Brown Families Biographies, Giles Co, TNGenWeb (TNGenNet)

AARON VENABLE BROWN was born 15 Aug 1795 in Brunswick County, Virginia, attended Westrayville Academy in North Carolina, and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1814. In 1815, he moved to Nashville, Davidson County, Tenn where he studied law until 1817 when he was admitted to the bar. He commenced practicing law in Nashville, then moved to Giles County in 1818 where he continued to practice law, becoming the partner of James K. Polk. He served in the Tennessee state sentate from 1821 to 1825, and was a member of the State house of representatives from 1831 to 1833. He was elected as a Democrat to the Twenty-sixth, Twenty-seventh, and Twenty-eighth Congresses (March 4, 1839-March 3, 1845) and served as the chairman for the Committee on Territories (Twenty-eighth Congress). He did not run for re-election in 1844, but served as Governor of Tennessee from 1845 to 1847 when his candidacy for relection failed. He was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1852, was appointed Postmaster General in the Cabinet of President Buchanan on March 6, 1857, and served until his death in Washington, D.C., on March 8, 1859. He was buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee. (Excerpted from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-present)

AARON VAIL [VENABLE] BROWN, Governor of Tennessee, 1845-1847, was the son of Rev. Aaron Brown, of Virginia. He was born August 15, 1795. He graduated at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1814, and was valedictorian of his class. His father moved to Tennessee this same year and Aaron Vail entered upon the study of law under Judge Trimble at Nashville. He later moved to Giles County and was a law partner of James K. Polk until 1825. He was a member of the State Senate, 1821-1825, and of the Lower House, 1831. He was a member of Congress, 1839-1845, retiring to become candidate for Governor. His opponent was Ephraim H. Foster, a Whig, and the contest was close. He was elected, however, but was defeated two years later by the Whigs, and Neill S. Brown became Governor. They were not related. While Aaron V. Brown was Governor, the Mexican war was fought. Tennessee's quota of soldiers was 2,800; but when the Governor made the call for volunteers 30,000 answered; only four regiments were accepted. The school for the blind at Nashville and the one for deaf and dumb at Knoxville were incorporated during Aaron V. Brown's administration. The East Tennessee & Virginia Railroad (now Southern) was incorporated in 1847. Governor Brown was Postmaster-General in Buchanan's Cabinet. He died March 8, 1859. (Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 2, John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1923, pp. 49-50)

JOHN CALVIN BROWN, Governor of Tennessee, 1871-1875, was born in Giles County, Tennessee, January 6, 1827. He was a brother of Governor Neill S. Brown, who was thirteen years his senior. He was one of the best educated men the State has ever produced and was a graduate of Jackson College, Columbia. In 1848 he began the practice of law. In politics he was a Whig and made a brilliant canvass of the State as elector on the Bell and Everett ticket, 1860. He opposed secession; but when the State voted to go with the Confederacy he went with her. Enlisting as a private in the Third Tennessee Infantry, he was soon elected Captain, and later advanced to Colonel, and later in the war was placed in command of a brigade. At the battle of Perryville he was shot in the thigh and on leaving the hospital reported for duty while yet on crutches. His horse was shot from under him in the battle of Missionary Ridge; and at the battle of Franklin he was shot from his horse while leading a charge. He was elected to the Legislature, 1869, and was the moving spirit in the Constitutional Convention of 1870. This same year he was elected Governor, defeating William H. Wisener; and in 1872 A. A. Freeman. Among the most important acts of his administration was the funding of the State debt, and the establishment of the present school system. Governor John C. Brown is buried at Pulaski, Tennessee, where a life size statue, sword in hand and facing the South, marks his resting place. (Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 2, John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1923)

From Vol. 1 of this same source, pp. 749-50:

BIRTHPLACE OF GOVERNORS JOHN C. BROWN, NEILL S. BROWN

Governor John C. Brown was born January 6, 1827, at the home of his father, Duncan Brown, about fifteen miles southeast of Pulaski, Tenn. The Duncan Brown farm was located on the old state road in the Bethany neighborhood. This stage road begins at Tarpley's Shop, branching from the Ellston Pike, which it nearly parallels. On a hill to the left of the road traveling from Pulaski stood the house, destroyed by a storm a few years ago, in which Governor John C. Brown was born.

