Lawyers and Lawmakers of Kentucky, by H. Levin, editor, 1897. Published
by Lewis Publishing Company, Chicago.  Reprinted by Southern Historical
Press.  p. 207.  Franklin County.

JOHN BROWN, lawyer and statesman, was the first United States senator
from Kentucky.  He was elected in 1792 for the full term of six years,
and was re-elected serving two full terms, from 1792-1805.  He had
previously represented the Kentucky district of Virginia in the federal
congress, and from the earliest days was a prominent figure and an
important factor in the political history of the state.
     He was born September 12, 1757, at Staunton, Virginia, his parents
being the Rev. John and Margaret (Preston) Brown.  His father was a
distinguished minister of the Presbyterian church, a graduate of
Princeton College, and for nearly fifty years pastor of the leading
church of his denomination in Rockbridge county, Virginia.  His mother,
a woman of great energy and fine intelligence, was the second daughter
of John and Elizabeth (Patton) Preston, through whom he was related to
the Prestons, Breckindridge, McDowells, Harts and Cabells of Virginia
and Kentucky.
     John Brown was attending college at Princeton when the Revolution
began, but the college was broken up by the war and he joined the army
under Washington, with whom he crossed the Delaware in a company of
volunteers from Rockbridge county, and remaining in the service under
the command of General La Fayette.  He completed his education at William
and Mary College, Virginia; read law under the preceptorship of Thomas
Jefferson, and in 1782 emigrated to Kentucky, where he immediately took
a prominent part in the political affairs of the county.  He enjoyed
the personal acquaintance and esteem of George Washington, Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison and James Monroe.  He was honored
by President Washington with important commissions of a military trust,
with power to enlist men, commission officers and carry on war at home
and abroad.  He was the projector of several military expeditions into
the Indian country, lending his influence as a volunteer to enforce
by example his official exhortations.
     He was a distinguished actor in all the events antedating the
severance of Kentucky from Virginia, and contributed more to the success
of the efforts of the pioneer settlement to become an independent state
than any other single individual.  His position as congressman from the
district of Kentucky and his acquaintance with all of the most prominent
and influential public men of that day aided him in his efforts to achieve
the independence of his district and secure its erection into a new
commonwealth of equal rights and privileges with the original thirteen
colonies.  He labored successfully to this end and the new state
appreciated his efforts and rewarded him by electing him to the senate
of the United States.  The public records of that body show well and how
earnestly he labored in behalf of his own state, and also in behalf of
the entire confederated statehood.  He was prominently interested in all
the negotiations for the opening of the Mississippi river to the
commerce of the people of Kentucky while the great valley was still under
the domination of Spain, and his name has been connected by some writers
with the so-called "Spanish conspiracy".
     Suffice it for the purpose of this article to give only facts. His
relation with the eminent men who occupied the high office of president
of the United States has already been referred to; he was equally
intimate with General George Rogers Clark, Isaac Shelby, Harry Innes,
George Nicholas and John Breckinridge.  With all of them his relations
were of a most cordial nature; and the relationship and attachment,
beginning in a period of danger, continued uninterrupted through life.
He was urged by personal letters from Presidents Jefferson and Monroe
to accept office during their respective administrations, but declined
in both cases.  He lived an upright, useful life in the sight of all
men, and died at Frankfort August 28, 1837, esteemed as a patriot and
statesman.  He achieved fame also as a lawyer of great erudition and as
a successful practitioner.
     His wife was Miss Margaret Mason, daughter of John Mason, of New
York, who survived her marriage but a few months.
     His brother, James Brown, came to Kentucky in 1789, and settled at
Frankfort when the seat of the state government was established there.
He took part in the expedition against the Indians, commanding a company
in General Wilkinson's expedition, and was the first secretary of state
under Governor Isaac Shelby.  He was a contemporary of Henry Clay and
married a sister of Mrs. Clay, the ladies being daughters of Colonel
Thomas Hart, of Lexington, Kentucky.  James Brown removed from Kentucky
to Louisiana, where he took a prominent part in the affairs of the state
and nation, being a member of congress and minister to France in 1823.
He was born at Staunton, Virginia, September 11, 1776, and died at
Philadelphia, April 7, 1835.

Brown Preston Mason Clay Hart Patton Breckinridge Hart McDowells Cabell
=
Lexington-Fayette-KY Rockbridge-VA PA NY LA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/franklin/brown.j3.txt