Biography - ENOCH BROWN

Enoch Brown, who owns a fine farm of one hundred and eighteen and a half acres on section 30, Scottville township, was born in Barr township, Macoupin county, on the 28th of August, 1836, a son of Perry P. and Christina J. (Walker) Brown. The father was born in the southern part of Illinois and the mother in Claiborne county, Tennessee. Our subject’s maternal grandfather, William Walker, and the .latter’s father both served in the Revolutionary war, while Edward, a son of William, was in the Mexican war. William Walker is buried near Ottumwa, in Wapello county, Iowa. He was one of the pioneers of Macoupin county and cut the shingles and helped build the first courthouse here, which was erected in 1833. The paternal grandparents of our subject were George and Nancy A. Brown, but the latter having outlived her husband for some years married the second time. Perry P. Brown was reared and educated in Alton, Illinois, but in 1830 he removed to Macoupin county, where he was married on the 16th of August, 1835 to Miss Walker. Here he engaged in farming until 1856, when he removed to Union county, Iowa, where he continued to be identified with the same vocation until his death in 1865. His church affiliation was that of the Methodist Episcopal denomination, while fraternally he was identified with the Masonic order being a member of the lodge at Fayette, Illinois. His political allegiance was ever given to the republican party, whose principles he deemed best adapted to subserve the interests of the majority.

The district schools of this country provided Enoch Brown with a thorough knowledge of the common branches, while his father’s training well qualified him for an agricultural career. He removed with his parents to Union county and there broke the prairie land of his father’s homestead with a team of oxen. When he was twenty-eight years of age, he enlisted in Company H of the One Hundred and Fifty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, entering-the service at Jacksonville, Illinois, on the 2d of February, 1865. He was mustered out on the 18th of the following September, at Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He saw much guard duty and participated in a number of sharp skirmishes, during the period of his enlistment. Upon his return he acquired seventy-nine acres of government land upon which he located. He added to this at divers times, until he had one hundred and eighteen and a half acres of fine land, now being cultivated by his son.

On the 10th of February, 1859, Mr. Brown was married to Miss Mary S. Van Bebber, of Scottville township, a daughter of James and Nancy A. (Farrell) Van Bebber, of Tennessee originally, but the paternal ancestors were of Dutch extraction. The father was for many years engaged in farming in this county, where the family is well known. Of the union of Mr. and Mrs. Brown there were born three children: James Perry and Serena Ann, both of whom died in infancy; and Peter Louis, who is cultivating the homestead of his father. Peter Louis Brown married Anna Leavens, a daughter of Thomas and Sarah A. (Boyd) Leavens, natives of Ireland. One child was born to them which is deceased. Mrs. Enoch Brown passed away on the 24th of March, 1898, at the age of sixty years. She was born in this county on the 16th of May, 1838, and here she spent her entire life. She was a devout Christian woman of noble purpose and goodly intention, having united with the Baptist church in the fall of 1855 and ever after making its principles the guide of her daily life.

Mr. Brown is a member of the Baptist church of Mount Zion, and he has belonged to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows since 1872, being identified with the Scottville lodge, and he was also affiliated with the Grange when that organization was at its zenith. Politically he is a republican and has served as road and school commissioner and township trustee.

Extracted 15 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 448-449.