My Genealogy Hound

JOHN P. BROWN, M. D., formerly of Slatington, where he had the largest practice of any physician in the city, located in Bethlehem in May, 1894, as he desired to have a wider field of work. He was born in Winchester, Va., August 6, 1856, and there passed his boyhood attending the common schools. He was next to the youngest of eight children. His grandfather, William Brown, was also a native of the Old Dominion, and died in Virginia. His calling in life was that of a carpenter, while his son, William D., our subject’s father, was a glove manufacturer. The latter was born in Winchester, and that city was his home until his death. His wife, Ann M., was the daughter of William Diffenderfer, of German descent and a carpenter by trade. Mr. and Mrs. William D. Brown were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and the mother, who is still living, is a resident of Maryland.

After completing his common-school studies, Dr. Brown entered the Shenandoah Valley Academy, taking the prescribed course. Then for a period of time he studied medicine with Dr. W. S. Love, of Winchester, and in 1875 became a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Baltimore. At the end of a year he engaged as a clerk in a drug store in Harrisonburg, Va., and later occupied a similar position in Columbia, Pa. In 1884 he entered the University of Pennsylvania, and two years later graduated from the medical department with the degree of Doctor of Medicine.

On commencing his practice the Doctor located in Columbia, where he was stationed for a year, and afterward engaged in the drug business at that point. In 1888 he went to Allentown, being associated with Dr. T. T. Martin for a year. His next field of operations was in Slatington, where he continued to practice until May, 1894. Then, as previously stated, be became a resident of Bethlehem, and is rapidly making his way into the confidence of his fellow-citizens, being well received by the members of his profession. While a resident of Slatington he was local physician for the Lehigh Valley Railroad. His office is situated at No. 83 Broad Street, a central location in Bethlehem.

In 1887 Dr. Brown was married, in Lehigh County, to Miss Mary Maxwell, who was born near Laurens, in that county, and there has been born to them one child, Roy by name. Dr. Brown and his wife are both members of the First Presbyterian Church of Bethlehem, and, though recent comers, are received in the best social circles of the place, their pleasant and friendly manners rapidly winning them a place in the esteem of all.