Samuel A. Brown
Samuel A. Brown, superintendent of the electric-light plant at Jamestown, which plant he installed and continued as proprietor of the same until it recently was taken over by the Dayton Power and Light Company, was born on a farm in Fairfield county, Ohio, on January 12, 1852, son of Capt. Peter and Elizabeth (Stuckey) Brown, the former of whom was born and reared in Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock, the latter a native of Fairfield county, Ohio.
Capt. Peter Brown, who gave his services to his country both in the Mexican War and in the Civil War, was born in Northumberland county, Pennsylvania, February 4, 1817, a son of George Peter and Catherine (Kuntz) Brown, also natives of that same county, who spent all their lives there. Captain Brown came to Ohio at the age of thirteen and became engaged in farming in Fairfield county, where he was living when the Mexican War broke out. He rendered service in that conflict and when the Civil War broke out he raised Company B of the Forty-third Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and went to the front as captain of that companv. a year later being discharged on a physician's certificate of disabilitv. Though he had been farming, Captain Brown had a good working knowledge of the tailor trade and after the war followed that trade in Franklin countv, remaining there until his retirement, when he moved to Dayton, where he spent his last days, his death occurring on October 7, 1894. Captain Brown was twice married. On June 15, 1841, he was united in marriage to Margaret Ellen McConnell, who died on March 11, 1846. To that union were bom two children, Emma C. and Wallace K., both of whom died young. In 1850 Captain Brown married Elizabeth Stuckey, who was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, June 28, 1826, a daughter of Samuel and Sarah (Hensel) Stuckey, who were born in Pennsylvania, of Pennsylvania-Dutch stock. She survived her husband a little more than eight years, her death occurring on December 16, 1902. To that union were born seven children, of whom the subject of this sketch was the first-born, the others being as follows: Elizabeth, who married Alonzo Trimmer and who, as well as her husband, is now deceased; Charles Edward, who is engaged in farming near Bowling Green, Ohio; George U., who is now living in Chicago,, where he is connected with the ofiices of the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company; Frank P., who is engaged in the parcel-delivery business at Dayton; Rosa, now living at Dayton, the widow of John Gilliland, and Milton, who died in infancy.
Samuel A. Brown's youth was spent on a farm, his schooling being obtained in a district school in the neighborhood of Canal Winchester, in Franklin county. When seventeen years of age he began working in a flour-mill in that neighborhood, a business at which he worked, off and on, for twenty years. In due time he became the owner of a mill at Bowling Green, in Wood county, and for six years operated the same. He then sold out and worked as a journeyman millwright for several years, at the end of which time he rented a mill at Goshen, in Clermont county, and for about six years was engaged in milling there. He then disposed of his interests there and moved to Dayton, where he for a time was employed as a stationary engineer. In the meantime Mr. Brown had become an expert electrician and in 1895 he and his brother Frank came to this county and erected and installed an electric-light plant at Jamestown, building the power station and wiring the town. Two years later his brother sold out his interest in the plant to John Colnot, who presently sold his interest to Mr. Brown, who then associated with himself in the business his son, Orlando T. Brown, and Brown & Son continued to own and operate the plant until in February, 1917, when they sold it to the Dayton Power and Light Company, which is now operating the same. Mr. Brown takes pride in the lighting plant he built up at Jamestown and of which he still is superintendent, for the Dayton company retained him as general superintendent of the plant after they took it over. In 1895 when he started the plant going at Jamestown it represented an initial outlay of six thousand dollars, but during the many years he was in control of the same he gradually extended the plant until it came to be worth twenty thousand dollars. In 1916 Mr. Brown erected a brick double house on the north side of East Main street and has since made his home in one half of that house, his son-in-law, Archibald McFarlan, and family occupying the other half. Mr. Brown is a Republican and is now serving as a member of the Jamestown town council, to which office he was elected in the fall of 1917.
On July 21, 1872, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Elnora Fellers, who also was born in Fairfield county, Ohio, February 7, 1857, daughter of Joshua and Barbara (Runde) Fellers, who were the parents of eleven children, all of whom are still living and of whom Mrs. Brown was the seventh in order of birth, the others being the following: Eliza, born on May 7, 1844; Minerva, April 2, 1846; Martha, May 6, 1847; Clara E., February 13, 1850; David E., November 25, 1852; Elizabeth, November 27, 1853; Florence, December 14. 1858; John C, November 3, 1861; Barbara Alice, May 6, 1863, and Docia, April 18, 1865. Joshua Fellers, the father of these children, died on December 10, 1899, and his widow's death occurred on July 10, 1900. She was born on June 8, 1822. Mr. and Mrs. Brown have two children, a son and a daughter, Orlando Theodore and Lillie May, the latter of whom is living at Jamestown. Orlando T. Brown, who formerly was associated with his father in the operation of the lighting plant at Jamestown, is now living at Dayton, where he is engaged as an electrician. He married Blanch Bossard and has two children, Helen and Esther. Lillie May Brown married Archibald McFarlan, proprietor of a barber shop at Jamestown, and has two children, Owen Brown and Ned Lee. The Browns are members of the Methodist Episcopal church, of which Mr. Brown has been a steward and deacon for more than twelve years. For six years he also was superintendent of the Sunday school of that church.
From History of Greene County Ohio, Its People, Industries and Institutions, vol. 2. M.A.Broadstone, editor. B.F.Bowen & Co., Indianapolis. 1918