USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 71
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of the war served as a full-fledged soldier. When the retreat was ordered at Fair Oaks and Bugler Bronson was ordered to sound the command, he held his bugle in one hand and his rifle in the other, an incident vividly recalled by his colonel in a personal letter written a score of years later. In the memor- able seven days' retreat. beginning July ist following, he fought in all the engagements of the Second Corps, including the bloody bat- tles of Savage Station, White Oak Swamp and Malvern Hill. In Howard's brigade, Sumner's corps, he participated in all the battles incident to the great Peninsular Cam- paign, following which came the second Bull Run and Antietam. In the latter battle he was so seriously wounded that he was laid up for three months. In the summer of 1863, after his return to active duty, he was sent liome, as a sergeant, on recruiting service, rejoining the army just after the battle of the Wilderness and witnessing the remain- der of that great campaign, including the battle of Cold Harbor. In October, 1864, he was commissioned first lieutenant of his company, but was detailed as acting quarter- master, in which capacity he acted until the close of the war. For many dreary months he assisted in the siege of Petersburg, Vir- ginia, and participated in the closing victory at Appomattox, which ended the war. After peace was declared young Bronson returned home and entered the Newbury, Vermont, Seminary, to complete his academic studies. In 1869 he was graduated from Dartmouth Medical College, and January 1, 1870, located for practice at Newbury, Vermont. Three years later he removed to Sedalia, Missouri, where he has since been continuously en- gaged in his profession. Outside of his profes- sion Dr. Bronson is perhaps best known as one of the chief originators and incorpora- tors of the Royal Tribe of Joseph, a fraternal protective association, organized in Sedalia, in 1894. Six months before its incorporation he was identified with it in formulating a plan of organization, and during its entire career has held the responsible post of su- preme medical examiner. His interest in the cause of education is shown by the fact that for nine years he has been a member of the Board of Education of Sedalia, and its president most of that period. While a resident of Vermont and New Hampshire he had also held the office of superintend-
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ent of schools in the counties in which he resided. Though a staunch Republican, he has never sought political honors. In Grand Army circles he is prominent. He is a mem- ber of the Missouri Commandery of the Loyal Legion, was commander of General George R. Smith Post, No. 53. G. A. R., of Sedalia, two terms, has been surgeon of the post several years, and for two years was medical director of the Department of Missouri. lfe always attends the national and department encampments. During the administrations of Presidents Arthur and Harrison he served as a member of the board of pension ex- aminers for Pettis County, and now holds the same office through appointment by President McKinley. Ile is a Knight Tem- plar in Masonry, and being a devout be- liever in fraternal protection, is identified also with the Knights of Pythias, the Mac- cabees and the Royal Arcanum. In religion he is a member of the First Methodist Epis- copal Church of Sedalia, of which he has been trustee many years. He has served as president of the Pettis County Medical Society, and is also identified with the American Medical Association, the Missouri State Medical and the Central District Med- ical societies. Dr. Bronson was married, in 1869, to Orpha Gleason, a native of Barnet, Vermont, and a daughter of Samuel Glea- son, deceased. They are the parents of four children : Harl Howard Bronson, A. B., M. D.,-a graduate of the Missouri State University and of Marion Sims Medical College, formerly in practice with his father, but now in Oregon,-Emma Blanche, an ac- complished musician; Galena Maude and Ira Thomas Bronson, Jr. Dr. Bronson is regarded as a leader in his profession, keep- ing fully abreast of the best thought and ad- vance in the science. Personally, he is a man of unquestioned probity, a public- spirited and useful citizen.
