Clark, Robert Carlton, Ph.D. "History of the Willamette Valley Oregon."  Vol. 2.
Chicago: Chapman Publishing Company, 1927. p. 49.
 
PERCY L. BROWN

     As the  founder and  head of  the Interurban Telephone Company Percy L.
Brown has rendered valuable service to the residents of Marion county, and other
public utilities have also profited by his initiative spirit and executive
capacity.   He is a native of Silverton and bears a name that is inseparably
associated with the history of its development.  He was born in 1876, a son of
J. M. and Edna (Eastham) Brown. His father was a native of Missouri and a son of
James and Lucinda (Davis) Brown, who journeyed to Marion county in 1846,
settling on a donation claim of six hundred and forty acres.  The north end of
Silverton is situated on a portion of the homestead and the Eugene Field school
stands on the southern boundary of the claim.   James Brown was the proprietor
of a wayside.inn, which he erected on the emigrant road, and his hostelry was
popular with the travelers of that period.  He was an ardent abolitionist and
joined the Union League Club. His son,  J. M. Brown, speculated in farms and was
a large landowner, succeeding in all of his ventures.  He filled the office of
justice of the peace and was also a notary public.   His wife was born in
Oregon, to which her parents, William F. and Delilah Ann (Cleaver) Eastham, came
with the pioneers of 1848, and in the following year located in Oregon City.
Edward Eastham, the eldest son of W. F. Eastham, was a banker and displayed keen
sagacity in the conduct of his affairs. He established the electric light plant
at Oregon City and the Eastham school was named in his honor.  His eldest
daughter, Mrs. J. M. Brown, has attained the age of seventy-six years but her
husband passed away in 1922.
     Percy L. Brown supplemented his public school education by attendance at
Willamette University and in 1896 was graduated from Oregon Institute. He
purchased the electric light plant at Silverton in the same year and in 1898
formed a partnership with his brother Carl, with whom he was associated until
the latter's death in 1903, when the business was sold. In 1898 the brothers had
purchased the Silverton waterworks and in 1911 P. L. Brown sold the plant to the
town. In 1904 the Interurban Telephone Company was established by P. L. Brown as
a private enterprise and in 1908 the business was incorporated. J. M. Brown was
then elected president and P. L. Brown assumed the duties of secretary and
manager. In 1923 Murton E. De Guire became president and the office of manager
is now filled by P. L. Brown, who has developed a fine system, operated on a
highly efficient basis. The company has over five hundred and twenty-nine miles
of wire and serves about eleven hundred patrons. The main office is located in
Silverton and long distance service is provided through arrangements with the
Bell Telephone Company.
     
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Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in December 2014 by Diana Smith.
Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned
above.