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BIOGRAPHIES
Source:
A History of Northwest Ohio
A Narrative Account of Its Historical
Progress and Development
from the First European Exploration of the Maumee and
Sandusky Valleys and the Adjacent Shores of
Lake Erie, down to the Present Time
By Nevin O. Winter, Litt. D.
Assisted by a Board of Advisory and Contributing Editors
ILLUSTRATED
Vol. I & II
The Lewis Publishing Company
Chicago and New York
1917
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HENRY W. BLACHLY Source: A History of
Northwest Ohio, Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago & New York,
1917 - Page 744 |
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MARTIN BROWN
has been a resident of Van Wert County more than half
a century. His productive years were spent as a farmer,
merchant and business man, and with the ample fruits of his industry
and judgment he is now enjoying retired life in the City of Van
Wert.
His birth occurred on a far in Morrow County, Ohio,
July 19, 1844. His father, Payne Philip Brown, was a native of
New York State, where he was reared and educated, came in early
manhood to Ohio and was an early settler in Morrow County. He
reached that vicinity in time to secure eighty acres of Government
land. His first home was a cabin of round logs, with a mud and
stick chimney. Not only Morrow County but a greater part of
the state was at that tie a wilderness. It was before the days
of canals or railroads, markets were few and far between, and the
woods were filled with game and the streams with fish. In some
ways these abundant natural resources simplified the problem of
existence, though all the settlers had exceedingly primitive
standards. Having secured his tract of Government land, the
father began the task of clearing and cultivating it. In a
short time his first cabin took fire and burned down. It was
replaced with another similar structure, also of round logs.
It was in this second home that Mr. Martin Brown first saw
the light of day. Industrious, energetic and employing good
judgment in his work, Payne Brown had a prosperous career.
He made an excellent farm in Morrow County, and he also bought 160
acres of land in Wiltshire Township of Van Wert County.
However, he kept his residence on the old farm which he had hewed
fro the wilderness until his death in October, 1872. His
wife's maiden name was Elizabeth Van Ater. She was born
near New Philadelphia, Ohio, and she survived her husband many
years, passing away at the age of eighty-eight. There were
twelve children who grew to maturity.
Martin Brown attended some of the district
schools which prevailed in Ohio fifty years ago. These schools
were not remarkable either for their equipment or the breadth of
their instruction program. However, he made the best of his
opportunities, and he also gained a thorough discipline by work on
the home farm. At the age of fifteen and he entrusted with the
responsibilities of looking after the quarter section of land which
his father had bought in Wiltshire Township of Van Wert County.
He continued to live on that land until he was twenty one. His
next experience was a clerk in the Town of Wiltshire, and in 1875 he
came to Van Wert and engaged in the livery business. Returning
to Wiltshire in 1883 he set up a general store, and after the livery
business. Returning to Wiltshire in 1883 he set up a general
store, and afterwards sold agricultural implements there. With
a record as a prosperous merchant, with ample means for his future
needs, and with his family well provided for, Mr. Brown
returned to Van Wert and is now enjoying the quiet of a comfortable
home in that city.
He was first married to Miss Frank Work, who
died in 1873, her two children having died in infancy. In 1877
he married Miss Maud Graham, who died in 1882. His
present wife before her marriage Miss Hattie Parks.
Mrs. Martin Brown was born on a farm about two
miles northwest of Topeka in La Grange County, Indiana. Her
father, Laban Parks, was born Dec. 22, 1796, and his
birthplace was either in Tuscarawas County, Ohio or in some more
easterly locality. He was of colonial ancestry. He grew
to manhood in Ohio, but removed from this state to Indiana, living
for a time near Goshen in Elkhart County, where he was one of the
pioneers. Fro there he removed to La Grange County, buying
land about two miles northwest of the present site of Topeka.
Though Indiana is now the center of population of the United States,
it was then on the fringe of settlement, and Laban Parks did
the work of a true pioneer. He acquired 280 acres, the greater
part of which he improved, and he remained successfully engaged in
farming and stock raising until 1862. In that year he moved to
the Town of Ligionier, where he lived retired until his death in his
seventy-fourth year. Laban Parks married Mary J.
Gilkison, who was born in Mansfield, Ohio, Dec. 7, 1820, a
daughter of James M. and Nancy (Coffinberry) Gilkison.
James Gilkison, a native of Kentucky, was one of the first
settlers in Mansfield. The home he owned there occupied either
the lot on which the Christian Church now stands or the adjoining
one. From Mansfield he later removed to Michigan, accompanied
by his family, and spent his last years at Centerville, that state.
His wife was a native of Virginia. The mother of Mrs. Brown
died in February, 1891, in her seventy-first year.
Mr. and Mrs. Brown take much pride in their
family of seven children, whose names in order of birth are Carl,
Maude, Ora, Ceile, Clare, Doyt and Dale.
Source: A History of Northwest Ohio, Publ. The Lewis
Publishing Co., Chicago & New York, 1917 - Page 793 |
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BRUMBACK CO., LIBRARY OF VAN WERT CO. Source:
A History of Northwest Ohio, Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago
& New York, 1917 - Page 1154 |
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REV. JOHN WATSON BRUMBACK Source: A History
of Northwest Ohio, Publ. The Lewis Publishing Co., Chicago & New
York, 1917 - Page 1157 |
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