Owen Brown

Owen Brown (February 16, 1771 – May 8, 1856), father of abolitionist John Brown, was a wealthy cattle breeder and land speculator who operated a successful tannery in Hudson, Ohio. He was also a civil servant and a fervent, outspoken abolitionist. Brown was a founder of multiple institutions including the Western Reserve Anti-Slavery Society, Western Reserve College, and the Free Congressional Church. Brown gave speeches advocating the immediate abolition of slavery, and organized the Underground Railroad (and served as Stationmaster) in the town of Hudson, Ohio.

His brother Frederick was the father of Rev. Edward Brown who conducted the wedding of Laura Ingalls and Almanzo Wilder in or about 1885 and whose good friend, Ida Brown (birth name Wright), was his adopted daughter.

In 1793, he, Owen Brown, married Ruth Mills, a minister's daughter.

Someone whose father was an intimate friend of Owen remembered him as "a very kind, genial, whole-souled sort of person. He stuttered badly."

Owen wrote two brief autobiographic statements that have survived to the present.

"No one mistook Owen's speech impediment for weakness, or his lack of schooling for ignorance."

Career A wealthy tanner, cattle breeder, and land speculator, Brown was a dedicated civil servant and was integral to the early growth of Hudson, Ohio. Famed for his resourcefulness and energy, he was known locally as Squire Brown. He was the third wealthiest man in Hudson in the 1830s.

Colleges Owen was a never a trustee of Western Reserve College, but he was involved in it since its founding. a venture on which he made money.

Death and burial Brown died in Hudson, Ohio, on May 8, 1856, and was buried at Old Hudson Township Burying Ground. His death in Hudson was a "public event": "there was never so large a funeral procession."