Joseph R. Brown

Joseph R. Brown
Joseph Brown c. 1853
Member of the Minnesota Territorial House of Representatives
In office 1857–1857
Member of the Minnesota Territorial Council
In office 1854–1855
Member of the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature
In office 1840–1842
Personal details
Born	Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805-01-05)January 5, 1805 Harford County, Maryland
Died	November 9, 1870(1870-11-09) (aged 65) New York City, New York
Resting place	notable_works
Nationality	American
Spouse	Susan Frenier (3rd wife)
Parent	notable_works
Occupation	politician, pioneer, fur trader, newspaper editor, businessman, inventor, speculator, Indian agent

Joseph Brown's Monument in Brown Cemetery

Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805–1870) was a politician, pioneer, fur trader, newspaper editor, businessman, inventor, speculator, and Indian agent who was prominent in Minnesota territorial and state politics for over 50 years.

Early life and family

Joseph R. Brown was born in Harford County, Maryland, on January 5, 1805. His third wife, Susan Frenier (1819-1904), was a member of the Sisseton tribe of Dakota and the half-sister of Gabriel Renville, who became his legal ward.

At the age of 15, he left his apprenticeship as a printer to join the army, and was sent to Cantonment New Hope to work on the construction of Fort Snelling. He was discharged from the army in 1828.

Career

Brown served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature: the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives 1840-1842. He also served in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature: Territorial Council 1854-55 (District 6); Territorial House of Representatives 1857 (District 10); Minnesota Democratic Constitutional Convention 1857 (District 10).

Brown came to Minnesota in 1820 when the land was Michigan Territory. In 1857, he was appointed Indian Agent to the Sioux (Dakota).

Role in Dakota War of 1862

When the Dakota War of 1862 broke out, his mixed-blood family and the whites fleeing with them were captured but not killed due to his wife's bravery in standing up to Cut Nose, Little Six, Dowanniye and hostile warriors who surrounded their wagon and threatened them. Their son Samuel J. Brown later wrote, "So she stood up in the wagon, and waving her shawl she cried in a loud voice that she was a Sisseton –– a relative of Waanatan, Scarlet Plume, Sweetcorn, Akipa and friend of Standing Buffalo, that she had come down this way for protection and hoped to get it." One of the men in their party recognized Susan Brown and argued in favor of sparing her life, because she had taken him in one winter and saved his life. When the men said they would kill the whites in their party regardless, she declared, "Remember what I say, if you harm any of these friends of mine, you will have to answer to Scarlet Plume, Akipa, Standing Buffalo, and the whole Sisseton and Wahpeton tribe!"

Susan Brown and her children were rescued on August 23 by her stepfather Akipa, a full-blood Wahpeton, and her half-brother Charles Renville Crawford, who demanded their release. She spent the rest of the war under the protection of the "friendly" Dakota camp of Akipa, Gabriel Renville and the Dakota Peace Party, which opposed conflict with the United States. In the final days of the war, Little Crow confided in Susan Brown as he grew increasingly despondent about his options.

Joseph R. Brown was away at the outbreak of the war. Upon his return, desperate to find out what happened to his wife and family, he asked to join the burial expedition which left Fort Ridgely on August 31, 1862, and ended up wounded by a ball in his neck on September 2 during the Battle of Birch Coulee. He was finally reunited with his family at Camp Release.

He died on November 9, 1870, in New York City and was buried in Brown Cemetery, Henderson, Minnesota.

Legacy

Brown County, Browns Valley in Minnesota, and Brown's Creek near Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota are named after him.

House

Main article: Joseph Brown House Ruins

Joseph R. Brown State Wayside Reststop is located on Renville County Highway 15, south of Sacred Heart, Minnesota, which displays the granite ruins of Brown's home from 1862.

The house was destroyed on August 19, 1862 during the Dakota War of 1862; the three story home was a mansion compared to normal pioneer homes.

Further reading

• Goodman, Nancy; Goodman, Robert (1996). Joseph R. Brown: Adventurer on the Minnesota Frontier 1820–1849. Rochester, MN: Lone Oak Press. ISBN 978-1-883477-12-7.

External links

• Joseph Renshaw Brown in MNopedia, the Minnesota Encyclopedia
• Joseph R. Brown Memorial
• Joseph R. Brown House Interpretive Sign and Brochure