My Genealogy Hound

SAMUEL T. BROWN comes of a very well known and respected family of the Lehigh Valley. One Samuel Brown came from England in the last century, settling in this portion of Pennsylvania. Our subject’s great-grandfather, William, born in the Irish settlement in this county, married a lady by the name of Feron. His brother, General Robert, a blacksmith by trade, raised a regiment to serve in the War of the Revolution, where he did valiant service. He was First Lieutenant in Col. Magaw’s Regiment, and was Captain at the surrender of Ft. Washington, November 16, 1776, where they fought for forty-eight hours without food. Their ammunition then giving out, they were obliged to surrender, and were driven like cattle to a church used for a prison, there being two thousand captives in the building, and of the number two or three hundred died. The third day after he was taken, General Brown was paroled with several officers, and afterward confined in New York, and finally exchanged at Elizabethtown, January 25, 1781. He was elected to the first State Senate of Pennsylvania, in the Legislature of 1783 to 1787, and in 1796 was a Member of Congress, serving as such for eighteen years in succession. He was born in 1735, and died in 1823.

The grandfather of Samuel T. Brown, whose name was also Samuel, was born in Virginia, but moved to Pennsylvania and engaged in farming near Cedar Springs, Pa., where his death occurred. His son, Joseph, who became the father of Samuel T., was born in what is now known as Clinton County, then known as Centre County, Pa. He was a tanner by trade and carried on a tannery, and was also engaged in mercantile business at the same time at Cedar Springs, until 1842, when he located near Weaversville, Owning a farm adjoining that place, he engaged in its cultivation until old age. This farm is still owned by the subject of this sketch, and since 1750 has been in the possession of the family. The father died in 1881, when nearly seventy-nine years of age. His wife, Matilda (Kerr) Brown, was born at Weaversville, and was a daughter of James Kerr, a native of the same place. Her great-grandfather, James Kerr, was born in the North of Ireland and settled at Weaversville, buying land from William Penn, a farm of one hundred and thirty-three acres. Mrs. Brown’s grandmother, whose maiden name was McKinstry, was a native of England. Though past fourscore years, Mrs. Matilda Brown is still living, making her home with her son, Samuel T.

Samuel T. Brown was born in Weaversville, in Allen Township, January 29, 1848, being the youngest and only one surviving of four children. After attending the common schools he entered Weaversville Academy, and at the age of seventeen years began clerking in that place, continuing at this occupation for three years. Coming to Bethlehem, he clerked for a short time, and afterward engaged in the mercantile business for eight and a-half years, and was a member of the firm of Horner & Brown until March, 1877. He then sold his interest and took charge of the old farm, of which he became the owner. In the spring of 1884 he settled permanently in Bethlehem, his residence being now at No. 120 Market Street. For eleven years he has been a Director in the Bank of Catasauqua, and he was one of the organizers. He is also a Director of the Catasauqua Land Company. In 1869 Mr. Brown was married in Weaversville to Miss Emma Martin, a native of that place, and daughter of Dr. Edward Martin, who was a successful physician in Weaversville for many years, and whose death occurred there. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents of four children, one of whom is deceased. The others are Annie F.; Lizzie M., the wife of William Moore, an attorney in New York City, and Joseph R. Mr. Brown is a member of the First Presbyterian Church of this city, of which he is one of the Trustees. In politics he votes with the Republican party, and uses his influence in behalf of good local and national government.