Series 3, v 9, pp515-520

By Judge Robert Sloan

When I came to Keosauqua on the first day of April, 1860, to study law under Hon. George G. Wright, the resident membership of the bar of Van Buren county consisted of the firms of Wright & Baldwin; Knapp, Caldwell & Wright; Smith & Goodfellow; Webster & Miller, and Ford & Brown.

Hon. Henry Clay Caldwell, who retired some years ago as United States Circuit Judge and Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals for the Eighth Judicial District, is the sole survivor of the bar as it then existed. Hon. George G. Wright had declined re-election to the Supreme Court of the State, and had entered the practice on the first day of January, 1860, with Charles Baldwin. Sometime during that summer Judge Stockton died, leaving a vacancy in the Supreme Court, and at the solicitation of Governor Kirkwood, Judge Wright accepted the appointment to fill the vacancy and was duly elected thereto at the October election that year. He never re-entered the practice at Keosauqua, but after serving nearly two years on the Supreme Bench, and a term in the United States Senate, re-entered the practice at Des Moines. George F. Wright removed to Council bluffs during the year 1868, where he remained in practice the remainder of his life. William Webster removed to Nevada in 1864, where he continued actively in the practice until his death. Rufus L. Miller entered the United States service in the summer of 1861 as battalion adjutant of the Third Iowa Cavalry, but later became adjutant of the Seventh Iowa Volunteer Cavalry, and served until the close of the war. He then entered the practice at Quincy, Ill., where he died while marshal of a Fourth of July procession some years ago. Goodfellow also enlisted in the Civil War, serving until its close. Later he engaged in the mercantile business as a traveling solicitor of a jewelry house. Henry Ford removed to Magnolia, Iowa. He served one term as district attorney, and three terms as District Judge in the Sioux City District. The last years of his life were spent in Seattle. Hon. Joseph C. Knapp, Hon. Charles Baldwin and Hon. Joseph F. Smith, remained in Van Buren county until their deaths.

Early in 1860 the firm of Ford & Brown had determined to remove to Magnolia, in Harrison county, of this State, and engage in the practice. Judge Brown had gone there in March, and Ford followed in the course of a couple of months. They remained until the summer of 1861 when Judge Brown returned to Keosauqua to enlist in Company E, of the Fifteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry, which was being recruited there. It was during that time that we became acquainted and our friendship began which continued during life. The regiment some time during the summer and fall of that year was quartered at Keokuk, and remained there until just prior to the battle of Shiloh, when it was ordered to report to Gen. Grant. It arrived by steamboat on the morning of the day of that historic battle, and many of the men were for the first time furnished arms. They were ordered into line of battle as early as ten o'clock and were engaged therein during the day, losing very heavily in killed and wounded. The regiment did splendid service in this engagement, and deserves great praise for unflinching courage under an ordeal that might well have dismayed veteran troops.

Judge Brown a short time prior thereto had been made sergeant major of the regiment, and while engaged in the discharge of his duties was severely wounded in the hip. On this account he was invalided, granted leave of absence and came home. He remained until he was sufficiently recovered to return to his regiment, a short time before the battle of Corinth, in which he was wounded in the arm and shoulder on the first day of the battle. This wound was so severe that it resulted in his discharge from the service some time later, when he went to Burlington as Chief Clerk under Robert B. Rutledge, Provost Marshal of that Congressional District. He continued in this position until the close of the war.

He was variously engaged from that time until January 1, 1868, when he became County Judge, then a court of probate jurisdiction. This jurisdiction was removed by the creation of the Circuit Court, and the County Judge became county auditor, which latter office he held for three consecutive terms. He was not only a popular officer, but unusually efficient, and perfectly fearless in the discharge of the duties of his office. No man ever questioned his integrity. He mastered the duties of his office and performed them skillfully, carefully and accurately. While he was an ardent republican, he was never a partisan in office. Everyone, without regard to political affiliations or social position, power or wealth, who had business with him as an officer, was given prompt and courteous treatment, and furnished with all available information. He was in every respect an ideal officer, and won for himself the friendship, esteem and confidence of the people throughout the county, which he retained while life lasted.

