Senate 
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.
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Albert Gallatin Brown was born 31 May 1813 in Chester District, South Carolina, a son of Joseph Brown. His family moved to Copiah County, Ms. in 1823. He attended Mississippi College at Clinton and Jefferson College, Washington, Ms. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1833. He set up practice in Gallatin, Ms. He was elected as a representative to the Mississippi State House of Representatives and served 1835-1839.
Albert was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives of the 26th US Congress and served 1839-1841. He declined nomination for a second term.
He served as Judge of the Circuit Superior Court 1842-1843. He was elected Governor of Mississippi and served 1844-1848.
Albert was reelected to the 30th US Congress and to two more terms, serving from 1847-1853. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1854 to fill a vacancy for a term beginning 4 Mar 1853 and was reelected in 1859, serving from 7 Jan 1854 to 1861, when he withdrew from Congress, due to the secession of Mississippi from the union. He had served as Chairman of the Committee on the District of Columbia and on the Committee on Enrolled Bills.
He enlisted in the Confederate States Army during the War for Southern Independence and served as a captain.
Albert was elected to the Confederate States of America Senate in 1862. He served in the First and Second Confederate Congresses. Albert died 12 Jun 1880 near Terry, Hinds County, Ms. He was buried in Greenwood Cemetery, Jackson, Ms.
Arthur Brown was born 8 Mar 1843 in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, a son of Asa Briggs Brown and Lephia Olympia ???. He graduated from Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Oh. in 1862. He did graduate study at the University of Michigan in 1864. He was admitted to the bar and set up practice at Kalamazoo. He moved to Salt Lake City, Ut. In 1879. When Utah was admitted as a state, he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served 1896-1897. He did not seek reelection and resumed law practice in Salt Lake.
He was shot and killed in Washington, DC by a woman who claimed to be the mother of his children. He was buried at Mount Olivet Cemetery in Salt Lake City.
Bedford Brown Sr. was born 6 Jun 1795, in Guilford County, North Carolina, a son of Jethro B. Brown and Lucy Williamson; a grandson of John Brown and Ann Bedford. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1813. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1815. He did not practice law. He was a planter. He was elected as a representative to the North Carolina House of Commons in 1815, 1816, 1817 and 1823. He served in the North Carolina Senate 1828-1829.
He was elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy in 1829 and reelected in 1835, serving from 1829 to 1840. He resigned because he could not obey the instructions of the North Carolina General Assembly. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture on the Committee on Revolutionary Claims and the Committee to Audit and Control the Contingent Expense.
He was once again elected to the North Carolina Senate in 1842. That same year, he lost in a bid for election to the US Senate. He moved to Missouri in 1843 and later moved to Virginia. He returned to North Carolina and farmed. He was elected to the State Senate and seved 1858-1860. He was a delegate to the NC State Convention (the "reconstruction" convention) in 1865.
Bedford was once again elected to the US Senate in 1868. However, the yankee radical Republican-controlled Congress refused to allow him to be seated (along with most other Southern Congressmen).
Bedford married Mary Lumpkin Glenn 6 Jul 1816 in Caswell Co., NC. They had three sons. He died 6 Dec 1870 at his Rose Hill estate in Caswell County and was buried in the family cemetery there.
Benjamin Gratz Brown was born 28 May 1826 in Lexington, Ky., a son of Mason Brown and Judith Bledsoe. He was a grandson of John Brown Jr., a Congressman from Virginia and US Senator from Kentucky and his wife Margaret Mason. Benjamin completed preparatory studies and graduated from Transylvania University, Lexington, Ky. in 1845 and from Yale College in 1847. He studied law in Louisville, Ky. and was admitted to the bar in 1849. He set up practice in St. Louis, Mo. He was elected as a member of the Missouri State House of Representatives and served from 1852-1858. He was one of the founders of the Missouri Democrat newspaper and was its chief editor in 1854. He ran unsuccessfully for governor of Missouri in 1857.
He took an active role in fighting against the secession of Missouri from the union during the War for Southern Independence. He enlisted in the yankee army and raised a regiment and commanded it.
