Biography - W Brown
W. A. BROWN, whose energetic nature, laudable ambition and unfaltering diligence have been prominent factors in his successful career, is now dealing in lumber in Carrollton and is accounted one of the representative business men of the city. He was born in Rubicon township, Greene county, Illinois, on the 11th of November, 1868, and is a son of Peter A. and Lenora (Robinson) Brown, both of whom were born in Linder township. His paternal grandfather, Peter M. Brown, was a native of Virginia and became one of the pioneer settlers of Greene county, establishing his residence here when the work of progress and improvement seemed scarcely begun. He at once began the task of developing a good home for his family and he aided in laying broad and deep the foundation for the present prosperity and progress of the locality. Both he and his wife are still living, their home being two miles east of Carrollton.
During his youth W. A. Brown accompanied his parents on their removal to Linder township and began his education in the public schools, continuing his studies in the Carrollton high school, where he completed the course by graduation in the class of 1889. He afterward took a course in the Jacksonville Business College and then entered a dry-goods store in Jacksonville, where he remained for a year. He afterward engaged in farming in Linder township for three years and was quite successful in his undertakings there, but preferring commercial to agricultural pursuits he came to Carrollton and purchased the lumber business previously conducted by L. S. Bushnell near the Chicago & Alton depot. He became proprietor of the yard in 1894 and since that time has conducted the business, also extending the scope of his labors by dealing in coal, hardware and building supplies of all kinds. He has an extensive lumberyard and buildings, and his business is steadily increasing, having already reached a large and profitable proportions. He is found straightforward in all transactions and whatever he undertakes he carries forward to successful completion.
On the 11th of January, 1898, W. A. Brown was united in marriage to Miss Martha Lanning, a native of Greene county, Illinois, and a daughter of T. P. Lanning, now a resident of Morgan county. They have one son, George Davis. Mr. Brown is a Mason in his fraternal relations, having taken the degrees of the lodge, chapter, council and commandery. He is thoroughly informed concerning the tenets and teachings of the craft and his interest in the society is deep and sincere, while in his life he exemplifies many of the splendid principles which the fraternity inculcates. He stands today as a strong man, strong in his honor and his good name, in the success which has attended him and in his fidelity to duty in all life's relations.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Past and Present of Greene County, Illinois, by Ed Miner, published in 1905, pages 537-538.