Governor Neill S. Brown was a brother of Governor John C. Brown and was born on April 18, 1810, in a house about one-half mile nearer Pulaski.

Duncan Brown, father of both these governors, emigrated from North Carolina in 1809.

Neill Brown began his education at the age of seven, earning the money to pay for his schooling. When a young man he taught school for money to continue his studies. For two sessions he attended the Maury County Manual Labor Academy. In 1833 he began the study of law; the next year was admitted to the bar and began practice at Pulaski. In 1835 he removed to Texas but soon returned and distinguished himself in the war with the Seminole Indians. In 1837 he became a member of the State Legislature and was strongly launched in politics. He was a whig, a supporter of Hugh Lawson White against Jackson and a Presidential elector on the Clay ticket in 1844. In 1847 he became governor of Tennessee at the age of thirty-seven, the youngest governor of this state up to that time. In 1850 he was appointed U. S. Minister to Russia. In 1870 he was a member of the constitutional convention, over which his brother presided. He died in 1886.

John C. Brown was educated at Jackson College, Columbia, from which he graduated in 1846. In 1848 he began the practice of law with his brother, then governor of the state. He was a whig and made an ardent and brilliant campaign of the state in behalf of the Bell and Everett ticket in 1859. He opposed secession, but went with the state into the Confederacy. He enlisted as a private in the Third Tennessee Infantry, was soon elected captain and later colonel and brigadier general and major general. He was wounded three times. He was elected to the Legislature in 1869 and became the moving spirit of the Constitutional Convention of 1870 of which he was chairman. He was governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875. He died in 1889.

ROBERT HUTTON BROWN, engaged in the automobile and garage business in Pulaski, was born in Asheville, North Carolina, on the 25th of March, 1892, a son of Robert S. and Sally (Smith) Brown. The paternal grandfather was J. V. Brown, a native of North Carolina. Robert S. Brown was born in 1859 and in early life entered the Presbyterian ministry. He is now pastor of the church at Petersburg and is a man of much prominence in that community. He was a chaplain in the United States army during the Spanish-American war. Mrs. Brown was born in 1862. Besides Robert Hutton Brown of this review, Mr. and Mrs. Brown have three daughters: Roberta, Madeline and Sarah.

Robert Hutton Brown attended the public schools of Giles county and in due time was graduated from high school. He then enrolled in the Southeastern State Normal School at Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and subsequently came to Tennessee, locating in Fayetteville. There he engaged in the garage business. While on his wedding trip in 1917, Mr. Brown enlisted in the United States army at Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and was sent to Denver, Colorado, and thence to Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas. Subsequently he was sent to Camp Hancock, Georgia, and to Camp Greene, South Carolina, where he was given intensive training courses. He was subsequently sent to Hoboken, New Jersey, and sailed overseas a short time afterward. He landed at Brest, France, on the 1st of August, 1918; was in Italy for five months, and then returned to France and eventually embarked from Brest for the United States. He landed at Newport News, Virginia, and received his honorable discharge at Camp Lee in August, 1919. He immediately returned to Tennessee and located at Pulaski, where he established an automobile agency for the Dodge and Hudson cars. This concern is one of the representative business interests in Pulaski.

At Fayetteville [Lincoln County], on the 27th of October, 1917, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Brown to Miss Mildred Rhodes, a daughter of W. C. and Laura Rhodes, prominent citizens of Lincoln county. To Mr. and Mrs. Brown two children have been born: Ann, whose birth occurred on the 24th of January, 1920, and who died on the 11th of August, 1922; and Roberta, born in 1918.

Politically Mr. Brown is a democrat and his religious faith is that of the Presbyterian church. He is an active member of the Chamber of Commerce and is also identified with the Kolumbian Klub. (Tennessee, The Volunteer State, 1769-1923, Vol. 3, John Trotwood Moore and Austin P. Foster, S. J. Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, 1923)

[NOTE: Helen Brown, daughter-in-law of Robert Hutton Brown, has submitted a surname spelling correction. The correct spelling should be Rodes, not Rhodes. Corrected should read “... marriage of Mr. Brown to Miss Mildred Rodes, a daughter of W. C. and Laura Rodes ... ” Submitted 02 May 2003]