Thomas Hoyt Brown (April 3, 1839June 19, 1908) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

businessman and

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

politician. He was the 25th and 28th mayor of

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, and was the first mayor of Milwaukee born in Milwaukee.

Background

Thomas H. Brown was born in Milwaukee on April 3, 1839. He died at his home in Milwaukee on June 19, 1908.

Career

Brown served as an

alderman An alderman is a member of a Municipal government, municipal assembly or council in many Jurisdiction, jurisdictions founded upon English law. The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking member of a borough or county council, a council membe ...

and President of the

Milwaukee Common Council The municipal government of the U.S. city of Milwaukee, located in the state of Wisconsin, consists of a mayor and common council. Traditionally supporting liberal politicians and movements, this community has consistently proved to be a strongho ...

before serving as Mayor from 1880 to 1882. In 1888, merchant and former alderman

Herman Kroeger Herman Kroeger (December 16, 1831June 20, 1916) was a German American immigrant, dry goods merchant, and politician. He served a four-year term in the Wisconsin State Senate representing the south side of the city of Milwaukee. He was elected ...

ran for Mayor of Milwaukee as a Union Labor candidate advocating

public ownership State ownership, also called government ownership and public ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, or enterprise by the state or a public body representing a community, as opposed to an individual or private party. Public ownershi ...

of municipal improvements, the establishment of

public baths Public baths originated when most people in population centers did not have access to private bathing facilities. Though termed "public", they have often been restricted according to gender, religious affiliation, personal membership, and other cr ...

and a law permitting the

recall Recall may refer to: * Recall (bugle call), a signal to stop * Recall (information retrieval), a statistical measure * ''ReCALL'' (journal), an academic journal about computer-assisted language learning * Recall (memory) * ''Recall'' (Overwatch ...

of city officials. He was taken so seriously that the Republicans and Democrats united to run Brown as a

fusion Fusion, or synthesis, is the process of combining two or more distinct entities into a new whole. Fusion may also refer to: Science and technology Physics *Nuclear fusion, multiple atomic nuclei combining to form one or more different atomic nucl ...

candidate against him. He was nearly elected anyway, with 15,033 votes to 15,978 for Brown. Radical

Socialist Labor The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...

candidate Colin Campbell, backed by

Paul Grottkau Paul Grottkau (1846–1898) was a German-American socialist political activist and newspaper publisher. Grottkau is best remembered as an editor alongside Haymarket affair victim August Spies of the '' Chicagoer Arbeiter-Zeitung,'' one of the lea ...

(imprisoned editor of the '' Arbeiter Zeitung'') garnered 964 votes, just enough to keep Kroeger from winning if they’d gone to him instead. Brown was a

. He is interred in

Forest Home Cemetery Forest Home Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in the Lincoln Village neighborhood of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and is the final resting place of many of the city's famed beer barons, politicians and social elite. Both the cemetery and ...

in Milwaukee.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Thomas Milwaukee Common Council members Mayors of Milwaukee Wisconsin Republicans 1839 births 1908 deaths 19th-century American politicians