Brookes, James H., prominent as a Presbyterian clergyman, who was for thirty- nine years pastor of the Second and Comp- ton Avenue Presbyterian Churches in St. Louis, was born at Pulaski, in Tennessee, February 26, 1830, his parents being Rev. J. H. Brookes and Judith Smith Lacy Brookes. At the age of eight years he be- gan to earn his own living, and at fifteen he
taught' school. Later he served as a clerk in a store and as a census-taker. In 1851 he entered Miami University, Ohio, and gradu- ated in 1853, and then entered Princeton Seminary, where he spent a year. He was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of Miami, Ohio, in 1854, and was immediately called to the First Presbyterian Church, of Dayton, Ohio. His pastorate there was sat- isfactory and successful, and his learning and ability began to attract attention to him as one of the most promising young preach- ers in the Presbyterian Church. In 1858 he was called to the Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis, northwest corner of Broadway and Walnut Streets. He accepted the call and preached his first sermon Feb- ruary 18, 1858. He remained with this church until 1864, when he became pastor of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church, which afterward became the Compton Avenue Presbyterian Church, remaining with it until the day of his death, on Easter morning, 1897. During his connection with the Sec- ond Church, from February 18, 1858, to April, 1865, there were 338 accessions-184 by confession of faith and 154 by letter- and during the thirty-three years he acted as pastor of the Walnut Street and Comp- ton Avenue Church there were 1,473 acces- sions-869 upon confession of faith and 604 by letter. He was eminent as a Bible scholar and expositor, recognized for the last twenty- five years of his life as the foremost and ablest advocate of the inerrancy of the Scriptures; and he was eminent also as a premillennialist, earnestly preaching the speedy coming of Christ, and contending that the signs of the times portend the immi- nency of that coming. His earnestness, elo- quence and learning made him one of the most powerful preachers of his time, and he was regarded as a foremost champion of Presbyterianism in the country. He was quite as well and favorably known as a writer. For twenty-three years he was editor of "The Truth," a religious monthly, published in St. Louis, and was the author also of a num- ber of books, the most important of which are "The Christ," "Mystery of Suffering." "Maranatha," "Is the Bible True?" and "Did Jesus Rise?" Dr. Brookes was married, in May, 1854, to Miss Susan Oliver. daughter of David Oliver, of Oxford, Ohio.
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BROOKFIELD-BROOKINGS.
Brookfield .- A city of the third class, and the largest in Linn County, situated on the Hannibal & St. Joseph branch of the Burlington Railroad, ten miles southeast of Linneus. It was laid out in 1859 and in- corporated in 1865. It has Baptist, Catho- lic, Christian, Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, Presbyterian and United Brethren Churches, six public school buildings, one of which is for colored children; an academy conducted by the Sisters of the Sacred Heart, a public library, large opera hall, finely graded streets, electric lights, waterworks, a well-equipped fire department, three news- papers, the "Gazette," the "Argus" and the "Budget," and different lodges of the lead- ing fraternal orders, the Masons owning a fine hall there. Large repair shops of the railroad company are located in the town. The business of the place is represented by three banks, a grain elevator, foundry, flour- ing mill, sawmill, three brick yards, and about one hundred and thirty miscellaneous business places, including stores in the vari- ous branches of trade, lumber and coal yards, factories and shops. A number of coal mines are operated near the city. The population, in 1900, was 5,484.
Brookings, Robert S., merchant and financier, was born near the noted old Car- ter homestead, at Walnut Hills, Cecil County, Maryland, January 22, 1850, son of Dr. Rich- ard and Mary (Carter) Brookings. Sturdy character, sound morals and vigorous mental- ity were distinguishing characteristics of the ancestors of Robert S. Brookings, and these qualities constituted his chief inheritance when he turned his back on the old home- stead and began life for himself while still a boy. He was brought up in Maryland. and completed his education at West Not- tingham Academy, his course of study be- ing abridged by necessities which compelled him to seek remunerative employment be- forc he was seventeen years of age. In 1867 he came to St. Louis, and shortly after his arrival he found employment as a youth with the firm of Cupples & Marston, thus connecting himself with the business in which he has ever since been engaged, and to the conduct and management of which he has succeeded by force of his genius and ability. At the end of a three years' term of serv-
ice in a clerical capacity, his usefulness to his employers prompted them to make him a partner in the establishment, which then became Samuel Cupples & Company. In 1882 this vast enterprise was incorporated as the Samuel Cupples Woodenware Com- pany, Mr. Brookings becoming vice presi- dent and general manager, a position which he has ever since retained. His activities, however, have not been confined to this en- terprise, but have reached out in various directions, and splendid development has ev- erywhere followed in the path of his under- takings. An enterprise of great magnitude, which evidenced in a striking manner his genius as a financier, his indomitable will- power and tireless energy, was the founding of Cupples Station, worth more to the com- mercial interests of the city than any other institution established for their benefit within the memory of the present generation. It was he who conceived the idea of establish- ing a central depot for receiving and collect- ing merchandise for shipment, thus avoid- ing the expense and delay incident to the carting of goods to and from the various freight depots of the city. He selected as the location of this depot several blocks of ground near the mouth of the Terminal As- sociation's tunnel, and adjacent to a point at which practically all the railroads of the city form a junction. One piece of property after another was acquired, until the St. Louis Terminal Cupples Station & Property Company-which he organized and the stock of which is owned solely by Mr. Cupples and himself-became the largest owner of real property in St. Louis. When possession of the desired blocks of ground had been ob- tained, the old buildings and lumber yards disappeared and a series of railroad ware- houses, or stores, took their places, the base- ments of which are traversed by a network of railroad tracks. Large as have been his business interests and exacting as have been his duties in connection therewith, he has been for many years one of the most active participants in movements designed to pro- mote the cause of popular education, to im- prove social and moral conditions, and to provide for the poor and unfortunate of St. Louis, through various benevolent and char- itable institutions. He is president of Wash- ington University, and has been its most generous benefactor.
