Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Brown, Hesse Barrett 
************************************************
Copyright.  All rights reserved.
http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm
http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm
************************************************

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 3:07 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

HESSE BARRETT BROWN, alderman from the seventh ward of Joliet, is a member of 
the firm of Brown & Bell, boiler-makers, at No. 107 Ottawa street. In its 
special line the firm is one of the best-known in this section of the state. 
Among the boilers for which it has held contracts are those made for the 
Joliet Manufacturing and Joliet Limestone Companies, Western Stone Company, 
American Steel and Wire Company, Baker, Eriksson, Globe, Porter, Pioneer and 
Rowell Brothers Stone Companies; Selz, Schwab & Co., at the state 
penitentiary; Union Steam Laundry and C. Hacker Company; besides which, the 
firm has received contracts for boilers at Coal City, Braidwood, Nevada, 
Chicago Heights, Wilmington, Lockport, and many other Illinois towns, as well 
as some in Indiana and other states. The family of which Mr. Brown is a member 
was early represented in New England. His great-grandfather, a native of 
Vermont, removed to Ontario, where the grandfather engaged in farming. The 
father, Calvin, was born in Ontario and there learned the carpenter's trade, 
but after his marriage, in 1852, he and his wife's relatives moved to 
Illinois, settling near Elwood, in Jackson Township, this county, where he 
engaged in sawmilling. Returning to Canada he soon became homesick for 
Illinois and in a year came back to Will County. He settled in Joliet, where 
he followed the carpenter's trade until his death in 1893. His wife, Nancy Ann 
Barrett, was born in Ontario and lives in Joliet. They were the parents of 
three sons and one daughter, the latter deceased. One son, William R., resides 
at Marley, this county, and another, Franklin K., is a carpenter for Humphrey 
& Sons, of Joliet. Mrs. Brown was a daughter of Jesse Barrett, a native of 
Ontario, who settled in Jackson Township in 1852 and from here removed to 
Howard County, Iowa. He worked at the carpenter's trade there until he was 
accidentally killed by the running away of a team. His wife was a member of 
the old Canadian family of Boyce, that traced its ancestry to Great Britain. 
Born in this county, May 31, 1854, Mr. Brown was an infant of six months when 
his parents returned to Canada, but one year later they came back to Illinois 
and he was reared in Joliet, although he has made frequent visits to Canada. 
He learned the brickmaker's trade at the Joliet Mound, where he was employed 
for six years. In 1878 he entered the boiler department of what is now the 
Illinois Steel Company and under James G. Heggie learned boiler making, 
continuing with the company for ten years. At the expiration of that time he 
resigned in order to embark in business for himself, organizing the firm of 
Brown & Heggie, which for two years carried on business at the old Murphy 
boiler works on Michigan street. From there they removed to a new shop on 
North Joliet street, where they continued for two years. Mr. Brown then sold 
his interest to his partner and organized the present firm of Brown & Bell, 
starting in business at the location where he has since remained. The first 
wife of Mr. Brown was Bertha E. Johnson, who was born in Schleswig-Holstein 
and died in Joliet, leaving three children: Charles, who is a boiler-maker 
with the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad; Jennie, who clerks for the Joliet 
Novelty Company; and Miles. The present wife of Mr. Brown was Sarah Kirkham, a 
native of England, and a daughter of Harry Kirkham, who was formerly head 
foundryman for the Illinois Steel Company. The family are identified with the 
Richards Street Methodist Episcopal Church. In politics Mr. Brown favors 
Republican principles. In the spring of 1899, on the Republican ticket, he was 
elected alderman by the highest majority ever received in the seventh ward. As 
councilman he has been active in measures for the benefit of the city, and has 
served efficiently as chairman of the committee on streets and alleys of the 
east side and as a member of the fire committee.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical 
Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/brown1188gbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ilfiles/

File size: 4.7 Kb