© Kathy Duncan, 2023
So far, I have not been able to determine much about Isaac S. Brown and his brother Squire Brown. Both were born somewhere in Kentucky - Isaac in 1810 and Squire in 1818. By pulling from biographical information about each one, it can be guessed that they came to Greene County, Illinois in 1828 with their parents. The 1880 census for Squire Brown states that his parents were born in Virginia. Of course, during the time period in which Isaac and Squire's parents were born, Kentucky was also considered Virginia. By 1850 Isaac S. Brown was living in Pike County, Illinois while Squire Brown was still in Greene County, Illinois. By 1860, Squire was in Madison County, Illinois.
I am looking for a Brown family with brothers named Isaac and Squire Brown, both born in Kentucky, to parents who had been born in Virginia. I started googling for such a family and felt hopeful when I found the following biography of Norman W. Brown of Pike, County Illinois:
Brown, Norman W.
Norman W. Brown, who follows farming on section 35. Atlas township, was born on the old family homestead of two hundred and twenty acres, upon which his father, Isaac Brown, located in 1828. The natal day of the son was September 23, 1840, and he was reared upon the home place, acquiring his preliminary education in the old log schoolhouse of the neighborhood about one mile from his father's home. He afterward, however, attended the Summer Hill district school, from which he was graduated. All this time he was living with his parents, Isaac and Susan (Smoot) Brown, the former of Scotch ancestry and the latter of Dutch lineage. Isaac Brown was a native of Virginia and removed from the Old Dominion to Kentucky, where he was married. He made farming his life work and followed that occupation until his life's labor's were ended in death. He became a pioneer resident of this county, settling here in 1828, when much of the land was still in possession of the government and few clearings had been made. He at once began to cultivate his land in Atlas township and resided upon the old homestead farm until his death in 1850. He had served his country as a soldier in the war of 1812. His widow survived him until April, 1860, and was then buried beside her husband on the old home farm that is now the property of C. B. Dustin. The old flintlock musket which was carried by Isaac C. Brown in the war of 1812 is still in possession of the family, being now the property of Willis Brown, a brother of Norman W. Brown. In the family of Isaac and Susan Brown were thirteen children, namely: Maria, Mahala, Squire, Owen, Hardin, John, Willis, James, Isaac, Susan, Jane, Benjamin and Norman W. All are now deceased with the exception of four. Isaac died in infancy and was buried beside his parents on the old home farm, where also lie the remains of Hardin and John Brown, while Susan, Mahala and Benjamin were buried in California and Owen was buried in Kentucky near Mammoth Cave.
Norman W. Brown, the youngest of his father's family, was reared upon the old homestead farm. He lost his father when but ten years of age and was reared by his older brothers and sisters with whom he lived until nineteen years of age. when, in August, 1859, in company with William and James Baxter, he started for Pikes Peak, attracted by the discovery of gold in Colorado. They traveled with ox teams a part of the way and on reaching Nebraska they met many gold-seekers who were returning and who gave them information that there was no gold to be found. This discouraged the party so that they turned back and again came to Pike county. In the spring of 1860, however, Mr. Brown once more determined to try and win a fortune from the depths of the earth, for favorable reports concerning mining operations were still being received from Colorado and California and other sections of the country. In company with about one hundred and forty others he started, the party having forty wagons, most of which were drawn by ox teams. The company was commanded by John Underwood, whom they elected captain, and slowly they wended their way across the plains, completing in safety the long trip of five months, and reached Sacramento, California, on the 5th of September, 1860. They saw many Indians en route but they kept a strict watch, each male member of the company standing guard in his turn and they were not molested. Upon reaching Sacramento they did not find the gold as plentiful as they had pictured in their minds, so the members of the company scattered and sought employment in various ways. Mr. Brown went to work on a ranch and was thus employed for four and a half years, at the end of which time he returned home on the ocean steamer, Moses Taylor, embarking at San Francisco on the 13th of November, 1865. He disembarked with six hundred others at San Juan on the coast of Panama and from there they traveled overland, crossing the mountains, Mr. Brown riding a pony. He finally reached Virginia Bay, where he with the rest of the party took a boat across the bay to the head of San Juan river, where they embarked on two small river boats, going to Walker's Rapids. They traveled around the rapids on foot and again embarked on two other boats, thus making their way to old Graytown. a small port in the Atlantic ocean, where they took the steamer Santiago de Cuba for New York, arriving safely at that port. Thence they traveled by rail to Niagara Falls, and then on to Quincy, Illinois, and from there Mr. Brown made his way home.
