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Hiram Brown

Male 1804 - 1886  (81 years)


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  • Name Hiram Brown 
    Birth 15 Jun 1804  Locke (Summerhill), Cayuga, New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 17 May 1886  prob Berrien Co, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Burial St. Joseph City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Berrien, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Notes 
    • from 'American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men with Portrait Illustrations on Steel, Volumes I-II':

      Name: Hiram Brown of St. Joseph, Michigan, was born at Locke, now Summer Hill, Cayuga County, New York, June 15, 1804. His father, Liberty Brown, was one of the first settlers in that part of the country, and resided there until his death, which occurred in 1845. He was a native of Windsor *, Hampshire County, Massachusetts, and, after exploring the western part of New York, settled in Locke; there he married Phebe Hopkins, who died in 1824. Hiram Brown was the only son, and resided with his parents until he was fifteen years of age, attending school in the neighborhood. When he was eighteen he taught a district school, after which, for about one year, he attended Cortland Academy. During the winter months, he taught various schools in the vicinity of his home, until the year 1825, when he was employed two years in a neighboring county, and also at Weedsport, Cayuga County. He then obtained a situation as clerk in a storage, forwarding, and commission house, at Syracuse, where he remained until the spring of 1830. At that time he accepted an offer from a firm in Rochester, employed in the same business, and continued with them until 1834. He married, in 1832, while residing in Rochester, Miss Harriet Griffin, of Clinton, Oneida County. She was a niece of Ebenezer Griffin, a lawyer of considerable eminence, who has attained notoriety in Western New York, as counsel for the Morgan conspirators. In 1834 Mr. Brown formed a partnership with John Griffith, of Jersey City, and removed, with his family, to St. Joseph, in order to take charge of the business, commenced the year previous by Mr. Griffith. The prospects for building up a remunerative trade on the St. Joseph River were flattering; and the firm expended large sums of money in building steamboats and keel-boats, adapted to the navigation of the river. They also had control of steamers intended to run from St. Joseph to Chicago. The enterprise failed, however, owing, in a great measure, to the stagnation of business incident to the commercial disasters of the period between 1837 and 1841. Mr. Brown then formed a business connection with the firm of Wheeler & Porter, and afterwards with T. Wheeler & Co., and remained in the same business until 1848. About this time the prospects of St. Joseph received a death-blow by the action of the Michigan Central Railroad Company, which diverted the route from Kalamazoo to Niles, and thence to New Buffalo, instead of completing it to St. Joseph, as the State had pledged itself to do. Mr. Brown, in common with nearly all the business men of the place, suffered from this action, and found it necessary to look for another locality. In the spring of the year, the Illinois and Michigan Canal was open to transfer, and Mr. Brown, believing the opportunity favorable, built six canal-boats, at an expense of about nine thousand dollars, and had them towned across the lake. Four of them he sold to Chicago merchants, and retained the other two, hoping to make of them a nucleus for building up a trade on the canal and Illinois River. This scheme was frustrated by the destruction of one boat, and the material injury of the other, caused by the flood of March, 1849, owing to the sudden breaking up of the ice in the Chicago River. Mr. Brown then became book-keeper for J. H. Dunham; but was compelled, by ill health, to abandon the business for a period of six months. In 1851 he was employed by H. Norton & Co., as book-keeper and general manager, and remained with them until 1855. From that time until 1860, he was engaged, with others, in a commission and produce business; but, meeting disasters, he removed to St. Joseph, where he has since resided. On the 18th of March, 1836, at Niles, Michigan, his wife died, leaving one son and one daughter. The latter soon followed her mother. The son, Henry M. Brown, now resides in Chicago. In June, 1837, Mr. Brown married Miss Jane R. Liston, of Niles, who died at Chicago, July 7, 1854. They had eight children,--three sons and five daughters. Four of the latter died young, and the fifth now lives in St. Joseph. One son, William L., is in business in Chicago; another, Hiram L., is assistant general freight agent of the Chicago and Michigan Lake Shore Railroad; the youngest resides in St. Joseph. September 11, 1855, Mr. Brown married Miss Julia M. Smith, of Chicago. They have one daughter, aged fifteen years. Mr. Brown was appointed Deputy Collector of Customs, for St. Joseph in 1862, and Justice of the Peace in 1867, both of which positions he now holds. He was brought up in the faith of the Presbyterian Church, and became a member in 1832. In 1843 he commenced reading a series of the philosophical and theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg, with the works of various other writers on kindred subjects. Subsequently, becoming thoroughly convinced of the value of these principles, he embraced the faith, and united with the Chicago society of the New Jerusalem Church, in 1855. Mr. Brown was a decided Whig until that organization was merged into the Republican party; since then he has been a Republican. He is far from being a bigot, either in religion or politics. While tenacious of his own opinions, which are founded on conviction, he willingly concedes to those who differ from him the full right to enjoy theirs. He is now a well-preserved man in his seventy-fourth year. He is one of the Vice-Presidents of the Berrien Old Settlers' Association; and is preparing a narrative of events that have fallen under his observation, and various reminiscences of the early settlers, which he proposes to present to the association at its next annual meeting. He is also a member of the State Society of Early Settlers, and contemplates making a contribution to the history of his portion of the State.

