Gaston, Joseph. "The Centennial History of Oregon, 1811-1912." Vol. 2. Chicago, Clarke Publishing Co., 1912. p. 20. PLEASANT J. BROWN, a retired ranchman of Baker City, who owns eight hundred and forty acres of excellent land in this county, is one of Oregon’s pioneer citizens, his residence here covering a period of forty-five years. He was born in Jasper county, Iowa, on the 1st of April, 1854, and is a son of Andrew J. and Martha Ann (Harp) Brown. The father was a native of Tennessee and the mother of Illinois, but they removed to Iowa with their parents during the pioneer days, and there they were married and passed the early years of their domestic life. In 1864, they joined a wagon train and crossing the plains they located in Montana. Three years later they came to Oregon, settling on Goose creek in Baker county, where the father filed on some government land. There the mother passed away in 1874, but the father was living in Baker City until the time of his death, which occurred in December, 1907. Twelve children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brown, nine of whom are living and all are residents of Oregon with the exception of one, who lives in Boise, Idaho. Pleasant J. Brown was a lad of ten years when his parents removed to Montana and thirteen when they settled in Baker county. His education was obtained in the schools of his native state, and completed in those of Montana and Oregon. He remained at home on the ranch until he as nineteen years of age and then started out on his career. For six years thereafter he engaged in freighting and during that time accumulated sufficient means to enable him to engage in ranching, and homesteaded a quarter section of land in Eagle valley and engaged in the live-stock business. He continued in this line with constantly increasing success for twenty years. Early recognizing that property values in this section would rapidly increase in value with the development of transportation facilities, Mr. Brown extended his holdings from time to time until he now owns eight hundred and forty acres of excellent farming land. He retired from active business several years ago turning over the management of his ranch to his son, Roscoe P. Brown, and is now living in Baker City, where he owns a beautiful residence. In addition to his extensive property interests, Mr. Brown is one of the stockholders of the Citizens National Bank and is a member of the board of directors on this institution. On the 1st of January, 1880, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Zona E. Young, who was born in Illinois and is a daughter of W. N. and Nancy A. (Sublett) Young, likewise of Illinois. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Brown numbers seven, as follows: S. Ellen, William J., who is deceased; Roscoe P., who operates the home ranch; Chester J., who is deceased; June C., who is attending high school, and Sylvester W. and Zona M. The family attend the Baptist church in which the mother holds membership, and fraternally Mr. Brown belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Masonic order, being a member of the blue lodge. His political support is given to the democratic party and he served as school clerk for fifteen years and as county commissioner for four. Mr. Brown is widely known in Baker county, which has developed almost beyond recognition during the long period of his residence, and is one of the thriving and highly prosperous sections of the state. ******************* Submitted to the Oregon Bios. Project in October 2015 by Dale Givens, odg -at- hiwaay.net. More information can be found at: http://wc.rootsweb.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/igm.cgi?op=GET&db=bakerco&id=I3790