My Genealogy Hound

CHARLES J. BROWN. A glance at the lives of representative men whose names appear in this volume will reveal many sketches of honored and influential citizens who have resided many years in the county, but among them none is more worthy or deserving of mention than Mr. Brown, who is a true type of a successful farmer. Many of the most active and enterprising residents of Berrien County are natives of the county, and have here spent the greater part of their lives. In them we find men of true loyalty to the interests of this part of the State, who understand, as it were by instinct, the needs, social and industrial, of this vicinity, and who have a thorough knowledge of its resources. They are, therefore, better adapted to succeed here than a stranger could be and are, probably without exception, warmly devoted to the prosperity of their native place. Such a man we find in Mr. Brown.

He was born on the farm where he now lives, April 12, 1843, and is a son of Richard and Eliza (Michael) Brown. The father was a product of Ohio soil, but came to Berrien County, Mich., while yet single. He first settled in Summerville, ran an hotel several years, and then bought a farm near Berrien Springs, where he remained for some time. He then traded that for a hotel at Summerville and still later traded the hotel toward the farm which our subject now owns. During his latter days he devoted nearly all his time to farming. He was one of the earliest settlers of the county, having moved to the farm where our subject now lives in the fall of 1852, and was a man universally respected. The mother of our subject was born in Ohio, and died in Berrien County about 1884.

Of the nine children born to his parents, five sons and four daughters, seven are now living, and our subject was sixth in order of birth. He was reared and educated in his native county, but being left fatherless at an early age he was obliged to assist in supporting the family, and as a consequence his educational advantages were limited. He remained with his mother until after the age of twenty-one, and in September, 1882, was married to Miss Almeda Williams, a native of this county. She died September 6, 1891, leaving two children: Burt C. and Rebecca May. Her parents, William H. and Tilda Williams, were early settlers and much esteemed citizens of this county. The parents of our subject were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but although not a member of any church, Mr. Brown is deeply interested in all worthy enterprises and contributes liberally to their support. He has always resided where he now lives, eight miles south of St. Joseph, and has sixty-eight acres under a good state of cultivation.

Mr. Brown possesses all the thrift and industry of his German ancestors and his place is a model of neatness and order. He enjoys to an unlimited extent the confidence and esteem of all who know him, is an influential man of the county, and is warmly devoted to its prosperity. He is a member of the Farmers’ Mutual Fire Insurance Company and a member of Lodge No. 373, I. O. O. F., of Royalton. Ever since casting his first vote, which was for Tilden, he has affiliated with the Democratic party.