History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/4/Aaron Brown
AARON BROWN was a native of Mississippi, where be was born in 1822. Detesting human slavery he came north and settled in Fayette County, Iowa. He was one of the pioneers in organizing the movement against the extension of slavery in the new Territories which resulted in the establishment of the Republican party. In the fall of 1856 he was nominated for State Senator by the Republicans of the Third District composed of the counties of Fayette, Bremer, Butler, Franklin, Grundy, Hardin, Wright, Webster, Boone, Story. Greene and Humboldt and made a vigorous canvass of that large, sparsely settled territory, traveling on horseback, then the only mode of conveyance practicable, and holding meetings in rude log cabins. He was elected and served four years with marked ability. When the Civil War began he was commissioned first lieutenant of Company A, Third Volunteer Infantry. He was soon promoted to captain and when Major W. M. Stone resigned Captain Brown succeeded to that rank. He was in the battles of Shiloh and Corinth, Hatchie and Jackson. In Lauman's disastrous charge at Jackson, Colonel Brown was wounded. In July, 1864, he resigned his commission and returned home. In 1870 he was elected Register of the State Land Office, serving four years.