Benjamin was elected as an Unconditional Unionist candidate to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy of Senator Waldo P. Johnson who was expelled by the yankee radical Republicans. He served from 1863 to 1867. Benjamin was elected Governor in 1871. He was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Vice President of the US on the ticket with Horace Greeley in 1872. He resumed his law practice after that. He died 13 Dec 1885 at Kirkwood near St. Louis and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery there.
Ernest S. Brown was born 25 Sep 1903 in Alturas, Modoc County, California. His family moved to Reno, Nevada. He graduated from the University of Nevada in 1926. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1927. He set up practice in Reno. He was elected to the Nevada State Assembly in 1933. He served as District Attorney of Washoe County 1935-1941. He resigned to enter the United States Army during World War II. He was commissioned a second lieutenant and later as a colonel. He left the Army in Dec 1845 and returned to Reno and his law practice.
He was appointed as a Republican to the United States Senate to fill a vacancy and served from 1 Oct to 1 Dec 1954. He lost a bid for election for the office. He died 23 Jul 1965 and was buried in the Masonic section of Mountain View Cemetery in Reno.
Ethan Allen Brown was born 4 Jul 1776 in Darien, Connecticut, son of Roger Brown, Sr., a prosperous farmer and veteran of the Revolutionary War. Ethan was a grandson of Samuel Brown and Hannah Rundle. He was tutored at home and became proficient in Latin, Greek and French. He later went to New York and studied law under Vice President Alexander Hamilton. He was admitted to the bar in 1802. Ethan and a cousin bought two flatboats that year loaded with flour and floated them down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans to sell. They couldn't find a market for the flour there and took ship to Liverpool, England where they sold the flour. The next year, his father sent him on a trip west to buy land to invest in. Ethan chose a site on the Ohio River 35 miles from Cincinnati and bought several thousand acres. The town of Rising Sun, Indiana was laid out on the Brown estate. The estate was called "Parterre".
Ethan moved to Cincinnati in 1804 and set up law practice there. Ethan served one term as Prosecuting Attorney of Hamilton County (Cincinnati) and was then named Associate Judge of the Supreme Court of Ohio and served from 1810-1818. Although he had been schooled by Alexander Hamilton, a leader of the Federalists, Ethan chose to affiliate himself with the Jeffersonian Democrat-Republicans.
He was elected Governor of Ohio by an overwhelming majority of votes in 1818. and served two terms from 1818-1822. He devoted a lot of effort to building canals for commercial transport in the state during his administration. At a time when banking was in its infancy in the United States and gold specie was very scarce. The country was in the midst of the economic depression of 1819 caused by the scarcity of gold and silver specie. The Ohio Legislature voted to authorize an annual tax of $50,000 on each of the two branches of the United States Bank, a bank which had been charted by the US Congress. The state auditor sent agents to the branch at Chillicothe and demanded a sum of $100,000 from the bank officials. The US Supreme Court under Justice John Marshall had recently ruled that states did not have the right to tax an agency charted by Congress. Ohio chose to defy this ruling, along with several other states. The action led to a suit by the bank before the Supreme Court, with such prominent lawyers as Henry Clay and Daniel Webster arguing for the bank. Ohio lost the case but the bank was eventually abolished -- the nation's first attempt at setting up a federal banking system.
He resigned as governor after being elected by the legislature to fill a vacancy to the United States Senate and served from 1822 - 1825. He failed in a bid for reelection.
Ethan was named Canal Commissioner of Ohio from 1825-1830. He had strongly supported President Andrew Jackson who appointed Ethan as Charge d'Affairs (ambassador) to Brazil from 1830-1834. During his term of duty there, the Emperor of Brazil was forced to abdicate.
In July 1835, he was appointed Commissioner of the General Land Office in Washington 1835-1836, after which he retired and moved to Rising Sun, Ohio County, Indiana . He was elected to the Indiana House of Representatives in 1842. Ethan died 24 Feb 1852 at Indianapolis, In. He was buried at Cedar Hedge Cemetery in Rising Sun with his father, six brothers and sisters. He never married.
