Joseph Brown (1823December 3, 1899) was mayor of

Alton, Illinois Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...

, serving from 1856 to 1857, and the 21st mayor of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

, serving from 1871 to 1875.

Childhood and young adulthood

Brown was born in 1823 in

Jedburgh Jedburgh (; gd, Deadard; sco, Jeddart or ) is a town and former royal burgh in the Scottish Borders and the traditional county town of the historic county of Roxburghshire, the name of which was randomly chosen for Operation Jedburgh in su ...

, Scotland. He lived there with his family until he turned eight. Afterwards, he and his family immigrated to the United States, settling down in Alton, Illinois. Brown received a good education, partially completing his college career before going to work in the milling business at the age 18. After a few years, Brown met Miss Virginia Keach. In 1854, they got married, and later had two daughters. Brown was also well known in the river traffic. He oversaw many of his steamers' construction. At the start of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

, Brown retired from this business to pursue real estate operations. However, he continued on assisting in the construction in many of the

gunboats A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to shore bombardment, bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for troopship, ferrying troops or au ...

and ironclad ships for the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and ...

Political career

Before becoming elected to being the

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Mayor, Brown served as the head of the City government and Mayor of Alton, IL. During this time period, Brown successfully connected Chicago and Alton with a railroad. As a war democrat, he additionally was elected to the Missouri State Senate. in 1871, Brown was elected to be the Mayor of St. Louis. Within his second year after being elected, Brown helped oversee the creation of a temporary City Hall (where the present Civil Courts Building is) and the taxpayers' League. This league's purpose was to "aid in securing honesty, economy and efficiency in the administration of municipal affairs and public affairs." In 1873, the city faced a critical depression. In order to help alleviate the citizens, Brown ran a soup kitchen for as many as 1200 people per day and issued tax certificates of $300,000, which was also known as "Brown Bucks". To support them, Brown used his own credit as well as the city's. The following year, Brown passed legislature that created

Forest Park A forest park is a park whose main theme is its forest of trees. Forest parks are found both in the mountains and in the urban environment. Examples Chile * Forest Park, Santiago China *Gongqing Forest Park, Shanghai * Mufushan National Fores ...

, O'Fallon park, and Carondlet Park and helped administer the completion of the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and t ...

Later life and death

On December 3, 1899, Brown died. He was buried in Grandview Cemetery in Alton, Illinois.

References

* * * *

External links

Joseph Brown
at the St. Louis Public Library: St. Louis Mayors website 1823 births 1899 deaths Mayors of St. Louis 19th-century American politicians {{StLouis-stub