Sedgwick County KS Archives Biographies.....Brown, James R. 1844 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com March 19, 2007, 7:46 pm

Author: O. H. Bentley (1910)

   James R. Brown, of Wichita, Kan., is a native of the Green Isle, where he was
born on May 13, 1844. His parents were William and Nancy Brown, natives of
Ireland. Mr. Brown came with his parents from Ireland to the United States in
1848, when he was only four years old, and settled in Lycoming county,
Pennsylvania. The father of James R. died April 3, 1854, and the mother on
August 5, 1865, both in Lycoming county. James R. Brown, after the death of his
parents, with nine other friends, sought a home in the West, and the point
selected was Sedgwick county, Kansas. Previous to coming west he enlisted in the
army when the Civil War broke out in 1861, in Company D, Eleventh Pennsylvania
Volunteer Infantry. The regiment was equipped in Harrisburg, Pa., and afterwards
it was ordered to Annapolis, Md., where it spent its first months in the service
doing patrol duty. The regiment then was placed in McDowell's division, First
Army Corps, in Virginia. Mr. Brown participated in several severe engagements,
among others Cedar Mountain, Va.; and the second battle of Bull Run. On August
30, 1862, at Cedar Mountain, he received a severe wound in his right side and
was removed to the hospital at Alexandria, Va., where he remained four months.
He fought at the battle of Gettysburg from the beginning to the end of that
severe struggle. His regiment was then placed under General Reynolds, in General
Wadsworth's division in the First Army Corps. The regiment then made a raid in
North Carolina, and on August 1, following the battle of Gettysburg, Mr. Brown
was made second sergeant, and afterward he was detailed to the pioneer corps of
General Warren, of the Fifth Army Corps headquarters. He participated in the
battle of Appomattox and after this engagement he veteranized in the same
regiment for three years. He lost his arm at Petersburg June 18, 1864.
Altogether he spent in the service of the government three years and eleven
months. He was discharged on August 7, 1865, and returned to his home in Jersey
Shore, Pa. Then he went to Philadelphia and took a course in a business college
in stenography and telegraphy, after which he went to Torus, Me., organized the
Soldiers' Home and was superintendent until 1870. He then, with the friends
above mentioned, came to Sedgwick county, Kansas, and located first in what is
now known as Eagle township, where he homesteaded 160 acres of land in Section
28, where he dwelt until 1887 with his family. Mr. Brown was married on December
21, 1874, at Wichita, Kan., to Miss Ada Winters. Miss Winters was a native of
Ohio, and ten children were born of this union, eight of whom are living, viz.:
Carrie, W. W., Elta, Maud, Edith, Lulu, Erma and Hazel. Mr. Brown politically is
a solid and substantial Democrat. In 1887 he was elected register of deeds in
Sedgwick county and served two terms. After the expiration of his term of office
he returned to his home at Colwich, Kan., where he owned a large body of land,
and lived there until 1909. During that year he took up his permanent residence
in Wichita and lives at No. 1751 North Lawrence avenue. Mr. Brown is a member of
the G. A. R.

Additional Comments:
Extracted from 

History of Wichita and Sedgwick County: past and present, including an account
of the cities, towns and villages of the county

Editor in chief: O. H. Bentley
Chicago: C.F. Cooper & Co. (1910)


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