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JAMES A. BROWN, Secretary of the College for the Blind, at Vinton, was born of Scotch parents, on the Mohawk River, in New York State, April 25, 1832. In 1842 the family, consisting of father, mother and eight children, moved from Carbondale, Pa., where they had resided for some years, and settled in Keosauqua, Van Buren Co., Iowa, where four of the children still reside.
James A. Brown, the subject of this sketch, in early life took up the study of civil engineering, of which he made himself master. In 1850 he crossed the plains to California, undergoing all the hardships incident to the trip. While there he was engaged in mining for four years. In 1855 he was employed by the Government as a Surveyor in Kansas, and was engaged in that occupation for three years. In the spring of 1860 he took a trip to Pike's Peak, in Colorado, and in 1865 came to Benton County, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss Ellen Crandall, of Vinton, and they were married April 23, 1867. In the fall of 1868 he was elected County Surveyor of Benton County, and re-elected in 1870, 1872, 1874 and 1876. In 1870 he was appointed Deputy County Auditor, and served until July, 1882, when he was elected Financial Manager of the College for the Blind. He is a member of the A. O. U. W. of Vinton.
Source Citation: "1887 Benton County, Iowa Biographies" [database online] Benton County IAGenWeb Project. <http://iagenweb.org/benton/>
Original data: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Benton County, Iowa." Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1887, p. 243.
Transcribed by: Sue Soden. Submitted to the Benton County IAGenWeb Project on January 28th, 2009. Copyright © 2009 The IAGenWeb Project.
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