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WILLIAM E. BROWN.
The Second National Bank of Hamilton, of which Mr.
Brown is President, was organized with a capital
stock of $100,000 in 1864, at which time he with others
went to Washington, D. C., and obtained the charter.
For thirty years he has been associated with the
management of this bank, and for the last twenty-four
years has been its President, not a mere figure-head,
but one who by his ability was fully competent to take
and did take an active part in the management of this
institution. His forty years’ experience as a
lawyer has always been of great use to the bank and to
many of its patrons who avail themselves of his advice.
Not only has the bank paid good dividends, but at the
present time it also has a surplus of $50,000, and its
deposits average over $500,000. The bank owns its
own building, which is arranged in such a manner as to
facilitate business, and as an in vestment has proved
one of the best. During times of panics, when many
banks failed or suspended, this institution maintained
its credit un impaired, and came out of each crisis
without loss of confidence or the failure to honor each
of its obligations when presented.
Some facts connected with the personal history of
Mr. Brown will be of interest to the reader.
He is a son of Edward and Ann (McCue) Brown, the
latter of whom died in 1827. The father, who was a
native of Pennsylvania, as early as 1818, while living
in Blairsville, Pa., engaged in trans porting goods
between Pittsburg and Philadelphia. Unfortunately,
however, he lost the savings he had so laboriously
accumulated. He left Blairsville in 1824 and moved
to Xenia, Ohio, and in that city our subject was born
Nov. 13, 1825. In 1826 the family removed to
Cincinnati, where the wife and mother died the following
year.
At the conclusion of his studies our subject began to
teach school, at the age of nineteen, in Greene County,
Ohio, and was thus engaged for some time. Having
learned the trade of a shoemaker, he was thus enabled to
pay his way while reading law at Xenia and Dayton.
In March, 1849, he was admitted to practice at the Bar.
With a letter of introduction from his preceptor
addressed to Thomas Millikin, of Hamilton, he
then proceeded to his future home, and arriving here
hung out his “shingle” as an attorney-at-law. With
limited resources and few acquaintances, business did
not come his way at first. In the fall of 1849 an
older lawyer was obliged to go away on account of ill
health, and he left young Brown in charge of his
office and practice. Shortly afterwards the lawyer
died and Mr. Brown thus became successor to the
business, which amounted to about $600 per an num, and
which he had no trouble to retain.
In 1852 Mr. Brown was united in marriage
with Miss Mary A., daughter of Robert
Beckett. Failing health induced him to move
into the country, but he still gave some attention to
his legal practice and also dealt in real estate.
In this he was successful, his knowledge of the law
being of great assistance to him. He continued
thus occupied until 1870, when he became President of
the Second National Bank. He still continues to
deal in real estate, and is also President of the
Carr-Brown Milling Company. In public
affairs he has always been interested, though not
aggressively so, and as a substantial and honorable
citizen has merited and received the confidence of the
people with whom he has had business or social
relations. In early life he was a Democrat, but
became a supporter of the Republican party upon its
organization, and has since advocated its principles,
though never himself an aspirant for official positions.
Six children blessed the union of Mr. and Mrs. Brown,
as follows: Clara, who married W. B. Carr,
and died in January, 1892; Robert; William B.;
Mary, wife of Judge R. E. Sloan, of
Arizona; and Ella and D. P., who are with
their parents. To his children Mr. Brown
gave the best possible educational advantages. The
family are members of the United Presbyterian Church, in
which he has officiated as an Elder since 1857.
Source: Memorial Record
of Butler County, Ohio - Publ. 1894 - Page 391 |
