Francis Shunk Brown (June 9, 1858 – May 6, 1940) was an American lawyer from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

who served one term as

Pennsylvania Attorney General The Pennsylvania Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It became an elected office in 1980. The current Attorney General is Democrat Josh Shapiro. On August 15, 2016, then-Attorney General Kath ...

from 1915 to 1919 and ran unsuccessfully in the Republican primary for Governor in 1930.

Ancestry

Brown's father was Charles Brown, who served two terms in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

as a Pennsylvania representative before Brown was born. Brown's mother was Elizabeth Shunk. Her father was former state governor

Francis R. Shunk Francis Rawn Shunk (August 7, 1788 – July 20, 1848) was the tenth governor of Pennsylvania from 1845 to 1848. Early career Shunk was born on August 7, 1788 in Trappe, Pennsylvania, to a poor farming family of German descent. His great-grandfa ...

and her maternal grandfather was former state governor William Findlay.

Early life and education

The family moved to Delaware when Brown was still very young. Brown attended schools in Philadelphia and Delaware. He graduated from the

University of Pennsylvania Law School The University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School (also known as Penn Law or Penn Carey Law) is the law school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It is among the most selective and olde ...

in 1879. He was admitted to the bar immediately. Brown was a member of the

Five O'Clock Club of Philadelphia The Five O'Clock Club of Philadelphia was a social dining club founded by a group of prominent Philadelphia business and government leaders in 1883. With 35 members, the club had no building of its own, but organized dinners, banquets, an ...

Career

His law practice clients included many Pennsylvania politicians

Israel Wilson Durham Israel Wilson Durham (24 October 1855 – 28 June 1909) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the 6th district from 1897 to 1898 and the 2nd district from 1898 to 1899. He w ...

Boies Penrose Boies Penrose (November 1, 1860 – December 31, 1921) was an American lawyer and Republican politician from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. After serving in both houses of the Pennsylvania legislature, he represented Pennsylvania in the United ...

, and the

William Scott Vare William Scott Vare (December 24, 1867August 7, 1934) was an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Republican Party (United States), Republican member of the United States House of Representatives for Pennsylvania's 1st congressiona ...

. In 1915, he was appointed state Attorney General and served until 1919. After completing his term, he returned to private practice.

1930 Republican primary for governor

In 1930, he was persuaded by state Republican party leaders including

to run in the primary against former state governor

Gifford Pinchot Gifford Pinchot (August 11, 1865October 4, 1946) was an American forester and politician. He served as the fourth chief of the U.S. Division of Forestry, as the first head of the United States Forest Service, and as the 28th governor of Pennsy ...

. Ending Prohibition was the dominant issue, and in public Brown took a lukewarm position, favoring a state referendum to consider modifying the

Volstead Act The National Prohibition Act, known informally as the Volstead Act, was an act of the 66th United States Congress, designed to carry out the intent of the 18th Amendment (ratified January 1919), which established the prohibition of alcoholic d ...

. In private, he supported repeal but could not come out in public against prohibition due to his political connections to

President Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gr ...

. One minor contender, Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr. was openly anti prohibition. Pinchot was a prohibitionist who in his previous term as governor did almost nothing to enforce Prohibition, and so ended up attracting strong anti-prohibition support against Brown and Phillips, winning the primary by 20,000 votes over Brown, and later the state election. During the primary, in contrast to the other candidates (

, Thomas Wharton Phillips Jr.,

Joseph R. Grundy Joseph Ridgway Grundy (January 13, 1863March 3, 1961) was an American textile manufacturer and Republican Party politician from Bristol, Pennsylvania. He represented Pennsylvania in the United States Senate. Biography He was educated at Swart ...

), Brown declined to take part in an open discussion about Republican issues sponsored by the Pennsylvania League of Woman Voters because they invited Joseph D. Herben, a Negro candidate. He stated: "I refuse to discuss state politics on the same platform with a Negro."

Personal life

In 1883, he married Elizabeth Hamm. They had two children, one son and one daughter. The son, Francis Shunk Brown Jr., would serve as a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Brown was an avid yachtsman, and served as commodore of the Philadelphia Yacht Club. He owned and worked part-time on a farm on the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. He once owned a camp along Lake Placid. He died in Philadelphia and is interred at the Westminster Cemetery in

Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania Bala Cynwyd ( ) is a community in Lower Merion Township, Pennsylvania. It is located on the Philadelphia Main Line in Southeastern Pennsylvania, bordering the western edge of Philadelphia at U.S. Route 1 (City Avenue). It was originally two separa ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Francis Shunk 1858 births 1940 deaths Pennsylvania lawyers Pennsylvania Attorneys General University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni