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OSCAR G. BROWN

 

Oscar G. Brown, a successful farmer and stock-raiser of Mason township, has resided on his present farm of eighty acres since the 1st of March, 1906.  He was born in Van Buren county, Iowa, on the 16th of October, 1868, a son of Francis M. and Susan E. (Schiveley) Brown.  William Brown, the paternal grandfather of our subject, was born in 1812 and came to Taylor county in 1869 as one of its pioneer settlers.  In early manhood he wedded Miss Emily Malone, by whom he had the following children:  Mrs. Williams, Benjamin, Robert D., William, Francis M., Mrs. C. H. Harriman, Stephen and Wise.  Four of the number were soldiers of the Civil war, including the father of our subject.  Benjamin, who was a member of the One Hundred and Twelfth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, was killed in battle; Robert D., who was a member of the Seventeenth Iowa Regiment, was held a prisoner by the rebels for several months; and William died in a hospital.  The maternal grandparents of our subject had seven children, namely: Susan E., John, Charles, Mary, Kate, Annie and Lizzie.

 

Francis M. Brown, the father of Oscar G., was a stalwart defender of the Union, being a member of Company A, Nineteenth Regiment of Iowa Volunteer Infantry.  He likewise came to this county in 1869 as one of its early settlers and has been successfully engaged in general agricultural pursuits throughout his active business career.  He makes his home in Mason township and his upright and honorable life has won him the confidence and esteem of all with whom he has been associated.

 

Oscar G. Brown obtained his education in the schools of Mason township and of New Market, there pursuing his studies until he had attained the age of nineteen years.  Early in life he became familiar with the duties and labors which fall to the lot of the agriculturist through the assistance which he rendered his father in the cultivation of the home place and after putting aside his text-books, he continued to aid in the work of the old homestead farm until he had attained his majority.  He then began operating a forty-acre tract of land and subsequently purchased a farm of eighty acres on section 8, Mason township, and has here since carried on both farming and stock-raising with excellent results.  The property is equipped with all of the improvements and accessories of a model farm of the twentieth century, and in his undertakings Mr. Brown is meeting with a well earned and creditable measure of prosperity. 

 

On the 3d of March, 1892, in Mason township, Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Alice Strode, a daughter of William and Rachel (Wimmer) Strode.  Her father was a well known agriculturist of Mason township.

 

In his political views Mr. Brown is a stalwart republican and is now serving as a school director, the cause of education finding in him a stanch champion.  His religious faith is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church at New Market.  He has resided in this county throughout practically his entire life and, owing to his upright and honorable career, the circle of is friends is almost coextensive with the circle of his acquaintances.