U.S. Data Repository http://www.us-data.org/ -- USGenNet Inc. -- Please read the U.S. Data Repository Copyright Statement on the following page: --------------------------------------------------------------------- Brown, Jefferson Slidell (1861-1935) --------------------------------------------------------------------- A History of Preston County West Virginia Biographical Department, Supplied by J. R. Cole Kingwood, W. Va., The Journal Publishing Company, 1914 by H. S. Whetsell Pages 797-798 Jefferson Slidell, son of Charles Mercer and Harriet Virginia (Fairfax) Brown, was born at the old Fairfax Manor House, erected by his great-grandfather, Colonel John Fairfax, in 1818, situated two miles west of Kingwood, West Virginia. He received his education, beginning with the common schools, after which he taught school five years in Preston county, after his graduation from the Cleveland College, Ohio. He then served as clerk and secretary to the board of directors of the State Institution for the Insane, at Weston, West Virginia. Having already determined upon becoming a lawyer, he resigned his position; but things frequently change one's plans for life, and such was the case with Mr. Brown, who purchased the "Argus," at Kingwood, in 1889, and he has ever since been at its helm. He is a brilliant, forceful writer, and his editorials are widely read and copied. He also contributes for other publications. Politically he is a Democrat, and his party, knowing his capability, has kept him constantly in their service. He was chairman of the Democratic Committee sixteen years; He served on judicial. Senatorial, Congressional and State committees. He was twice a candidate for state senator. In April, 1893, he was appointed postmaster of Kingwood and served over four years. In 1896 he was a delegate for West Virginia to the National Convention at Chicago for the nomination of William Jennings Bryan, and subsequently served eight years as a member of the board of regents of the State School for the Deaf and Blind, at Romney, West Virginia, He also served as president of the State Editorial Association five terms, which was the longest ever served by any one man. He positively declined another term. He served as captain of Company G in the National Guards, having had many an exciting experience, and was called out on two occasions to suppress mob violence. On one occasion his company was ordered to Charleston by the Governor to guard a negro on trial for rape on a white woman. The company succeeded in suppressing the violence of a mob composed of five hundred men who attempted to storm the jail one night and lynch the negro. Hard and unpleasant as was the task, the Captain at once arrested the leaders of the mob, one by one, until he had fourteen of them in jail, by which time the mob was quieted down, and all was done without the shedding of blood. The negro was afterward tried by a fair and impartial jury, was sentenced to death by the court and properly executed. Mr. Brown is socially connected with about every order calculated to better the conditions of his fellowmen. Among these may be mentioned the Masonic, Odd Fellows and Knights of Pythias fraternities. On October 15, 1902, Mr. Brown married Stella Maud, daughter of Captain Job W. Parsons, who served in the Confederate army under General Robert E. Lee. Children: Fairfax, born September 21, 1903, Hazel Ewing, born June 25, 1905; Keith Parsons, born January 19, 1907; Leland Dickson, born March 15, 1909; Lynden Bonn, born June 2, 1911. --------------------------------------------------------------------- From Death Certificate, Randolph County, WV #7532 FULL-NAME: Jefferson Slidell Brown BIRTH-DATE: Nov 28, 1861 BIRTH-PLACE: Kingwood, W.Va. DEATH-DATE: May 28, 1935 DEATH-PLACE: Elkins, Leadsville District, Randolph County, WV MARITAL-STATUS: Married (Stella Parsons Brown) OCCUPATION: Newspaper Publisher FATHER: Charles Mercer Brown (born in Preston Co.) MOTHER: Virginia Fairfax (born in Preston Co.) CAUSE-OF-DEATH: Angina Pectoris INFORMANT: L. Bonn Brown (of Elkins) BURIAL: Kingwood, W.Va. --------------------------------------------------------------------- If you've reached this file through a SEARCH, you can access other biographies for Preston County, WV by going to the following URL: http://www.us-data.org/wv/preston/bios.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------