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BROOKLINE-BROWN.
Brookline .- A town in Greene County, on the St. Louis & San Francisco Railway, ten miles southwest of Springfield, the county seat. It has a public school, Cumberland Presbyterian, Congregational and Baptist Churches, a Masonic Lodge, a fruit cannery, and a grain elevator. It was platted in 1871 by the railway company. In 1900 the popu- lation was estimated at 250.
Broom Rangers .- This was the name taken by one of the Democratic campaign clubs, organized in St. Louis in the Douglas interest in the presidential campaign of 1860. On the occasion of their parades the mem- bers of this club carried new brooms, in- tended to be emblematic of the "clean sweep" the party proposed to make at the ensuing election.
Brotherhood of St. Andrew .- The parent Brotherhood of St. Andrew was or- ganized out of a young men's Bible class in St. James' Protestant Episcopal Church of Chicago, November 30. 1883. On St. Andrews' Day of that year a dozen young men of the above named church agreed to pray daily for the spread of Christ's king- dom among young men, and to make an earnest effort each week to bring at least one young man within the hearing of the gospel. Among the founders was James L. Houghteling, who became first president, and organized the first chapter at St. James' Church. It is composed of young men who are ready to strive, like St. Andrew, to bring their brothers to a knowledge of Jesus Christ. This principle was fixed in naming the broth- erhood after that saint, who, when he found the Messiah, next sought his own brother and brought him to Jesus. The brotherhood consists of parochial chapters, independent in local affairs, but dependent upon one another. A convention is held each year, at which every chapter in good standing is entitled to be represented. The convention appoints a council, which is charged with the executive direction of the general organ- ization. It was from its start aggressive, and the movement went steadily on, growing in size and spreading abroad, until now-1898. there is a membership of 12,000 in the United States, 3,000 in Canada, 600 in England, and 350 in South America and the West Indies. The brotherhood was organized in St. Louis
by the Church of the Holy Communion, at Twenty-eighth and Washington Avenue, in 1887. In 1898 there were ten chapters and a local council in that city. The sixth annual convention of the brotherhood met there September 22 to 25, 1891. At this convention there were present 551 delegates, represent- ing 212 chapters in the United States, and Il chapters in Canada.
Brotherton, Marshall, was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, January 6, 1811, and brought by his parents while a child to St. Louis. His father bought a farm near the city, and the son was reared on it until his elder brother, James Brotherton, was elected sheriff of St. Louis County, when he went into the office as assistant. He was after- ward elected sheriff himself, and re-elected for several terms, serving with a fidelity and diligence that gave him the reputation of a popular citizen and an efficient business man. After leaving the office of sheriff hie was chosen judge of the county court, and appointed fund commissioner and president of the board of managers of the House of Refuge. He was for several years president of the Bremen Savings Bank, and was also the first president in 1857 of the St. Louis Building and Savings Association, which de- veloped into the National Bank of Com- merce, one of the leading banks of St. Louis. He died in November, 1875.
