George Brown Biography


	This biography appears on pages 1213-1214 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				GEORGE BROWN.  

	George Brown is president of the Brown-McCaig Company, wholesale 
liquor dealers of Yankton. He was born in Boone county, Kentucky, March 
26, 1848, a son of Simon and Mary (Gearhardt) Brown. The father was a 
Frenchman, who was born in Alsace-Lorraine, while his wife was 
distinctively German. They came to America in 1847, establishing their 
home in Boone county, Kentucky, and the father engaged in the pork 
packing business after removing to Cincinnati at an early day. He 
became a member of the firm of Brown-Cassard & Company and was thus 
closely identified with one of the early productive industries of the 
city until his death in 1855. His widow survived him for many years, 
passing away in Cincinnati in 1912, at the remarkable old age of ninety 
years. In their family were five children, four of whom yet survive.  

	The third member of the family is George Brown of this review, 
who became a pupil in the public schools of Cincinnati and also 
attended parochial schools there until fifteen years of age. He began 
his business life upon the river, becoming an apprentice to the cook, 
and from time to time he was promoted until he became chief cook. In 
1863 he made his way on a steamer to Pittsburg Landing on the Tennessee 
river, arriving there the second day after the battle of Shiloh. He 
later joined the cavalry forces in order to guard Covington, Kentucky, 
being mustered in for ninety days and serving as an orderly under 
General Lew Wallace. After being mustered out he went to Nashville, 
Tennessee, where he had charge of a government mess house, remaining in 
that city until the close of the war in 1865.  

	Mr. Brown next removed to St. Louis and later made his way to 
Leavenworth, Kansas, and to Weston, Missouri. In 1866-7 he was steward 
on a line of packets and also acted as pilot between St. Joseph and 
Omaha. In 1868 he left St. Louis on the steamer Benton for Fort Benton, 
Montana, filling the position of steward and general storekeeper on 
board the boat. He afterward returned to Sioux City, later again making 
the trip to Fort Benton. On that trip, however, they were caught in the 
ice on the 14th of November, 1868, and the vessel was solidly frozen in 
at Pocahontas Island, twenty-five miles above the town of Wheeler. Mr. 
Brown and a colored cabin boy were left alone to look after the 
supplies and stores. This was a trying experience, for the Indians were 
encamped on all sides, but as time went on he formed their 
acquaintance, won their friendship and then had a most enjoyable time. 
He remained aboard the boat until the latter part of 1868, when he 
returned to St. Louis, and in the spring of 1869 the ship on which he 
had had these many remarkable experiences sank between St. Joseph and 
Omaha, Mr. Brown losing all he had by this misfortune. Soon afterward 
he secured a position on the steamer Ida Reese and in 1870 he joined 
the steamer Charles H. Durfee at Pittsburgh. This was a new boat, which 
made its way down the Ohio and afterward sailed from St. Louis down the 
Mississippi to New Orleans, where she burned. In the fall of 1870 he 
became connected with the steamer Sucker State, running between St. 
Paul and Dubuque, and in the spring of 1871 he was on the steamer Rock 
Island on the same run. In the winter of that year he became connected 
with the steamer City of Alton, running between Memphis and St. Louis, 
and in the spring of 1872 he left St. Louis on the steamer Sioux City 
for Fort Benton, Montana. That fall the boat was frozen in the ice 
above Fort Pierre and was lost at the time of the breaking up of the 
ice in the spring. In the succeeding fall Mr. Brown came to Yankton and 
made his way on to Sioux City. He accepted the position of steward on 
the famous Nellie Peck, plying between Sioux City and Fort Benton and 
various nearer points, spending five years in that connection.  

	On the 3d of December, 1877, Mr. Brown took up his abode in 
Yankton, where he purchased a saloon and conducted it with profit for a 
number of years. In 1913 he organized the Brown-McCaig Company and has 
since engaged in the wholesale liquor business. From 1896 until 1901 he 
was the landlord of the Pierce Hotel and from 1901 until 1903 conducted 
a hotel at Pender, Nebraska. In the latter year he became proprietor of 
the Oxford Hotel at Sioux City, which he conducted for a year, but in 
1904 returned to Yankton, where he established his present business and 
still continues.  

	In 1877 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Lilly Deware, of 
Boston, Massachusetts, who died in 1891. In 1897 he married Ollie 
Adams. His political support has always been given the democratic party 
and his fraternal relations are with the Elks lodge, No. 994. His 
experiences in the northwest have been of a most varied and oft times 
of a most interesting and thrilling character. He has seen almost the 
entire development of this part of the country, witnessing the many 
marvelous changes which have brought about present day conditions. 
During the summer of 1872, while coming down the river from Fort 
Benton, he saw on each side of the river millions of buffalo. Indians 
were almost as numerous as the white settlers and the district through 
which he traveled was largely undeveloped and unimproved. He has lived 
to see many remarkable changes and he is proud of what has been 
accomplished in the northwest.