Alexander Brown

Alexander Brown, who died at Keosauqua August 16, 1910, was a native of the state of Pennsylvania, where he was born May 3, 1837. His parents had come to America about the year 1820. When Alexander was five years old, the family came to Keosauqua. There the son attended school, read law in the office of Hon. George G. Wright, and was admitted to the bar in 1859. In 1861 he enlisted in Company E of the Fifteenth Regiment Iowa Infantry. On March 1, 1862, he was promoted to Sergeant Major. Soon after this the regiment first participated in the battle of Shiloh, where it was heavily engaged, coming out of the battle with a casualty list of 213. In this action Sergeant Brown was severely wounded in the hip, but recovered in time to reach his regiment and participate with it in the battle of Corinth, October 3, 1862, in which engagement he was again wounded; this time dangerously in the shoulder. This wound rendered him incapable for further active service in the field. He was, therefore, discharged in February, 1863.

In the fall of 1867 he was elected county judge of Van Buren county, and held this office until it was absorbed by that of county auditor two years later. He was then elected auditor of the county and served in that capacity for six years, after which he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession, that of the law, and soon established a reputation as an able and conscientious lawyer, enjoying the fullest confidence of the bench, bar, and people.

He was elected to the state Senate in 1881 and secured important legislation in relation to river bridges and abandoned railroad rights-of-way.

In 1894 he was elected county attorney of Van Buren county, serving two terms. He was mayor of Keosauqua continuously for a period of ten years, until 1908, when, on account of growing infirmities, he declined to run again for that office. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity and also of the Grand Army of the Republic.

SOURCE: Pioneer Lawmaker’s Association Of Iowa Reunion of 1911 Held at Des Moines, March 14-16, 1911, p. 94-5