Brown, Alanson D., merchant and manufacturer, was born March 21, 1847, in the town of Granville, Washington County, New York, son of David and Malinda (Roblee) Brown. The elder Brown was a farmer, and Alanson D. Brown spent the early years of his life on the farm, acquiring a common school education only, but such habits of industry as are of inestimable value to a young man. In the fall of 1864 he left the farm and went to Rutland, Vermont, where he pursued a course of study at Lams- ley's Commercial College, and gave evidence of his superior natural ability by graduating with first honors in a class of one hundred and twenty students. Having previously made up his mind to enter upon a mercan- tile career, and having qualified himself theo- retically for that calling, he began the acqui- sition of practical knowledge as a clerk in a drug and grocery store at Granville, where
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he was employed for something more than a year. In the summer of 1866 he accom- panied his, uncle, Charles W. Brown, to Columbus, Mississippi, and was employed in his store at that place as a clerk for three years. Ile then became a partner in the establishment, which resulted so advanta- geously that at the end of two years he dis- posed of his interest for $13,000 cash, and with his capital came to St. Louis to enter the broad field of commercial activity, in which he and his associates have achieved so large a measure of success. There he met J. M. Hamilton, who had had a large expe- rience in the wholesale boot and shoe trade as an employe of Appleton, Noyes & Co., and who had just established himself in busi- ness on his own account. The result was the formation of the copartnership of Hamil- ton & Brown, and the inauguration of a wholesale boot and shoe business in modest quarters, and with limited facilities for ex- tending their trade. The energy and enthu- siasm of the proprietors of the business seemed to be contagious, and the effects were felt in every department. Messrs. E. F. Williams and W. H. Carroll came to the house as salesmen within the first two years of its existence. and their phenomenal suc- cess in extending its trade caused them to be admitted as partners in 1876, the firm then taking the name of Hamilton, Brown & Co. Under this name the business was conducted until 1883, when it was incorporated as the Ilamilton-Brown Shoe Company, with a paid-up capital of $400,000. This capital was increased in 1888 to $500,000, in 1890 to $750,000, and in 1893 to $1,000,000. In 1883 they engaged also in the manufacture of shoes, and on the first day of January, 1889. opened a new factory, which they had built and equipped. Their manufacturing facili- ties have since been largely increased, and their factory, which has come to be recog- nized as the best equipped shoe factory in America, has been constantly operated up to its full capacity. Of the corporation oper- ating these great commercial and industrial establishments Mr. Brown is president, and associated with him are more than fifty stockholders, nearly all of whom have grown up with the institution.
Brown, B. Gratz, Governor of Mis- souri and United States Senator, was born
May 28, 1826, in Lexington, Kentucky, son of Judge Mason Brown, and grandson of John Brown, first United States Senator from Kentucky. He was graduated from Transyl- vania University, of Lexington, in 1845, and from Yale College in 1847. After complet- ing his law studies he was admitted to the bar at Louisville, Kentucky, and soon after- ward began the practice of his profession in St. Louis. In 1852 he was elected a mem- ber of the Missouri Legislature, and served in that body until 1859, making, in 1857, a remarkable anti-slavery speech which is said to have been the beginning of the "Free Soil" movement in this State. For some time he edited the "Missouri Democrat," and made it a journal radically Republican in charac- ter. From 1854 to 1859 he was the leader of the pronounced anti-slavery movement in this State, and in 1857 was the "Free Soil" candidate for Governor, coming within five hundred votes of election. At the beginning of the Civil War he threw all the weight of his influence in favor of the preservation of the Union, and was in close consultation with General Lyon when he planned the cap- ture of Camp Jackson. He commanded a regiment of State troops in this affair, and at a later period he was in command of a brigade. From 1863 until 1866 he was a member of the United States Senate from Missouri, and in 1864 brought all his pow- erful influence to bear in favor of the passage of the ordinance of emancipation by the Mis- souri State Convention. In 1871 he was elected Governor of Missouri on the Liberal Republican ticket by a majority of forty thousand votes. In 1872 he was made the candidate for Vice President on the Liberal Republican and Democratic ticket with Hor- ace Greeley, but was defeated at the ensu- ing election. After his retirement from the office of Governor he resumed his law prac- tice, and continued it until his death, Decem- ber 13, 1885, in St. Louis.
