Frank M. Brown Biography

Frank M. Brown, a resident of Fremont, is one of the largest landowners and farmers in Steuben County and is a member of a family that has been identified with this part of Northeast Indiana since pioneer days. The Brown family has always been one of prominence and its members have a record of unadulterated American patriotism.

Several of his early ancestors lived at Windham, Connecticut, and they were represented by service in the Revolutionary War. His great-grandfather was Elijah Brown, who was a son of Stephen, a grandson of John and great-grandson of Ezekiel Brown, a line of ancestors going back to the very earliest times of the Connecticut colony. Elijah Brown was born in 1773 and married Elizabeth Greenfield.

Russell Brown, grandfather of Frank M. Brown, was born in Stephentown, Rensselaer County, New York, January 24, 1805. In 1828 he married Laura Sweet, of Stillwater, New York. Her father, William Sweet, was a Revolutionary soldier. In 1836 Russell Brown came to Lagrange County, Indiana, and for many years was identified with the upbuilding and improvement of that locality. He and his wife had five children, Philena, who died at the age of 15, Ezekiel, Warren, Erastus, and William.

Ezekiel Brown, father of Frank M. Brown, was born in Cayuga County, New York, in 1830, and was about six years old when brought to Lagrange County. He attended a log cabin schoolhouse and in 1858 moved to Steuben County and became a merchant at Crooked Creek. Soon afterward he bought 250 acres of land, about 100 acres of which was in stumps. Eventually he had over 500 acres, constituting one of the finest farms in Steuben County, improved with splendid buildings. The Brown home was always noted for its hospitality. Ezekiel represented his county in the state legislature in 1878. In 1855 he married Mary C. Barry, daughter of John and Mary A. (Darrow) Barry, natives of Orleans County, New York, who came to Indiana in 1835. Ezekiel Brown and wife had two sons, Frank M. and Clinton M.

Clinton M. Brown, who was born February 2, 1859, attended high school at Angola, graduated from Hillsdale College in Michigan in 1881, and in the Fall of the same year moved to Nebraska, and in many ways has been prominent in that state. He now lives at Cambridge, Nebraska, where he is president of the First National Bank of Cambridge. He is an attorney by profession and represented his district in the state legislature. He also owns and manages a large cattle ranch in Wyoming.

Frank M. Brown, who was born January 3, 1858, in Applemanburg, Springfield Township, Lagrange County, received his early education in Jamestown Township of Steuben County. He attended high school at Angola and took up farming at an early age having made a definite choice of his vocation as an agriculturist. He farmed in Jamestown Township from 1882 until the Spring of 1916, at which time he retired with an adequate competence for all his future requirements. Since then he has lived in Fremont, but he still owns three farms aggregating 526 acres, some of it in the finest land in Steuben County.

January 3, 1882, Mr. Brown married Myra Wilder, who was born in 1860, a daughter of Norton and Lyda (Shut) Wilder. Her father came to Jamestown Township in 1858. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have three children: Lewis Glenn, born January 6, 1883, married Pearl Leg and has two children, Roscoe and Russell. Lucile, born May 15, 1884, is the wife of Elmer Van Gilter, living on a farm in Jamestown Township, and their children are Margie, Maxine and Roberta. The youngest, Laura Bell, born May 14, 1891, is the wife of L.W. Masters, a dentist by profession.