Hines, H. K. "An Illustrated History of the State of Oregon." Chicago: Lewis Pub. Co. 1893. p. 641. JOHN BROWN An Oregon pioneer of 1846, was born in Knox county, Tennessee, in 1831. His parents, Hugh L. and Clarissa (Browning) Brown, were natives of Tennessee and north Carolina, respectively. In 1838 they emigrated to Missouri and settled in the Platte purchase, Platte county, and reclaimed and improved a comfortable home. In 1846 he entered into partnership with James Blakely and they purchased three wagons and eight yoke of cattle and the necessary supplies, and struck out for Oregon among the first emigrants of that season. With abundant provisions and good feed for their cattle, their journey was comfortably performed and they landed at Foster's fort in the Willamette valley, September 15, 1846. Mr. Brown proceeded up the valley and located his donation claim, of 640 acres, one mile east of the present town of Brownsville, and began farming. A few years later he was employed by Hartless & St. Clair to conduct a little store, around which a settlement sprung up and by mutual consent was called Brownsville. The town site was platted by James Blakely about 1855, when Messrs. Brown & Blakely purchased the store and continued the business for two years, when Blakely retired and Mr. Brown continued until 1860. He was one of the organizers of the Linn Woolen Mill and was very active in the management until it was destroyed by fire, in 1862. His eyesight then began to fail and he sold his farm and removed to Brownsville, where he resided until his death, January 23, 1888, aged seventy-eight. His widow still survives him, aged eighty-two years. Mr. Brown was a soldier in the Cayuse war and rendered valuable service to the sparsely settled country. He served one term in the Territorial Legislature, two terms in the State Legislature and as a member of the Board of Commissioners of Linn county. He was very prominent in church and educational work and was the able founder of a prosperous settlement. John Brown improved the limited educational advantages in Missouri and crossed the plains with his parents. In October, 1855, when the Rogue river Indians arose in arms, he volunteered and was in the service until the close of the war, in the summer of 1856. In 1857 he began trading in cattle, but remained with his parents until 1863, when he was married to Miss Amelia L. Spaulding, who was born in the Nez Perces country at the Lapwai Indian Mission, where her father, Rev. H. H. Spaulding, was then stationed as a Presbyterian missionary, appointed by the Board, and entering the field in 1836, and subsequently settling in Brownsville. Mr. Brown purchased 408 acres of land from Mr. Spaulding, one mile east of Brownsville, and there located after marriage and engaged in farming and raising stock, which interests he has continued to the present day. In 1885 he built his handsome and spacious residence, but his wife, a sufferer of many years, enjoyed it but a brief time, as she died in November, 1889, leaving two children: Loretta, wife of Alexander Foster; and Malcolm Earle. Mr. Brown was a member of the first woolen mill enterprise, in 1860, and was one of the syndicate to purchase the Brownsville Woolen and Flour Mill property in 1889 and to organize the Eagle Woolen Mill Company, of which he is a director. Family cares and illness have prevented him from engaging in public or political matters, but he holds a prominent position in the community and is esteemed by all who know him. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in October 2005 by Diana Smith. Submitter has no additional information about the person(s) or family mentioned above.