An Illustrated History of Central Oregon, Western Historical Publishing Company,
Spokane, WA. 1905, pages 390-391.

JOHN W. BROWN, a native son of the Webfoot State, has labored in Oregon for many
years and is now living on his fine fruit farm about six miles southeast from
Mosier. He has a very choice place of one quarter section, one hundred acres of
which are fine fruit land. He has ten acres of this cleared and into orchard and
various other improvements upon the place.      

John W. Brown was born in Portland, Oregon, on October 30, 1856, the son of
James and Sarah J. (Stanley) Brown, natives of Tennessee and Texas,
respectively. The father's parents and grandparents were also born in Tennessee.
He served in the Mexican war and now lives in Jefferson county, Washington and
does farming. The mother of our subject died in 1884. In 1853 our subject's
father went from Missouri to California and was all through the various Indian
wars in Oregon and lost all he had at the Cow Creek Massacre, all his household
goods being taken from him with his entire outfit. He was left entirely
destitute with a wife and one child. In 1855, they came to Oregon and later took
a donation claim about fifteen miles up the Columbia from Portland where our
subject resided. In 1871 the family went to Umatilla county and two years later,
moved to Southern California. After two years there, they went back to southern
Oregon and then went to Nevada, where our subject started for himself. Mr. Brown
was accompanied by his wife, who was not afraid of the Indians, having had much
experience with them in Texas. Her father was all through the Black Hawk war and
lost a hand in the struggle. After our subject began operations for himself in
Nevada, he remained one year and then came back to Portland. After that, he went
to Umatilla county and did wheat farming until 1894. He has taken a preemption
there, which he sold and homesteaded the one hundred and sixty acres where he
now resides.      

On January 18, 1892, at The Dalles, Mr. Brown married Miss Martha E. Hurst, who
was born in Idaho. Her parents, Joseph and Nancy J. (Cowsert) Hurst, were born
in Oregon. Mr. Brown has one brother, George W., but no sisters. His father has
no brothers, but one sister residing in Independence, Oregon. He is an active
Socialist, an industrious and enterprising man and is making a very fine place
where he now lives.

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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in January 2005 by Jeffrey L. Elmer. 
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.