      * Windsor is now part of Berkshire County MA
      -----
      As Justice of the Peace in Berrien Co. MI he performed the marriage of a Hiram W. Brown to Elizabeth (Smith) Lynch on 13 Aug 1871. Hiram W. age 59 (b. abt. 1812 NY) of Chicago, Elizabeth age 42 (b. abt. 1829 NY). Witnesses to this marriage were Samuel and John Spink of St. Joseph MI - Samuel Spink the 2nd husband of Harriet (Brown) Sweet, widow of Huey Sweet. Harriet Brown was the daughter of a Hiram and Lavina Brown of NY - her father 'possibly' a brother of Liberty Brown.
      ----
      Sexton Records of the Lakeview Cemetery in St. Joseph, Berrien MI (transcribed by Brenda Sears) gives Hiram's birthdate as 18 Jun 1804 and death on 17 May 1886.
    Person ID I8637  Ives-Leedom
    Last Modified 19 Apr 2017 

    Father Liberty Brown,   b. Abt 1773, of Windsor, Berkshire, Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 13 Aug 1845, Locke (Summerhill), Cayuga, New York Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 72 years) 
    Mother Phebe Hopkins,   b. 3 Nov 1779, Hebron, Washington, New York Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 19 Oct 1823 (Age 43 years) 
    Marriage Locke (Summerhill), Cayuga, New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F5793  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

    Family 1 Harriet Griffin,   b. 1806, of Clinton, Oneida, New York Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 18 Mar 1836, Niles, Berrien, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 30 years) 
    Marriage 1832  Rochester, New York Find all individuals with events at this location 
    • Resided at Rochester NY at time of marriage.

    Children 
     1. Henry M. Brown,   b. Bef 1836, Berrien Co, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F5794  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 5 Apr 2004 

    Family 2 Jane R. Liston,   b. Abt 1814, Pennsylvania Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 7 Jul 1854, Chicago, Cook, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location (Age ~ 40 years) 
    Marriage Jun 1837 
    Children 
     1. William M. L. Brown,   b. resided Chicago in 1878 Find all individuals with events at this location
     2. Hiram Liberty Brown,   b. 1 May 1845, St. Joseph, Berrien, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 9 Nov 1926, Chicago, Cook, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 81 years)
     3. Isabella J. Brown,   b. Abt 1848, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
     4. George D. Brown,   b. Abt 1850, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F5805  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 5 Apr 2004 

    Family 3 Julia Maria Smith,   b. 6 Jan 1828, Cooperstown, Otsego, New York Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 14 Nov 1886, prob Berrien Co, Michigan Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 58 years) 
    Marriage 11 Sep 1855 
    Children 
     1. Helen Louise Brown,   b. Abt 1862, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this locationd. Yes, date unknown
    Family ID F5808  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 15 Feb 2003 

  • Event Map
    Link to Google MapsBurial - - St. Joseph City Cemetery, St. Joseph, Berrien, Michigan Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Histories
    Brown, Hiram: 1804-1886
    Brown, Hiram: 1804-1886
    from 'American Biographical History of Eminent and Self-Made Men, Volumes I-II'