Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805–1870) buried: Brown Cemetery, Henderson, Minnesota.[1]
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He was born in born in Harford County, Maryland, on January 5, 1805 and was married to Susan Freniere (circa 1816-1904), a member of the Sisseton tribe of Dakota Indians.[2]
Brown served in the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature: the Wisconsin Territorial House of Representatives 1840-1842. He also served in the Minnesota Territorial Legislature: Territorial Council 1854-55 (District 6); Territorial House of Representatives 1857 (District 10); Minnesota Democratic Constitutional Convention 1857 (District 10).[3]
Brown came to Minnesota in 1820 and became well known as a trader, businessman, Indian agent, politician, speculator, and inventor.
Brown County and Browns Valley in Minnesota are named after him.
Home: Joseph R. Brown State Wayside Reststop — located on Renville County Highway 15, south of Sacred Heart, Minnesota — displays the granite ruins of Brown's home from 1862. The house was destroyed on August 19, 1862 during the Dakota War of 1862, the three story home was a mansion compared to normal pioneer homes. Brown's family, his wife and 12 children, were spared because of his wife's Native American heritage.