Biography

09/20/1850 - 01/31/1915

William McKean Brown (R47) Lawrence and Mercer Counties 1897-1900

Early Life:

William McKean Brown, born September 20, 1850, Greenville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania; son of Van Swearingen and Lydia J. Brown; common school, education, Iowa; Grammar School, Warren, Ohio; Power Commercial School, New Castle, Pennsylvania; One Study College, New Castle, Pennsylvania; moved, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 1869; bookkeeper, First National Bank; read law, Judge McMichael, admitted Lawrence County bar, practiced law, New Castle, Pennsylvania, 1876; appointed, special agent, Land Office Department, United States, 1883; married, Margaret Foltz, 1884, children, Emma Brown Renfrew, Arthur McKean Brown; member, New Castle's select council, six years; engaged, New Castle Street Railway Company; elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 1897-1900; elected, Republican, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania 1903-1907; president, Rapid Transit System, Syracuse New York; Member-elect, United States House of Representatives, 1914; died, January 31, 1915 (age 64 years, 133 days), died before taking office, pneumonia, Hotel McAlpin, Manhattan, New York County, New York; interment, Graceland Cemetery, New Castle, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania Politics:

Unsuccessful Candidate, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1876.

Unsuccessful Candidate, Pennsylvania State House of Representatives, 1880.

Appointed, special agent, Land Office Department, United States, January 1883, resigned August 1893. 

Member, New Castle's select council, six years. 

Elected, Republican, Pennsylvania State Senate, 47th district, Lawrence and Mercer Counties, 1897-1900; committee assignments, Appropriations, Corporations, Elections (Chairman), Insurance, Judiciary Special, Legislative Apportionment, Municipal Affairs, Public Grounds and Buildings, Public Supply of Light, Heat and Water.

Elected, Republican, 8th Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania 1903-1907; Governor Samuel Whitaker Pennypacker, presiding officer over Senate of Pennsylvania during the reopening of new Capitol Building, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Continued Government Service/National Politics:

Member-elect, Republican, United States House of Representatives, 24th Pennsylvania district, 64th Congress, 1914. Died, pneumonia, New York City, January 31, 1915, before he was able to take office.

Cited:

Cox, Harold. "Senate Members B". Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.

Smull’s Legislative Handbook, Cochran, (1900) T.B., (Editor) Miller, H.P. (Assistant Editor) Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, pages 1187, 1192-1194, Biographical Sketches of Senators, page 1158.

Shimmel, Lewis Slifer. The State Capitol of Pennsylvania, Harrisburg, Nineteen Hundred and Six: William M. Brown, page 106. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania: The Harrisburg Telegraph Printing Company, 1906.New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) Monday, February 1, 1915.

The Political Graveyard: Index to Politicians: Brown, U to Z

Lawrence County Memoirs: Politician William M. Brown (Brown Mansion) - New Castle PA (archive.org)

William McKean Brown (1850-1915) - Find a Grave Memorial