My Genealogy Hound

HON. MILTON BROWN.
Hon. Milton Brown, one of the most prominent members of the bar of Kansas, and formerly a member of the State Senate from the 38th Senatorial District, is a citizen for whom Topeka entertains high regard. Mr. Brown was born May 12, 1854, at Raysville, Henry County, Indiana, and is a son of Milton and Sally Brown.

Mr. Brown comes of Scotch-Irish ancestry and of forefathers distinguished for their military prowess. On the paternal side, both grandfather and great-grandfather fought in the Revolutionary War, the latter yielding up his life in the cause. During the Civil War, not only did his father and four brothers serve in the Union Army, but his mother became one of the leading spirits in the Sanitary Commission and devoted her personal services to the care of sick and wounded soldiers. She was honored by the Governor of Indiana with a commission for her invaluable services, but still dearer to the heart of this noble woman was the tender regard and esteem accorded her by the hundreds of weak and wounded soldiers to whom she ministered as long as life held and whose last messages were whispered into her sympathetic ear. Old veterans all over the land can be found who show enthusiasm when the name of “Aunt Sally Brown” is recalled to their memory. The father of Mr. Brown was prominent in Henry County politics and at the time of his death, May 12, 1876, was county recorder.

The subject of this sketch was the youngest member of his loyal family. During the last years of the war, he took “French leave” and joined a company at Camp Morton, where he acted as a drummer-boy and entertained the hope of becoming as useful in the Union cause as others of his family. His hope was dissipated as soon as his capable and careful mother discovered his whereabouts. When his father was elected recorder of Henry County, the main duties of the office fell upon Milton, and when the father died, he was appointed to fill out the unexpired term and was subsequently appointed deputy clerk of the Circuit Court and later elected clerk of the same. He had been admitted to the bar in 1876 after several years of preparation under Hon. Jehu T. Elliott, and soon won deserved recognition in his profession and as a political factor. In 1878 he was sent as a delegate to the Republican State Convention at Indianapolis and served also as secretary of the Henry County Republican Central Committee.

In 1884 Mr. Brown came to Kansas, locating upon a homestead in what is now Gray County, where he remained until the following year, when he removed to Garden City and entered upon the practice of his profession. From the very first his ability as a lawyer was recognized and he has been concerned in some of the most important litigation in the State. In this connection mention may be made of the case of Mrs. Lease, whose removal from office as a member of the State Board of Charities his pleas secured, and of the occasion when he, as attorney for the Great Eastern Irrigation Company, won the decision against the Amazon Ditch Company as to the right of priority to water from the Arkansas River. Both of these celebrated cases are so familiar to residents of Topeka as to scarcely need mentioning. Mr. Brown in innumerable cases has proved himself a man of intellectual power and is justly ranked with the State’s eminent professional men.

Thus well equipped for a very successful political career, he was elected in 1892 by the Republican party to the State Senate from the 38th Senatorial District, a district which includes 19 counties. As a statesman his career was satisfactory in every way and during his senatorial career he was a leading figure both in debate and in the committee room, working strenuously for his section and constituents.

On July 16, 1878, Mr. Brown was married to Emma Cotteral, and three children were born to them. In religious connection he is a member of the Christian Church. His fraternal associations embrace the leading secret organizations. As a Mason, he is a Knight Templar and a member of Isis Temple, Ancient Arabic Order Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. He is an Odd Fellow, a Knight of Pythias and a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Knights of the Maccabees.

Since June, 1899, Senator Brown and family have resided at Topeka, where he is absorbed in a large law practice. He is a director and general counsel of the Kansas Fire Insurance Company. Still in the height of his intellectual power, with friends and admirers on every side, he occupies a very prominent place among the leading men of Kansas and many political and professional possibilities are within his grasp.