John Y. Brown, Sr.
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| John Y. Brown, Sr. | |
| In office 1933 - 1935 |
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| Born | February 1, 1900 Union County, Kentucky |
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| Died | June 16, 1985 Lexington, Kentucky |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Dorothy Inman Brown |
John Young Brown, Sr. (1 February 1900–16 June 1985) was a state representative for nearly three decades, serving one term as speaker of the Kentucky House of Representatives and as majority floor leader during the term of Gov. Edward T. Breathitt. A Democrat, he was elected to one term in the U.S. House of Representatives (1933-35). He was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democrat nomination for Kentucky Governor in 1939. He was the unsuccessful candidate for the United States Senate in 1946 and 1966.
Brown was born on a farm near Geigers Lake, Union County, Kentucky, attended Union County schools and graduated from the high school at Sturgis, Kentucky. He graduated from Centre College at Danville, Kentucky with an A.B. degree in 1921 where he was a member of Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity. He received his LL.B. degree from University of Kentucky College of Law in 1926 and was admitted to the bar that same year.
He was a well-known trial lawyer who practiced law from 1926 to 1985 in Lexington, Kentucky with three firms: Brown and Miller, Brown and Son, and Brown, Sledd and McCann. He was noted for his extensive quotation of the Bible from memory during his summations to juries.
Brown sponsored much legislation in the Kentucky House of Representatives including the state's first sales tax and civil rights legislation. He was recognized on many occasions as the most effective legislator in the House.
Brown died in Lexington from injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He and his wife, Dorothy Inman Brown, had five children. One son, John Y. Brown, Jr., served as Kentucky governor from 1979 to 1983. He is also the grandfather of former Kentucky Secretary of State John Y. Brown, III, and news anchor Pamela Ashley Brown.
Brown is a member of the University of Kentucky College of Law's Hall of Fame and the Phi Kappa Tau Hall of Fame.