During the years in which he served as a public officer, he became widely acquainted throughout the county, and this, in connection with the high character for integrity and efficiency which he had already attained, rendered him a valuable addition to the bar, when he re- entered the practice as a member of the firm of Work & Brown. This firm at once came to the front at the bar of Van Buren county, and had to be reckoned with at all times in the legal conflicts of that day. The Judge disliked trial work, but his partner was never happier than when the conflict began, except perhaps when the result was satisfactory in every respect.

In the fall of 1881, the firm became Sloan, Work & Brown, and so continued for some years. Sometime in 1883, W. A. Work removed to Ottumwa and engaged for a number of years in the practice under the firm name. For a short time after the retirement of Mr. Work, the firm of Sloan, Brown & Sloan, were in practice in Keosauqua. About the spring of 1893, Judge Brown retired from the firm and opened an office of his own, continuing in the practice until his death. During this time he was four years county attorney, discharging the duties of the office very efficiently, and with real regard to the public welfare.

He served in the state Senate during the session of 1881 and '82, securing the passage of the statute that enabled Van Buren and other counties to bridge the Des Moines river. He won the confidence and respect of his associates in the Senate, and the legislation secured by him was of great value to the State.

During my association with him in the practice, we became intimate friends. He was in no sense of the word spectacular and never sensational, but when it came to solidity of judgment, firmness of purpose and untiring effort, he had few superiors. He was a wise counselor, not only because of his ability as a jurist - he looked beyond the mere legal propositions involved - saw the difficulties in the way, and the dangers of defeat. He gave advice not merely as a lawyer, but as a friend, and it was rare indeed, that his client engaged in litigation unprepared for the final result, whatever it might be. When consulted in a cause without merit, he readily discovered it, and would quietly yet clearly advise that there was no case. In our long association together, at no time did I ever have the slightest reason to question his integrity. Indeed his character therein was so firmly founded that temptation secured no consideration whatever, and was turned aside as something only to be remembered as putting him upon guard against the person who was guilty of endeavoring to lead him astray.

It was a rare thing for him to discuss religious questions, but when he did he gave rare insight into the faith by which his life was guided, his conduct governed, and on which his character was founded. That he was at all times free from doubt in relation to Christianity is not correct, but those who knew him best will realize how peculiarly appropriate to him are these words of Tennyson:

"Perplext in faith, but pure in deeds,
At last he beat his music out.
There lives more faith in honest doubt
Believe me, than in half the creeds.

He fought his doubts and gather'd strength,
He would not make his judgment blind,
He faced the spectres of the mind
And laid them: Thus he came at length

To find a stronger faith his own;
And Power was with him in the night,
Which makes the darkness and the light
And dwells not in the light alone."

Nothing can so comfort his good wife, who survives him, as the consciousness that their parting is only for a little while, and that they will surely be reunited in that home where sorrow and death do not enter. We do well to commemorate his life and character, and will do even better to emulate it. It is not necessary for me to speak of his relations to the bar, but I believe I can say without contradiction that he had the friendship and affection of all, and his death is sincerely mourned.

It is doubtful if the Judge was ever free from suffering from the wound which he received at the battle of Corinth, but who among us ever heard him complain? In my judgment this had much to do with his dislike for trial work, which almost always resulted in a severe headache. That he would have become a good trial lawyer, had he remained in the practice from the time he was first admitted to the bar in 1859, I have every reason to believe. He had the qualities of mind that eminently fit men for that work, and he only needed practice and development. He was a fine office lawyer and was exceedingly helpful in the preparation of cases.

He spent practically his entire life in Van Buren county, and was always interested in public enterprises undertaken for its betterment. Words, mere words, will add nothing to the esteem in which he was held by all. The Grand Army of the Republic who laid him to rest with the solemn ceremonies of their order, fully recognize his merit as a soldier, the courage and devotion with which he served his country, and the suffering which it entailed upon him ever after. One by one, those brave men are answering the final roll call. The generations to come will never realize, and never be able to pay the debt of gratitude which they owe to these defenders of the Union. Their full reward must come from Him who controls the destinies of Nations.

Alexander Brown, His Family and Friends

[Editorial Department]

The life of Alexander Brown, of whom an article by his life-long friend, Hon. Robert Sloan, appears elsewhere in this number of THE ANNALS, is of the type most useful in the early stages of the development of a community. The writer was a student under him, and later his law partner, and was brought up among influences of which his life was one of the strongest.