On again reaching Pike county he once more engaged in farming and soon afterward he secured a companion and helpmate for life's journey. He was married on the 28th of January, 1869, to Miss Ann Elizabeth Gay, a daughter of James and Amelia (Yokem) Gay, who are mentioned on another page of this volume. Unto this marriage six children, three sons and three daughters, have been born, namely: Nellie, who was born November 25, 1869, and is now the wife of X. J. Carter, of Rockport; Paul W., who was born June 19, 1871, and is now a practicing physician in Springfield, Ohio ; Carrie, born October 27, 1873, who is the wife of H. D. Marion, a resident of Atlas township ; Claud, who was born October 9, 1876, and is living in Carterville, Illinois, where he is employed and is part owner in a mining machinery foundry; Erma, who was born May 22, 1882, and is a stenographer with the Simmons Hardware Company of St. Louis, and Bert, who was born May 10, 1884, and resides with his parents.
Politically Mr. Brown is a republican, unfaltering in the advocacy of his party and its principles. He cast his first presidential ballot for Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and is proud of the fact that his second vote also supported the martyred president. Mr. and Mrs. Brown are now living upon the old home farm in Atlas township, where for years he has carried on general agricultural pursuits, having devoted his life to farm work since his return home from California more than forty years ago. [Source: Past and Present Of Pike County, IL by Capt. Massie, 1906]
Then there was this biography for Norman W. Brown's brother Willis Brown:
Brown, Willis
Willis Brown, who since 1877 has resided in Pike county, was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, on the 2d of September, 1827. He was brought by his parents to this state, the family home being established in Atlas township on a farm now owned by Charles Dustin, but which is better known as the old Brown homestead. He is a son of Isaac and Susan (Snodgrass) Brown. The father was born in Virginia and was a planter there. He removed from the Old Dominion to Hardin county, Kentucky, where he again conducted a plantation and in the latter state he was married. He lives in Kentucky until there were eight children in the family and he and his wife, with their children, then came to Pike county, Illinois, settling in Atlas township upon what is now the Dustin farm. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits, being identified with the tilling of the soil up to the time of his death, which occurred on the old homestead in 1848, while his wife passed away two years later. Their graves were made on the old home farm. In their family were thirteen children, namely: Maria, Mahala, Squire, Owen, Hardin, John, Willis, James, Isaac, Susan, Jane, Benjamin and Norman W. All are now deceased with the exception of four. Isaac died in infancy and was buried by the side of his parents, where also lie the remains of Hardin and John, while Susan, Mahala and Benjamin were buried in California, and Owen near Mammoth Cave in Kentucky.
Willis Brown received but limited educational privileges as the schools of Atlas township were not in very good condition at that day. He was reared on the old homestead and early became familiar with the labors of field and meadow. After his father's death he took entire management of the farm, for his brothers had learned trades and had left the old homestead. He then conducted the property for about six years, subsequent to his mother's death, when it was sold to Charles Dustin and the proceeds of the sale were divided among the heirs. Willis Brown then purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, which was covered with forest trees. It was situated on section 25, Atlas township, and here he took up his abode and began to clear and cultivate the property. He has since made extensive improvements and now has an excellent farm, the fields being rich and productive, so that he annually harvests good crops.
In 1874 Mr. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Elizabeth Worley, a daughter of Elias and Elizabeth Worley, and they have become the parents of eight children, Byron, Meyer, Malinda, Guy, Nettie, Sadie, Charley and Bessie. Of these Charley, Sadie, Bessie and Guy are all now sleeping in the Ball Bluff cemetery near Atlas. In 1861 Mr. Brown went to California, where he engaged in farm work for two years, returning to Pike county in 1863.
In his political affiliation Mr. Brown is a stalwart republican and has always supported the party. He and his wife still reside upon the home farm in the midst of children and grandchildren. Mr. Brown is a self-made man, owing his success entirely to his own labors and during the years he has wrought earnestly to acquire a competence and provide a good living for his family. [Source: The Book of St. Louisans, Publ. 1912. Transcribed by Charlotte Slater]
While Isaac Brown and his wife Susan Smoot were born in Virginia, married in Hardin County, Kentucky, and had children there, including sons named Isaac and Squire, they can't possibly be the parents of the Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown that I am seeking. Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot's son Isaac turned out to be younger than Isaac S. Brown, and he died in infancy. Not only is he a different Isaac, but this could not be an instance of Isaac S. Brown being named after an older, deceased brother. Squire Brown, the son of Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot, was a couple of years older than the Squire Brown that I am seeking, and he remained in Pike County, Illinois while my Squire Brown was living in Greene County and Madison County, Illinois.
However, there are several parallels between the families of Isaac and Susan (Smoot) Brown and my Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown. In both families, the parents were born in Virginia. Both families spent a few years in Kentucky. Both families removed to Ilinois in 1828 with Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot going to Pike County and the parents of Isaac S. Brown and Squire Brown going to Greene County. Significantly, Pike County and Greene County are neighboring counties. Then there is the repetition of the names Isaac and Squire in both families. The elder Isaac Brown, husband of Susan Smoot, may have been an uncle or cousin to my Isaac S. Brown. So far, I have been able to determine that Isaac Brown and Susan Smoot married in Hardin County, Kentucky, and that Isaac Brown is supposedly a son of Dixon Brown. Dixon Brown had several sons, so one of them might yet turn out to Issac S. Brown's father.
