From A Biographical History of Central Kansas, Vol. I, p. 45
published by The Lewis Publishing Co, Chicago & New York, 1902

JESSE BROWN

   Jesse Brown is a retired farmer and civil engineer living in the village of Alden.  He was born in Israel township, Preble county, Ohio, on the 9^th of February, 1835, and on the paternal side he is of Welsh lineage, while on the maternal side he is of English descent.  His father, Thomas Brown, was born in Georgia, in 1785, and when twenty-one years of age went to Ohio.  The grandfather of our subject was Samuel Brown, a native of North Carolina and a representative of a family of Friends or Quakers.  After arriving at years of maturity Thomas Brown married Miss Rebecca Stubbs, who was born in Georgia, in 1793, and when a maiden of twelve summers was taken to the Buckeye state, where she remained until her marriage, which was celebrated in 1815, when she was twenty-two years of age.  Unto Mr and Mrs Brown were born twelve children, ten of whom reached mature years.  Of this number seven were married and six have had children.

   Jesse Brown, whose name forms the caption of this review, was reared to agricultural pursuits upon his father’s large farm and was early inured to the labor of the field and meadow.  He was also provided with good educational privileges, pursing a high school course and also studied surveying.  For thirteen years he has filled the position of county surveyor in Ohio and Kansas.  Before leaving his native state he was married, on the 5^th of June, 1866, to Miss Margaret McBurney, a lady of Scotch-Irish descent, her people being connected with the Presbyterian church.  There is but one son by this marriage, Elmer Brown, who is now the railroad station and ticket agent at St John, Kansas.  He was agent at Alden for twelve years, and in August, 1900, was transferred to his present location.  He is married and has two children, a son and a daughter.

   It was in the spring of 1877 that Jesse Brown came to Kansas and purchased a claim of eighty acres for three hundred dollars.  There he engaged in farming for fifteen years, during which time he worked a wonderful transformation in the appearance of his land.  He afterward owned another farm, but in 1893 he took up his abode at his present home in the village of Alden.  He entered upon his business career with limited capital, owning a small farm in Ohio, on which there was an incumbrance.  His determined purpose and resolute will, however, have enabled him to work his way steadily upward, overcoming all obstacles in his path and surmounting all difficulties.  As the years have gone by he has added to his capital and today he is the possessor of a comfortable competence, which enables him to enjoy rest from further toil.  In his political views he is a Republican.  He is not a professor of religion, believing in deeds before creeds.  He has, however, lived for sixty-six years without using whiskey or tobacco, and oaths never cross his lips.  He is a man of sterling honor, strict integrity and all who know him respect him for his genuine worth.