Cyrus Brown
Cyrus Brown, veteran of the Civil War, former trustee of New Jasper township and a farmer of that township, enjoys the unique distinction of having served in the '90s as sheriff of Greene county for the shortest term ever noted in the local shrievalty, his tenure of ofifice having lasted but two weeks. The Legislature had enacted a law fixing the beginning of the terms of sheriffs in this state on September 1 instead of on January 1, this alteration of the tenure leaving a term of eight months unprovided for. The commissioners of Greene county appointed Mr. Brown sheriff to fill the vacancy and he entered upon the duties of that office. Two weeks later the state supreme court declared the new law unconstitutional and he thus was deprived of his office, but he had been sheriff for two weeks and even the supreme court was powerless to deprive him of that distinction. During his term of service as a soldier of the Union Mr. Brown saved four hundred dollars of his pay. This sum he ever afterward retained, investing it as a separate fund against such a time as to him might seem fitting for its conversion to another purpose of great moment, and in October, 1917, he converted the sum, with accrued earnings, into Liberty bonds of the United States government
Mr. Brown is a native son of Greene county and has lived here all his life. He was born on a farm in what is now Jefferson township on October 6, 1842, a son of James and Rachel (Powers) Brown, both of whom also were born in Ohio, the former in Belmont county and the latter in Clinton county, and whose last days were spent in Greene county, of which latter county they had been residents since the days of their youth.
James Brown was born on February 25, 1816, son of Richard and Elizabeth (Pickering) Brown, the former of whom was bom in the Old Dominion, near the line between Virginia and Maryland, and who had come to Ohio about 1810 and had settled in Belmont county. Richard Brown served as a soldier of the War of 1812 and later become engaged as a trader and teamster, hauling goods over the National road from Baltimore west. His first wife, Elizabeth Pickering, died leaving six children, Sallie, John, Joshua, James, Allan and Elizabeth. He later married Mary Pickering, a cousin of his deceased wife, and to that union were born four children, Rhoda, Jacob, William and Levi. With his family Richard Brown came to Greene county in 1842 and settled in the Paintersville neighborhood, where in 1850 he was killed by being thrown from a horse, his foot being caught in a stirrup and he being dragged to death. He was buried in the New Hope cemetery near Paintersville. John Brown, eldest son of Richard Brown, had come to Greene county during the thirties and had here become engaged as a building contractor, a general stone mason and builder of brick houses. In 1839 he was joined here by his brother, James Brown, who on January 2, 1842, married Rachel Powers, who was born in the neighboring county of Clinton on November 27, 1812, daughter of Edward and Mary (Wright) Powers, the latter of whom was born in North Carolina and who was nineteen years of age when in 1809 she married Edward Powers, a native of Ireland, born in 1773, who had come to this country in 1800. Soon after their marriage Edward Powers and his wife came to Ohio and settled in Clinton county. He rendered service as a soldier of the War of 1812 and continued to make his home in Clinton county until 1824, when he came with his family up into Greene county and settled on the farm now owned by D. C. Spahr, on the Hussey pike about a mile and a half from Paintersville in Caesarscreek township, where he died about 1843. amd was buried in the New Hope graveyard. Edward Powers and his wife were the parents of ten children, all now deceased, of whom Mrs. Rachel Brown was the second in order of birth, the others having been the following: Betsy, who married Robert Oglesbee; Alford, who remained on the home farm and became the owner of a farm of six hundred acres; Edward, who also became a farmer; Mrs. Mary Faulkner, twin sister of Edward; Allan, who lived at Paintersville; George, who made his home on a farm; Rebecca, who married Marshall Burrell and lived in Xenia township; Mrs. Emily Devoe, whose last days were spent in the West, and John, who spent his last days in Indiana.
After his marriage in 1842, James Brown rented a farm in what is now Jefferson township and there made his home for four or five years, at the end of which time he bought a little farm just north of where he had been residing and not far from the place owned and occupied by his brother Joshua. The two brothers engaged in a partnership arrangement and for years were engaged in the huckster business, James Brown keeping the supplies of groceries, "Yankee notions," and the like with which they stocked their wagons in his house. James Brown was just a "natural born" speculator and trader and would buy or sell anything that came to hand, generally being able afterward to note a margin of profit on his side of the transaction. In 1866 he disposed of his holdings in Silvercreek township and bought a farm of eighty-four acres in New Jasper township, the place on which his son Cyrus Brown is now living. To that he added adjoining land, engaged also in the live stock business, and continued to make his home there until 1881 when he sold the place to his son Cyrus, invested in farm lands in Clinton county and moved to Paintersville, where he bought a grocery store and where he spent the rest of his life, his death occurring there on August 31, 1886. His widow survived him until May 1, 1892. James Brown was a Republican and served the public in the capacity of township trustee and as assessor. He and his wife were members of the Protestant Methodist church at Paintersville and for years Mr. Brown was a class leader. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, namely: Cyrus, the immediate subject of this biographical sketch; Mary Elizabeth, widow of Lewis Lane, of Allen county, Ohio; Loama, who died at the age of two years; John J., deceased; Marshall, a resident of New Jasper township; Ezra, also a resident of New Jasper township, and Rachel .Ann, wife of Charles Harrison, of Allen county.
Cyrus Brown was reared on the old home farm in Silvercreek township and received his schooling in the neighborhood schools of Jefferson township. From the days of his boyhood he was trained in the ways of practical farming and was engaged in farming on the home place when the Civil War broke out. On August 11, 1862, he enlisted as a private in Company E, Ninety-fourth Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and served until he was mustered out on June 5, 1865. Upon the completion of his military service Mr. Brown returned home and after his marriage in the fall of 1866 established his home on a small farm he had bought in New Jasper township, not far from his father's farm. There he continued to make his home until 1881, in which year he bought his father's farm, then consisting of eighty-five acres, moved to that place, his father moving to Paintersville in that year, and has ever since resided there, very comfortably situated. Since taking possession of that farm Mr. Brown has added to his acreage until he now owns one hundred and sixty-five acres. In 1890 he remodeled and enlarged his house. For some years, in addition to his general farming, he gave considerable attention to the raising of pure-bred Berkshire hogs and was a successful exhibitor at county fairs. Mr. Brown is a Republican and for years served as central committeeman of that party from his home township. For six terms he served as trustee of his home township, for eighteen years served as school director in his home district, a part of that time serving as president of the township board of education, and for more than ten years served as treasurer of the township. He also, as set out above, for two weeks served as sheriff of Greene county.
On October 18, 1866, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Mary Elizabeth Smith, who was born in New Jasper township, daughter of Daniel and Lucinda (Spahr) Smith, who for years made their home on the farm on which Mrs. Brown was born, and to this union were born two daughters, Alice Lovona, born on August 16, 1867, who is the wife of F. M. Thomas, a biographical sketch of whom is presented elsewhere in this volume, and Mary Lucinda, May 21, 1872, wife of James R. Fudge, of whom there also is a biographical sketch on another page in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper, with which organization Mrs. Brown has been affiliated since she was eleven years of age. For many years Mr. Brown was a member of the board of trustees of that church and was serving on the board when the present church edifice was erected. When the new parsonage was built he was a member of the board having the erection of the same under its direction. For many years he also was a teacher in the Sunday school.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918