Fred Herbert Brown was born 12 Apr 1879 in Ossipee, Carroll County, New Hampshire, a son of Dana J. Brown. He attended Dow Academy and Dartmouth College for two years. He then played professional baseball two years for the Boston Braves (now the Atlanta Braves) in the National Baseball League. After he left baseball, he studied law with James Edgerly of Somersworth, NH. He attended Boston University School of Law 1904-1906 and was admitted to the bar in 1906. He set up practice in Somerswoth with Edgerly until he died in 1908. Fred then continued to practice alone. He served as Somersworth City Solicitor 1908-1914. He was elected Mayor and served 1914-1918. He was a US District Attorney 1914-1922.
In 1922, the Democratic Party persuaded him to enter the primary for governor. He won the primary and the election, with the largest plurality of votes given any Democrat since 1837. He served as governor of New Hampshire from 1923-1925. During his term, the state debt was liquidated, a major achievement in light of the depressed post-World War I economy which was heading into the Great Depression. He also pushed for lowering the work week to 48 hours and for abolishment of the voting poll tax on women. The Republican legislature rejected these proposals.
In 1925, he was named as New Hampshire Public Service Commissioner, serving from 1925-1932.
Fred was elected in 1932 as a Democrat to the United States Senate during the national Democratic landslide under Franklin D. Roosevelt. He served from 1933 to 1939. He lost a bid for reelection in 1938. President Roosevelt appointed him Comptroller General of the United States in Apr 1939 and he served until he resigned in Jun 1940. He served as a member of the United States Tariff Commission 1940-1941. He then retired from public life.
Fred was married to Edna C. McHarg. He died 3 Feb 1955 in Somersworth and wad buried in Ossipee Cemetery, Ossipee, NY.
George Hanks ("Hank") Brown was born 12 Feb 1940 in Denver, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Colorado in 1969 with a JD in law. He graduated from George Washington University, Washington with a ML in tax law in 1969. He served in the US Navy 1962-1966. He was admitted to the bar in 1969. He became a certified public accountant in 1988. He was elected to the Colorado State Senate and served 1972-1976.
Hank was elected as a Republican to the House of Representatives of the 97th US Congress and to four more terms, serving from 1981-1991. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1990 and served 1991-1997. He did not seek reelection.
He became co-director of the Center for Public Policy and Contemporary Issues at the University of Colorado 1997-1998. He became President of the University of Northern Colorado in 1998.
J
ames Brown was born 11 Sep 1766 near Staunton, Virginia, a son of John Brown Sr. and Margaret Preston. He was a brother of United States Senator John Brown. He was also a cousin of Congressmen John Breckinridge, James Breckinridge and Francis Preston. James attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University), Lexington, Va. and William and Mary College, Williamsburg, Va. He studied law and was admitted to the bar. He set up practice in Frankfort, Ky. He commanded a company of sharpshooters during an expedition against Indians in 1789. He became secretary to the governor of Kentucky in 1792. When the French Territory of Louisiana was sold to the United States, he moved to New Orleans and was appointed Secretary of State of the Territory in 1804-1805. He later served as United States District Attorney for the Territory. He served as Attorney General of Louisiana from 1807-1809.James was elected as a Democrat-Republican to the United States Senate on 1 Dec 1812 to fill a vacancy; he served until 1817. He failed in a bid for reelection. He won reelection in 1819 and served from 1819-1823, when he resigned. During his tenure, he served as Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations.
After he resigned, he was appointed United States Minister (ambassador) to France and served 1823-1829. After he returned to the US, he settled in Philadelphia, Pa. and died there 7 Apr 1835. He married Susannah Hart about 1791.
John Brown, Jr. was born 12 Sep 1757 in Staunton, Virginia, a son of John Brown Sr. and Margaret Preston. He was a brother of United States Senator James Brown. He attended Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) and Princeton College (University). He enlisted in the Virginia Militia and Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. After the war, he completed his studies at William and Mary College. He taught school for several years. He also studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1782. He moved to Frankfort, Ky. and set up practice there. He was elected to the Virginia State Senate representing the Kentucky district (before Kentucky became a state) 1784-1788.
