Ezra Brown
Ezra Brown, trustee of New Jasper township and the owner of a farm on rural mail route No. 8 out of Xenia, in that township, is a native son of this county and has lived here all his life, now living practically retired, he and his wife being very comfortably situated at their home just north of the village of New Jasper. Mr. Brown was born on a farm in Silvercreek township on February 6, 1855, son of James and Rachel (Powers) Brown, both of whom also were born in this state, the former in Belmont county and the latter in Clinton county, whose last days were spent in Greene county, where James Brown had resided since the days of his young manhood.
James Brown was born in 1816 and grew up in Belmont county, where he was born, his parents, Richard and Mary Elizabeth Brown, having been pioneers of that county. Richard Brown and his wife were Methodists and their last days were spent in Belmont county. Their son James was early trained as a brickmason and as a young man came to Greene county to establish himself as a building contractor and for some time worked at that vocation in and about Paintersville, his first contract there having been the erection of the old Beal house near that village. He later bought a farm in Silvercreek township and having married meanwhile, established his home there, remaining on that farm until 1865, when he sold that place and bought a farm of one hundred and ten acres in New Jasper township, the place where his eldest son, Cyrus Brown, is now living, making his residence on that place until his retirement from the farm and removal to Paintersville. There he opened a grocery store and spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring there in August, 1886, he then being past seventy years of age. James Brown was a Republican and for some time served as assessor of New Jasper township. In addition to his other activities he was for years recognized as one of the leading stockmen in that part of the county, he and Squire Clemens having long been engaged together in the breeding of fine horses and mules. He and his wife were members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mrs. Brown died in May, 1893. She was born, Rachel Powers, in the neighboring county of Clinton in 1812, daughter of Edward and Mary Powers, who had a farm in that county and who spent their last days there. Edward Powers was born in Ireland and when nineteen years of age left that country in order to evade army service and came to America as a stowaway, hiding beneath household goods, on a vessel that was six weeks in making the passage. He brought with him a gun which is still in the possession of the family. After looking about in the East, Edward Powers came to Ohio, locating in Clinton county, where he became the owner of a farm and where he spent the rest of his life and where his daughter Rachel was living when she married James Brown. To that union were born seven children, namely: Cyrus, who is still living on the old home place in New Jasper township; Mary Elizabeth, widow of Lewis Lane; Lami, who died in youth; John, who became a farmer in Xenia township and there died in 1912; Marshall, a farmer of New Jasper township; Ezra, the subject of this biographical sketch, and Rachel Ann, wife of Charles Harrison, of Lima, Ohio.
Ezra Brown was about ten years of age when his parents moved from Silvercreek township, where he was born, to New Jasper township and his schooling was completed in the schools of the latter township. As a young man he was for three years engaged working on the farm of his brother Marshall, making his home with the latter. He then for several years was employed variously in the neighborhood, mainly engaged in farm work, and, in the meantime having married, then rented a farm on which he made his home for five years, at the end of which time, in 1897, he bought the farm on which he is now living, just north of the village of New Jasper, the fields of which, since 1914, he has rented out. Mr. Brown has a farm of ninety-nine acres. He is a Republican and is serving his third term as trustee of his home township. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at New Jasper.
On January 23, 1887, Ezra Brown was united in marriage to Mary Letitia Spahr, who was born in New Jasper township, this county, daughter of Sanford and Eliza Spahr, and a member of one of the oldest families in the county. Sanford Spahr was a son of Mathias and Susanne ( Hagler) Spahr, both natives of Virginia. His father, John V. Spahr, lived and died in Virginia. Mathias Spahr was a brother of Philip Spahr, who was one of the first settlers in what is now New Jasper township. Mathias Spahr settled in Xenia township on a farm owned by Clark Bickett. Sanford Spahr moved from this county over into Indiana many years ago and settled on a farm in Randolph county, his daughter (now Mrs. Brown) then having been but four years of age.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918