DE WITT C. BROWN Page 753 DE WITT C. BROWN, farmer and stock-raiser, Sec 33; P. O. Havana; was born near Schenectady, N. Y., May 19, 1822, but removed, in childhood, with his father's family, to Chautauqua Co., that State, and subsequently to Allegheny Co., Penn. In 1845, he removed to Illinois, locating in Havana Township, Mason Co., in the spring of that year. He fenced a forty-acre tract by digging a ditch around it, which, to a person coming from a heavily timbered country, was a novelty. He now owns about 1,000 acres of land, a part of which is the original purchase made when he came to the State. Mr. B. has served a period of about twenty years as School Director. He was married, in 1851, to Mrs. Ann (Gibbs) Shelly, who was born in England. Her father, William Gibbs, was a powder manufacturer, and at one time was employed by Du Pont. They have three children-John, Charlie, and Josephine, wife of John Brent, who resides in Mason Co. Mrs. Brown has one child by her former marriage, Julia A., wife of John Mowder, who resides in Kansas.

Every Name Index
Biography Index
Home