John was a delegate from Kentucky district to the Continental Congress in 1787 and 1788. He was elected from Virginia to the First and Second US Congresses and served from 1789 to 1792, when the western area of Virginia became the Commonwealth of Kentucky and was admitted as a state. He was then elected to the Senate from Kentucky in 1792 and served to the end of the term in 1793. He was reelected in 1792 and again in 1799, serving from 1792 to 1805. He served as President pro tempore of the Senate during the Eighth Congress.
After he left office, he returned to his law practice in Frankfort. John married Margaret Mason in 1799. They had four sons and a daughter. He died in Frankfort 29 Aug 1837 and was buried in Frankfort Cemetery.
Joseph Emerson Brown was born 15 Apr 1821 in Pickens District, South Carolina, a son of Mackey Brown and Sarah Rice. He moved to Georgia and later attended Calhoun Academy in South Carolina. He then taught school. He studied law at the same time and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He later graduated from Yale College Law School and returned to Georgia and set up law practice in 1846. He was elected to the Georgia State Senate in 1849. He was elected Judge of the Blue Ridge Circuit Court in 1855.
Joe was elected Governor of Georgia and served from 1855 - 1865. While he was governor, Georgia seceded from the union and joined the Confederate States of America. During the subsequent War for Southern Independence (1861-1865), Joe became one of the most admired Governors in Georgia history. He fought the Confederate national government as well as the yankees. The state was left practically defenseless, with most of the young men far removed on other battle fronts when the yankee army under Sherman invaded Georgia. There were no guns left to arm State Militia. Governor Brown ordered that pikes be manufactured which looked those used in Europe in the Middle Ages -- long poles with large spear-point like metal pieces on the end. They became known as "Joe Brown pikes".
At the end of the war, Georgia was occupied by armed yankee troops as a conquered territory. Joe became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia, 1865-1870, when he resigned to become president of the Western Atlantic Railroad Co.
The governor appointed Joe to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of John B. Gordon, to the United States Senate and he was subsequently elected in 1880 as a Democrat. He was reelected in 1885 and served from 1880 to 1891. He did not seek reelection after that.
Joe married Elizabeth Grisham of Pendleton, SC in 1847. They had 8 children. He died at his home on Washington Street in Atlanta, Ga. 30 Nov 1894. He was buried in Oakland Cemetery.
Norris Brown was born 2 May 1863 in Maquoketa, Jackson County, Iowa, a son of William Henry Harrison Brown and Eliza Ann Phelps. He graduated from the University of Iowa law department in 1883 and was admitted to the bar the next year. He set up practice in Perry, Ia. He moved to Kearney Nb. in 1888 and set up practice there. He became prosecuting attorney of Buffalo County from 1892-1896. He was named Deputy Attorney General of Nebraska from 1904-1906.
Norris was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served 1907-1913. He failed in a bid for reelection in 1912. He returned to law and set up practice in Omaha from 1913-1942 when he retired and moved to Seattle, Wa. He died there 5 Jan 1960. He was buried at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha.
Prentiss Marsh Brown Sr. was born 18 Jun 1889 in St. Ignace, Michigan, a son of James John Brown and Minnie Gagnon. He attended the University of Illinois and graduated from Albion College in Michigan 1911. He then studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1914. He set up practice at St. Ignace. He became Prosecuting Attorney of Mackinac County from 1914-1928 and City Attorney of St. Ignace 1916-1928. He lost an election in 1924 for Congress and lost a bid for the Michigan Supreme Court in 1928. He served as a member of the State Board of Law Examiners 1930-1942.
Prentiss was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives of the 73rd Us Congress and served two terms from 1933 until his resignation 18 Nov 1936, when he won a seat in the United States Senate for a term beginning 3 Jan 1937. He served from 1936 to 1943. He lost a bid for reelection in 1942. He set up law practice in Washington, DC and Detroit, Mi. He served as chairman of the Mackinac Bridge Authority until his death. He died at St. Ignace 19 Dec 1973 and was buried in Lakeside Cemetery there.
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