Hancock County Historical Society
Carthage, IllinoisSiegfried XIX
Page 127Samuel Brown died at his home in Hancock township Jan. 28, aged 83 years. He was a true pioneer, having come by boat to Warsaw from Pennsylvania in 1830. He located on Crooked Creek and built a saw mill, furnishing lumber to settlers far and near. Later he erected a grist mill, which also served a wide area. He brought from his eastern home two children, his wife having died several years earlier. In 1836, he married Anna Dye, of McDonough county, daughter of James Dye, who had been murdered in 1852. She bore him 16 children, all of whom died in infancy, except three daughters, Josephine, Sarah and Eugene, who passed away in recent years and the only survivor was the son, Reuben, living in Texas, who had been visiting at home for some weeks. Mrs. Brown survived also. Dr. William Booz delivered a funeral oration at the home and interment was in the family graveyard. Dr. Booz, who wrote weekly letters to The Republican under the pen name of "Country Jake," said of Mr. Brown: "Samuel Brown was an honest man and did much to develope this part of Hancock county. He fed from his grist mill in early days many people from whom he received little pay. His lumber made many cabins comfortable that otherwise would have been miserable. To many poor men he gave employment. Always a kind neighbor, he never refused to accommodate when in his power to do so. Peace to his memory." There was also a local item concerning Mr. Brown: "It is said Mr. Brown sawed the lumber for the first frame house ever built in Carthage. Prior to that he helped to build a great many log houses and was the man who carried up the corners of Artois Hamilton's log house in 1835, which is now part of the old Canfield Hamilton Hotel. There are a few houses yet standing here that were built of lumber sawed at Mr. Brown's mill as early as 1835."
