Photograph of Mrs. Caleb O. Brown
Source: History of Boone County, Indiana, by Hon. L.M. Crist, 1914.
CALEB O. BROWN. Within the past decade the farms of Indiana
have advanced from
two hundred to three hundred per cent. in selling value, and this
in spite of the fact that
every year the opinion has been more or less current that the
top price has been reached,
yet the tendency of the values continue steadily upward. What
applies to one county of
our great commonwealth, relates to the other divisions in this
splendid corn belt as well as
the changes that have come in the period of time mentioned have
had no little effect upon
the general tendency of farm values. The improvement of the country
roads, the use of the
auto, the equipment of farm homes, with their efficient heating,
lighting and watering
systems, the installation of power for operating pumps, washing
machines, separators,
churns and sewing machines, to say nothing of the larger power
plants for shelling,
grinding and cutting, have each contributed to the convenience,
independence and profit of
the farm.
One of the most progressive farmers and enterprising citizens
is Caleb O. Brown, who was
born in Montgomery county, Indiana, May 28, 1860. He is a son
of John S. and Eliza A.
(Osborn) Brown, the father a native of Hancock county, and the
mother a native of Boone
county, Indiana. The paternal grandparents, Lucius and Alsey Brown,
were natives of
New Jersey and Indiana, respectively. The maternal grandparents,
Caleb and Dicy (Gohst)
Osborn, were both natives of Virginia. The father of the subject
of this sketch was born in
1828, and the mother's birth occurred in 1832. The grandparents
on both sides were very
early settlers in Indiana. Grandfather Brown came to Boone county
from Hancock county.
After their marriage the parents of our subject settled in Montgomery
county, just over the
line from Boone county. On January 1, 1861, they sold out and
bought one hundred and
sixty acres, our subject's present farm in Jefferson township.
Only a small clearing had
been made on the place, and much of the place was a swamp. The
elder Brown started to
clear and improve the place, doing extensive ditching. He added
forty acres later and here
he made a success as a general farmer. His death occurred June
1, 1890, his wife having
preceded him to the grave December 2, 1886. The following children
were born to them:
Josephine, who married W. D. Denny, of Jefferson township; George
E. died in Kansas in
1887; Caleb O., of this review; Dicy is the wife of Parson B.
Chambers, of Indianapolis.
Caleb O. Brown grew up on the home farm and received his education
in the common
schools. On September 5, 1885, he married Rebecca Todd, who was
born in Franklin
county, Indiana, and is a daughter of Joseph and Ann (Rockafeller)
Todd, natives of New
Jersey. To this union one child was born, Hazel, now the wife
of Harry Sumpter, of
Jefferson township. The wife and mother passed to her rest in
the Silent Land in April, 1887.
On March 15, 1889, Mr. Brown married Clara B. Edwards, a native
of
Montgomery county, born December 8, 1865, a daughter of David
and Elizabeth (Dice)
Edwards. Two children were born by this marriage, Helen, born
April 26, 1890, and
Ruby, born August 15, 1894, who married Charles E. Johnson and
lives on Mr. Brown's
farm.
After his marriage, Mr. Brown moved to forty acres his father
had given him, and on
which stood a log cabin. Here he lived, constantly improving the
place, until 1900. He
had prospered by good management and hard work, and had added
to his original holdings
until he had one hundred and thirty acres. He bought out the heirs
of the homestead in 1900.
He has remodeled the house and built barns and made other up-to-date
improvements. The home place consists of two hundred and twenty
acres, and one-
half mile north lies his one hundred and forty acres, also well
improved. He has
been very successful as a general farmer and stockman, carrying
on both on an
extensive scale. He raises registered stock, horses, cattle and
hogs and owns and handles
more registered Percheron horses than any one man in the county.
He has handled all the
land himself most successfully, too, and is regarded as one of
the leading agriculturists of
Boone county, and is one of the financially strong men of Jefferson
township. He
organized the Hazelrigg Telephone Company and made it a pronounced
success, also
helped organize all the other local co-operative telephone companies
in the county. He was
the first president of the former company and was a director in
the same many years. He is
also a director in the Union Trust Company of Lebanon. He is regarded
by all who know
him as a business man of exceptional ability, sound of judgment
and keen discernment, and
honorable in all his dealings with his fellowmen, so that he has
ever enjoyed their
confidence and esteem.
Politically, Mr. Brown is a Republican, and has been active
and influential in public affairs
for many years. Fraternally, he is a member of the Masonic Order,
No. 113, and the
Knights of Pythias, No. 124, both at Thorntown; also under the
former belongs to the
Chapter, Council and Commandery at Lebanon; and to the Scottish
Rite and Mystic Shrine
of Indianapolis. Personally, Mr. Brown is a genial, courteous
and companionable
gentleman whom it is a pleasure to meet.
BROWN CHAMBERS DENNY DICE EDWARDS GOHST JOHNSON OSBORN
ROCKAFELLER SUMPTER TODD
Submitted by Amy K. Davis
