My Genealogy Hound

William D. Brown was born March 13, 1837, in Madison County, Ill., and is a son of John M. and Elizabeth (Vaughn) Brown. His parents depended largely upon him for assistance on the farm, and the school-house being ten miles distant, his education was necessarily very meager. He grew to manhood in his native county, and in 1861 married Susan Klein, daughter of Reuben Klein. Eleven children were born to them, the following eight now living: Mattie (wife of James Campbell), William M., Lulu (wife of William Daniel), Rosa, Wilburn, John, Emory, Riley, Katie and an infant. Those deceased are Charles, Mollie and Jessie. After his marriage Mr. Brown farmed in Illinois, and in 1862 enlisted in Company D, Fifty-ninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and during his three years’ service as private was in the battles of Pea Ridge, Corinth under Buel, Nashville, Stone River or Murfreesboro, Missionary Ridge, Dalton, where he was stationed two months, Marietta, siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Columbia, Duck River, seven charges at Franklin, and was discharged at Brownsville, Tex. His gallant services as a Union soldier were hardly surpassed during the war. He then farmed two years in Illinois, and then immigrated to Crawford County, Ark., in a two-horse wagon. He has since bought his farm of 200 acres, 100 of which he has successfully cultivated. He is a stanch Republican and a member of the G. A. R. Mrs. Brown and two daughters are active members in the Christian Church. Mr. Brown’s father, John M., was born in Madison County, Ill., where he lived and farmed until over seventy years of age. Elizabeth (Vaughn) Brown, the mother was born in the same county, and during her girlhood the Indians were so plentiful and troublesome that she was often obliged to seek shelter in the forts. She bore Mr. Brown nine children: William D., Joshua, Thomas, Franklin and Lucy, living, and Susan, James and two infants, now deceased. Mrs. Brown survived her husband a number of years, and died in 1877. Daniel S. Brown, the grandfather, was born in North Carolina, and was a pioneer settler of Illinois, where he died. His brother, John Brown, was a soldier almost his entire life, and is now a wealthy resident of Macoupin County, Ill. Eliza Vaughn, the maternal grandmother, was born in Illinois, and her husband, Josiah Vaughn, was of Indian extraction and a native of Kentucky.