Biography of Oliver P. Brown, pages 7. History of Northeast Indiana; LaGrange, Steuben, Noble and DeKalb Counties, Vol. II, under the editorial supervision of Ira Ford ... [et al], The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago and New York, 1920. OLIVER P. BROWN has been a fixture in the commercial life and service of the Village of Hamilton for thirty-six years. In fact he is regarded as the town's oldest resident, and the place is important to him also as his birthplace. He was born there August 17, 1857, a son of John and Susan (Mann) Brown. His father was born in Wayne County, Ohio, in I821, and his mother in the same state in 1834. John Brown came to Steuben County, Indiana, in the early '5os, and was a school teacher in DeKalb County, where he married. After he settled at Hamilton he became a merchant and followed business there for many years, until his death in 1884. His widow survived him until 19II. John Brown was a democrat and held the office of justice of the peace. He and his wife had the following children: Oliver P., Jane W., Lawson, Charles M., Eda, Mary E. and Kate. Oliver P. Brown grew up in his native village, attended the public schools there, and for over a third of a century has kept a confectionery store and barber shop. He owns the building in which he does business and has other property there. Mr. Brown is a stanch democrat, and is affiliated with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church. In 1883 he married Miss Elva J. Fifer. She was born in Salem Township of Steuben County April 23, 1860, daughter of Lewis and Martha Fifer. Her father came to Steuben County in 1861, and was a farmer and a resident of the county for over forty-five, years. He died July 25, 19o6, and his wife passed away July 15, 1911. In the Fifer family were the following children: Elva, Margaret Laura, John Adam, Orlando, and Jessie Arvada. Mrs. Brown's mother had for her first husband Sylvanua George, and there is one child by that union, Edward Melvin George. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two sons. Grover Cleveland, the older, was born January 10, 1884, had a high school education, and is a barber by trade. He married Mary Crane, and their children are named Oliver Perry, Mildred Ann, Jessie Alvada, Leander Timothy and James Kenneth The second son, Cleland Kenneth born July 15, 1889), was educated in the Hamilton grammar and high schools, and is now a successful young farmer in Franklin Township of DeKalb County. He married Audra Chilchote. Submitted by: Debbie Tarantino