He graduated from El Centro Junior College in 1938 and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1946. He served in the US Army from 1944-1946 during World War II. He worked for the city of Los Angeles for 12 years between 1940 and 1957, when he became a management consultant 1957-1962. He served as a City Councilman and Mayor of Monterey Park, Ca. 1954-1958. He was elected as a representative to the California State Assembly 1959-1962.
George was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives of the 88th US Congress and to three additional terms, serving from 1963-1971. He did not seek reelection in 1970. He ran again in 1972 and won reelection to 13 additional terms after that, serving from 1973 until his death 15 Jul 1999. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. He died at Bethesda, Md.
George Houston Brown Sr. was born 12 Feb 1810 in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, a son of Isaac V. Brown and Mary Houston. He graduated from Princeton College (University) in 1828 and taught at Lawrenceville Academy 1828-1830. He studied law at Yale College (University) for one year and in a law office at Somereville, NJ. He was admitted to the bar in 1835 and began practice at Somerville. He served as a member of the State Council 1842-1845. He was a delegate to the State Constitutional Convention in 1844.
George was elected as a Whig Party candidate to the House of Representatives of the 32nd US Congress and served one term 1851-1853. He did not seek reelection. He was named Associate Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and served from 1861 until he died 1 Aug 1865 at Somerville. He was buried there in the Old Cemetery.
He married Joanna Gaston in 1841 and they had 8 children.
CONTINUED in Part 2
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