LUCIUS DWIGHT BROWN, late a
prominent resident of North Stonington, Conn., his native town, a well-known
speculator in real estate and horses, was born on May 21, 1839, and died
April 9, 1897. He was a son of Jedediah and Eunice (Bailey) Brown, and
belonged to one of the old families of this locality. His grandfather,
Elias Brown, was a farmer of Stonington, where he was born about 1760,
and died about 1840. He married Rhoda Williams, and had a large family
of sons and daughters.
Jedediah Brown, the father of Lucius Dwight
Brown, was born in 1806, and died in 1886. He was twice married. His first
wife was Betsey Irish, of Preston, who bore him four children, two sons
and two daughters. All married and had families, and all are now dead.
The last survivor was Obadiah Brown, who was born in 1829, and in 1855
went to California, where he kept a hotel and carried on the livery business,
dying there in 1896, and leaving considerable property to his widow and
two sons. Jedediah Brown's second wife, Eunice Bailey, of North Stonington,
a daughter of Elijah Bailey, was born in 1816, and died in 1874. She was
the mother of ten children, of whom the first-born, a daughter named Elizabeth,
died at the age of ten, and the elder son, Lucius D., died about a year
ago, as above mentioned. The second daughter, Almeda, died in Norwich,
in 1866, leaving a husband, Abner Geer, and one daughter. The living are:
Abbie, wife of William Rose, of Norwich; Governor H. Brown, of Norwich;
Mrs. Ann Eliza Copp, a widow, living in Norwich; Margaret F., wife of Stephen
Wilcox, of Norwich ; Charles N. Brown, of New London, who keeps a livery
and sale stable; Daniel Miner Brown, of Providence, R.I. ; Mary, wife of
William Arnold, a hotel-keeper at Olneyville, R.I.
Lucius Dwight Brown, the subject of this
sketch, was brought up to farm life, receiving his education at the common
school, a mile and a half from home, which he attended until he was sixteen.
After leaving school, he worked on his father's farm until he was twenty,
when he entered the machine shop of Cottrell & Babcock at Westerly,
R.I., where he worked one year. Soon after he hired a farm of Dr. Kinney;
and he subsequently owned and occupied several in North Stonington, buying
and selling some thirty or more. He owned at the time of his death about
eleven farms, located in towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island. Mr. Brown
was a great lover of horses; and he speculated largely in them, owning
in the course of his life several thousand. He left about seventy, which
was a moderate stock for him to winter. He was widely known among horsemen
all through New England and in the West. His new barn, which he built in
1894, at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars, is a model one and the
finest in the town.
Mr. Brown was married December 25, 1864,
to Mary Eliza Sisson, of Westerly, R.I., a daughter of Clark E. and Susan
H. (Hall) Sisson, of that place. Mr. Sisson was a farmer and fisherman,
born in 1814, and died in 1880. His wife died at the age of forty-nine,
leaving twelve children, eight of whom are now living.
Commencing life without capital, Mr. Brown
by good judgment in his business dealings attained great financial success.
The losses sustained by many of his neighbors, who were tempted by large
interest to invest in Western securities, he escaped, telling them he preferred
to see his property, and could find his horses. Mr. and Mrs. Brown had
no children. In April, 1875, they moved into the fine residence now occupied
by Mrs. Brown.
(Photo attached)
Biographical Review Volume
XXVI
Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens
of New London County Connecticut
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1898
pgs 208 - 211
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