Hugh Brown, the father of Judge Brown, left Scotland and settled in Luzerne county, Pa. His oldest child, a daughter in her teens, remained in Scotland, as was intended temporarily. This temporary arrangement became permanent, and she never afterward saw her parents. She lived to a great age, and died, within two miles of the home of Robert Burns. She maintained an interest and love for her family in America through correspondence. The letters she exchanged with her brother, Judge Brown, whom she never saw, are a most interesting source of information on early emigration. From Pennsylvania, Hugh Brown brought his family to Keosauqua, Van Buren county, Iowa, in 1844. A daughter, Sarah, was married to James Johnston, their only child being the late Captain Benjamin Johnston, who died in the United States service as consul at Ceiba, Honduras. He had served as a Private in Company E, 15th Iowa Regiment Volunteer Infantry, and as First Lieutenant in Company G, 67th U. S. C. Infantry. In 1844 Hugh Brown and James Johnston established the first steam power mill at Keosauqua. It was erected upon ground the title to a part of which was in doubt. They took possession under a quit claim deed executed by ninety citizens of the town, with the understanding that as these were all the freeholders there, no one could possibly make adverse claim. The deed, dated July 21, 1844, now in the collections of the Historical Department of Iowa, bears the autograph signatures of John Fairman, James Hall, Edwin Manning, Meshach Sigler, and other proprietors of the town of Keosauqua, and of no less important men in the political and business world than Richard Humphrey, James b. Howell, Elisha Cutler, Jr., Henry Heffleman, James M. Shepherd, George G. Wright, Andrew J. Davis, Henry H. Barker, James Kinnersly, John McCrary and Charles Baldwin.

Upon this title, whose value lay perhaps in a moral support rather than on a legal foundation, there was launched an enterprise of large significance, to that place and in that day.

Here as a boy, Judge Brown acquired in mechanics that ingenuity which he exercised in accounts and in the management of men. And in the same enterprise, in different capacities, a training was given to his brother, James Brown, for a long time at the head of the state school for the blind at Vinton, and his brother, John G. Brown, the earliest bank cashier in Van Buren county, having at the time of his death served in the banking house of Edwin Manning almost from its inception. another brother, Hugh g. Brown, who enlisted in Company E, Fifteenth Iowa Volunteers, was appointed Second Lieutenant, December 1, 1861; promoted to First Lieutenant, July 9, 1862; aid-de-camp with rank of Captain, August 28, 1863; Brevet Major, September 29, 1864; Brevet Lieutenant Colonel, March 31, 1865; and Major, April 26, 1898. After being mustered out of the volunteer service he entered the regular army as Lieutenant of the Eighteenth Infantry, was transferred first to the Thirty-sixth, then to the Twelfth Infantry. He was four times brevetted for gallant and meritorious service, served for a time in the compilation of the Rebellion Records, and, after service in the Spanish- American war in the Philippines, retired May 16, 1899, and died at Keosauqua, November 30, 1901.

A sister, Anna, was married to Dr. William Craig, and was the mother of Lieutenant Collin P. Craig, who graduated from the United States Naval Academy, and died while in the service with the rank of Lieutenant. Thus may be seen something of the wealth of blood contributed to an Iowa settlement by one Scotch emigrant. The above named members of the family, and many others, lie buried near to each other, the body of Benjamin Johnston only recently having been returned from Ceiba, and interred by the United States Government in the family burial plot.

Judge Brown's preparation for his life's work was made at a time and under conditions which have more than once been noted in the writings and speeches of pioneer Van Buren county men. In the main, it was in the school of the Rev. Daniel Lane, which flourished during and before the Civil War, and in which were enrolled George W. McCrary Secretary of the Interior; Felix T. Hughes, Railway President; Samuel M. Clark, Editor and Member of Congress; William W. Baldwin, Lawyer and Railway Official; Thomas S. Wright, Railway Attorney; Samuel Elbert, Governor of Colorado; E. K. Valentine, Member of Congress from Nebraska; Edwin O. Stannard, Member of Congress, founder and President of the St. Louis Board of Trade. These are merely the names of a few of the most widely known. There were scores of young men and women prepared by Mr. Lane for the professions and active business life.

