Senator Alexander Brown View All Years

Mr. President: Your special committee appointed to draft and present resolutions commemorative of the life, character and public services of the Honorable Alexander Brown, late a member of the Senate in the Nineteenth General Assembly, now beg leave to submit the following as their report:

Alexander Brown was born near Carbondale, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, May 3, 1837, and died at Keosauqua, Iowa, August 10, 1910. He was of Scotch descent, his parents emigrating to America in about the year 1820, and settling in the state of New York.

When the subject of this sketch was only five years of age the family removed to the town of Keosauqua in Van Burn County, State of Iowa, at which place the father died five years later. Here the son, Alexander, attended the public school and studied law under George G. Wright, afterwards Chief Justice, and United States Senator from Iowa, and there he was admitted to the bar in 1859. In the fall of 1861 he enlisted in Company “E” of the Fifteenth Regiment, Iowa Infantry, in response to his country’s call for volunteers in defense of the Union. On March 1, 1862, he was promoted to Sergeant Major of his rigiment. Soon after this the regiment was sent to the front and first participated in the battle of Shiloh, where it was heavily engaged, coming out of the battle with a casualty list of 213 killed, wounded and missing. In this action Major Brown was severely wounded in the hip, but recovered in time to reach his regiment and participate with it in the battle of Corinth, October 3, 1862, in which engagement he was again wounded; this time dangerously in the shoulder. This wound rendered him incapable for further active military service in the field. He was, therefore, discharged upon the surgeon’s certificate of disability, in February, 1863, and returned to his home. Shortly afterward he was appointed to a clerkship in the office of Provost Marshal Robert Rutledge at Burlington, which position he held until October, 1865, when he returned to Keosauqua.

In the fall of 1867 he was elected County Judge of Van Buren County, and held this office until it was abolished by legislative enactment two years later. He was then elected Auditor of the county and served in that capacity for six years, after which he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, that of the law, and soon established a reputation as an able and conscientious lawyer, enjoying the fullest confidence of the bench, bar and people.

He was elected to the State Senate in 1881 and secured important legislation in relation to river bridges and abandoned railroad rights-of-way.

In 1894 he was elected County Attorney of Van Buren County, serving two terms. He was mayor of Keosauqua continuously for a period of ten years, until 1908, when, on account of growing infirmities, he declined to run again for that office. He was a member of the Masonic Fraternity and also of the Grand Army of the Republic.

It would seem superfluous to eulogize this man—his record alone is sufficient, and is eloquent of his qualities and services. That record shows that when an orphan he had a serious purpose to make something worth while of life and that he contended with, and overcame, the obstacles which lay in his pathway. His popularity was well deserved, and no man of his county was held in higher esteem by all classes.

In 1870 Judge Brown was married to Mary Rankin, who survived him, and his domestic life was most beautiful.

Therefore, Be It Resolved, That the Senate of the State of Iowa has learned with profound sorrow and regret of the death of the Honorable Alexander Brown, and that in the death of this prominent citizen, his city, county, and state have suffered a great loss and from his immediate family there has been called away one whose place can never be filled.

Be It Further Resolved, That these resolutions be entered in the Journal of the Senate and that an engrossed copy be authenticated by the President and Secretary and be sent to the family of the deceased.

W. S. ALLEN,

J. H. ALLEN,

JOHN T. CLARKSON,

Committee.