THOMAS BROWN.
There is considerable satisfaction in writing the life story of a man who has worked his way upward from poverty to a position of wealth and influence in the space of a lifetime, and accomplished it all with his own strong arms and mind. When one adds to this accomplishment the rearing of a large family to lives of usefulness, and to bring up a bevy of young men and women to comfort their parents in their declining years, there is not much for any one individual to wish for. Thomas Brown, retired farmer, of Effingham, Kan., has done all of this and is the proud father of one of the largest families in Atchison county. Had he done no more than to bring into the world his thirteen children, he would have been worthy of praise and been entitled to honorable mention in this volume, as a patriotic and sturdy American citizen. A native of the Emerald isle, he came to America in his youth, and now ranks as one of the Kansas and Atchison county pioneers.
Thomas Brown was born in the little village of Altone, Ireland, and is a son of John and Mary (Dalton) Brown. His birth occurred on February 10, 1847. His father was a farmer in his native country, and made a good living for his family, later moving to the town of Altone and engaging in the transfer business, in which occupation he was fairly successful and enabled to provide for his family in comfort. He was the father of ten children, seven of whom came to America to seek their fortunes in the land of opportunity. The seven who came across the Ocean were: J. P. Brown, a pioneer merchant and capitalist, of Atchison, now deceased; Mrs. Bridget Norton, who died in 1913 at her home in Pittsfield, Mass.; Mrs. Mary Scully, of Troy, N. Y.; Mrs. Anna Elkhorn, of Troy, N. Y.; Mrs. Margaret Hewitt, of Independence, Mo.; Mrs. Kate Waters, deceased, who was the wife of a soldier in the British army. The father of these children died in Ireland, and the mother died in Troy, N. Y.
Thomas Brown emigrated from his native land to this country in 1865, and hired out to a farmer in Orange county, New York, at $20 per month. The farm where he was employed was located seventeen miles north of Newburg, on the Hudson river. He worked there for two years and carefully saved his earnings until he had $300. With this capital he set out for the West and joined his brother, J. P. Brown, who was then located in Atchison. His first employment was on his brother’s stock farm, located north of Monrovia. Unfortunately, he was taken ill not long after his arrival, and lay sick for a long time with typhoid, all of his savings going to pay for medical services and nursing. He remained on his brother’s farm for ten years and laid by another stake during that time. During this period he cultivated three farms, owned by J. P. Brown, who did not require him to pay any rental fees. Even the taxes were paid by his brother who was only anxious to keep the land in cultivation and give his brother, Tom, a start in the world. In the year 1877, Thomas, having saved enough money to buy a farm of his own, invested his savings in a tract of 160 acres of high prairie land, northwest of Effingham, in Benton township. His first land investment cost him $2,250. The land had on it only a small shack which was soon replaced by a comfortable home. It is now one of the best improved places in this section of Kansas, and the Brown farms are among the most productive in the whole State of Kansas. A handsome white farm house graces the home place, which can be seen for miles around, and it is quite imposing. Mr. Brown prospered as he deserved and increased his holdings to the grand total of 640 acres of good Kansas land. The remarkable part about his purchases of land is that he paid cash for every tract of land which he bought and never went in debt for a single acre. This land, purchased at varying prices, is now easily worth $125 an acre. Mr. Brown carried on general farming and live stock raising until February of 1911, when he turned over the management of the home farm to his son, and removed to Effingham, where he has a beautiful and comfortable residence in the west part of the city.
He, of whom this review is written, was married on October 20, 1869, to Miss Anna Neely, born in Ohio in 1846, a daughter of Samuel Neely, who migrated to Atchison county, Kansas, in 1868. Sixteen children have been born of this marriage, thirteen of whom are living, all of whom are married excepting one daughter and a son: John, a farmer, living near Blue Rapids, Kan.; Mrs. Ida Fishburn, living on a farm near Meriden, Kan.; William, Charley, Frank, and Edward, who are located on their father’s ranch; George lives at Effingham; Richard, a successful farmer, living south of Muscotah; Mrs. Pearl Dunn, of Oklahoma; Mrs. Ethel Smith, residing in Oklahoma; Edith, at home with her parents; Mrs. Julia Wagner, living near Mortimer, Kan.; Mrs. Mary Kemp, on a farm near Vermilion, Kan. This worthy couple have thirty-six grandchildren.
Mr. Brown is a Republican in politics, but is decidedly independent in his voting and making up his mind concerning political questions of the day. He believes in supporting the man best qualified to serve the people in a civic capacity, rather than blindly following the dictates of political leaders or so-called bosses, a characteristic of the man in all of his conduct through life. He is a member of the Effingham Catholic church and is a liberal supporter of this denomination, having contributed liberally toward the building of the local church. He is a member of the Ancient Free and Accepted Masons lodge and became a member of this lodge in 1871. It is a matter of historical record that Mr. Brown, Willis Walker and Hump. Henderson, of Effingham, are the three oldest living Masons in Atchison county in point of years of membership in the order. What more honor does a man wish than has befallen this Atchison county pioneer?