Brown, Charles Reginald, druggist, was born October 19. 1840, in Breckinridge County, Kentucky. His father, William Baily Clark Brown, was born in Virginia, in 1799. and at the age of twenty-five years removed to Kentucky, where he was engaged in the business of merchandising until 1844, in which year he removed to Missouri and set- tled on a farm in Lafayette County. He died
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in Independence, Missouri, in 1881. His mother's maiden name was Alexander, the early members of the family founding the town of Alexandria, Virginia, one of the most historic settlements in this country. The mother of Charles R. Brown, Matilda Fon- taine, was of French descent, but was born in Virginia. She died in 1877. To her eight children were born, of whom Charles R. was the youngest son. He was educated in the common schools of Lafayette County. and spent one year at Chapel Hill College. At the breaking out of the Civil War he was a cadet in the Lafayette Military Institute, where he had attended one year. In May, 1861, he enlisted in the Missouri State Guards, and when the members of that organization were mustered into the Con- federate service he was discharged. In the summer of 1862 he joined General Shelby's command, serving in the famous Joe Bledsoe Battery. He was captured at Black River after the battle of Helena, Arkansas. In 1865 he was exchanged, and after securing freedom united with Martin's Battalion of Artillery. He served under that leader four months, was at the battle of Macon, Georgia, was paroled at Macon, took the oath at Nash- ville, and returned to Kentucky. After two months he came to Missouri and joined his brother at Independence, where he soon be- came proprietor of a drug store. Since that time he has made Independence his home, and is counted among the most loyal, ener- getic and popular residents of that city. Po- litically, he has always been a Democrat. but only twice in his life has he had aspira- tions in the direction of office-holding, be- ing a candidate for county recorder in 1879, and serving as deputy sheriff under John C. Hope from 1880 to 1882. Mr. Brown is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and for four years has served as a trustee in the church in Independence. He was married, January 8, 1868, to Miss Sarah Mildred Kelley, daughter of John Kelley, of Independence, Missouri. To them eight children have been born, three sons and five daughters. The eldest daughter, Matilda D. Brown, is a teacher in the Independence High School. Mrs. Elizabeth Morse lives in Denver, Colorado. Mrs. Ella Leonard resides at Roswell, New Mexico, and Miss Georgia Brown is at home. Of the sons, Frank R. is with his father in the drug busi-
ness, James T. is in the Independence High School, and Claude K. is a pupil in the public schools of that city. Sarah Mildred, the youngest daughter, was a teacher in the schools of Independence. She died March 9: 1899. at the age of nineteen years. Mr. Brown is devoted to this most excellent family. He is bound by strong domestic ties, is an unassuming, conservative citizen, and stands for everything that has a tendency toward the improvement of his community and the great State of which he is a loyal part.
Brown, Daniel W., lawyer, was born November 20, 1854, in Clayton County, Iowa. His father was a native of Scott County, Illi- nois, and his mother of New Hampshire. The former, Benjamin Brown, was the son of one of the earliest residents of Winchester, Illi- nois. The family resided a short time in Galena, Illinois, and then removed to Dela- ware County, Iowa. There Benjamin Brown lived many years, his next place of abode be- ing Clayton County, in the same State, where the subject of these lines was born. The boy- hood days of the latter were spent in Fort Dodge and Webster City, Iowa, where his parents resided during the years preceding his sixteenth birthday. Daniel W. attended the public schools, and, learning with rapid- ity, was ready to graduate from the High School of Fort Dodge when his parents re- moved to Carthage, Missouri, in 1871. Since that year Mr. Brown has been a resident of this State. He attended the public schools of Carthage, and at an early age began to read law. He was admitted to the bar at Carthage, in March, 1876, and practiced there until June, 1888, when he removed to Kansas City. Of the latter place he has since that time been a resident, and has been an active practitioner of the law. He has a large general practice, covering every field known to law in a metropolitan center like Kansas City. Possessing a disposition which leads him to prefer retirement and quietude above the glamor of the world and the praises of men, Mr. Brown has never sought public honors, and participates only in a modest way in political affairs. He has always been a Democrat, his first vote having been cast for Samuel J. Tilden, for President, and he still adheres to the principles of that party. He occasionally participates in political cam-
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