Judge Brown held the favor of a remarkable number of men who were either in themselves or were by blood or affinity closely related to men of the first importance in Iowa matters, both military and civil.

Judge Sloan has noted the law firms of the Keosauqua bar. The writer draws from notes of conversations with Judge Brown for further facts. There was an interesting relationship of individuals of firms, and of firm with firm, both in the early and more recent times. George G. Wright, besides being a strong and able man, was the brother of Governor Joseph A. Wright of Indiana, who for a time lived at Keosauqua. Rachel, a sister of these brothers, was the wife of Charles Baldwin, of the firm of Wright & Baldwin, and the mother of a generation of strong men and women, of whom William W. Baldwin of Burlington, Iowa, is the oldest. the sons of Judge Wright have enjoyed the leadership of the bar in Iowa. Another sister of Judge Wright was the mother of two daughters who were married respectively to Hon. Joseph C. Knapp, and Hon. Henry Clay Caldwell, two members of the firm of Knapp, Caldwell & Wright. George F. Wright, of the firm was not a relative of George G. Wright, but was the son of a half-brother of Joseph C. Knapp. Pursuing the matter further, we find the oldest son of George G. Wright, Thomas S. Wright, chief counsel of the C., R. I. & P. Ry. at the time of his death, and the oldest son of Charles Baldwin, William W. Baldwin, assistant to the president of the C., B. & Q. Ry. system at the present time. These two eminent sons of eminent parents married respectively a sister and a niece of the late Major General James M. Tuttle. All these individuals were born or resided in Van Buren county before or during the Civil War. Mere kinship and nothing else is lacking in the beautiful and deep friendship and esteem always interchanged among themselves by these people, and the family of Edwin Manning. Mr. Manning inclined but slightly toward public life. He was the wealthiest citizen in the State in 1860, and for thirty years thereafter. Domestic life and business shared equally his interest and reflected equally great credit upon him. His house was made even more open to the Wright relationship by reason of its presiding genius, Mrs. Manning, the adopted daughter of Governor Wright. She came to Keosauqua to be mother to Mr. Manning's children of a former marriage in 1842 with Sarah J. Sample of Keokuk, who died in 1857. Mrs. Manning and Mrs. Knapp now reside in the homesteads erected by their distinguished husbands. They are the two resident survivors of that interesting group of pioneers, the other being Judge Henry Clay Caldwell and his wife of Los Angeles.

Judge Brown was never without the complete confidence and esteem of this old group. He was at times in the confidential employ of Edwin Manning, and was always a confidant and advisor of John G. Brown, his brother, whose long service and fidelity was a most important factor in the success of Mr. Manning. In his marriage Judge Brown was allied with a family of equal interest, for his wife was a daughter of Thomas Rankin, an ideal gentleman of the age and school of Charles Baldwin. The mother of Mrs. Brown was a daughter of Chappell Bonner, an intimate friend of the pioneer preacher, Samuel Clark.

But in his own life Judge Brown exemplified the peculiar value of his type of citizen. Besides the offices and honors mentioned by Judge Sloan, he religiously attended to, and efficiently performed the duties of Major of Keosauqua for years, and was a member of the Board of School Trustees continuously for twenty-four years.

This man actually withheld the appearance of suffering from the world, and only his intimates knew he was without freedom from pain ever after receiving his would at Corinth. With such fortitude, and a genius for selecting the humor in a situation, and for gauging the capacity of his auditor for receiving it, his personality was a prism through which affairs passed into the lives of all he touched, only in such quality and character as were inspiring.

WILLIAM BUTLER was born in Wayne county, Ind., September 13, 1827; he died at Napier, Mo., May 6, 1904.  He came to Iowa in 1855, locating in Harlan township, Page county, where he engaged in farming and stock raising. He became a member of the county board of supervisors in 1861, remaining in that body for several terms.  This was at the time the system was first organized.  He was a member of the Iowa House of Representatives in 1870 and '72, and also in 1884 and '86.  During his service in the legislature he was influential in securing the location of the Insane Hospital at Clarinda.  He was a leading business man of Page county for nearly forty years, during which time he built the Page County Court House.  He was a man of great force and energy and wielded a decided influence in political affairs.