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Dictionary of Miramichi Biography

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BROWN, WILLIAM S. (1828-1904)

BROWN, WILLIAM S., tinsmith, lumberman, grist mill owner, postmaster, liquor inspector, and fish processor; b. Eastport, Me, 28 Jan 1828; m. 1858, Mary Jane Vye, d/o James Vye and Hannah Wilson, of Nelson parish; d. Newcastle, 20 Jan 1904.

William S. ("Tinker") Brown rented store space in Chatham in 1857 out of which he worked for a few years as a tinsmith. In the early 1860s he moved to Red Bank, where he conducted a general store and later kept the postal way office (1871-79), as successor to Michael McKendrick, the first way office keeper at Red Bank (1854-71). He also entered the lumber and milling business on a large scale. In 1875 he erected a rotary sawmill and shingle mill which were driven by a turbine water wheel installed at the mouth of Sutherland Brook. In 1876 he had a grist mill built on the same site. The Union Advocate noted in June of that year that the lumber trade on the Northwest was under the control of three men: R. P. Whitney, James Somers, and W. S. Brown. It was soon evident, however, that Brown had overextended himself financially, and he was forced out of business. After his valuable property at Red Bank passed through the hands of two subsequent owners it became the site of the lumber and mercantile operations of Daniel Sullivan & Sons.

Brown was a county councillor for North Esk (later South Esk) parish from 1878 to 1880, when he moved to Newcastle. In the summer of 1881 he was one of many who had lobster and salmon canning set-ups along the Gloucester County coast, and he worked in the canning industry from that time onward. He was a vocal supporter of the temperance movement, and in 1888, through the Newcastle Sons of Temperance, he became a factor in the enforcement of the Canada Temperance Act (or Scott Act) in the town. Under this legislation, which was adopted by local option, alcoholic beverages were to be sold only for medicinal and sacramental purposes. In 1889 he was appointed by the Northumberland County Prohibition Alliance as a private inspector, to help enforce the act throughout the county. When the Alliance failed to pay him for his work, the County Council agreed to do so, thereby becoming his employer.

Unfortunately, Brown was no more successful as a liquor inspector than as a lumber company operator. One of several accusations leveled against him in 1891 was that he had failed to destroy seized liquor and had later returned it to its owners by private arrangement. He was charged with larceny, and while it would appear that the charge was dropped, he was relieved of his responsibilities in January 1892 and replaced by John Menzies. The Miramichi Advance thought that, "if he had been engaged and paid by the County to protect, instead of expose and punish violations of the Scott Act, he could not have taken a more effective course." The editor of the paper also contended that a speech which he gave in his own defense was as incriminating as any of the evidence that had been accumulated against him.

Brown responded to these events by switching sides and coming out in favor of the repeal of the Scott Act. He also moved away for a time, to Maces Bay in Charlotte County, where he carried on a clam-packing business. His Charlotte County activities may have ceased the following year, however, when a new canning factory which he had built at Lepreau went up in flames.

In 1897 the Union Advocate reported that the minister of justice had ordered W. S. Brown's release from jail for health reasons. According to the paper, he had been in custody for some time for a conviction under the Scott Act.

Brown and his wife, Mary J. Vye, had a large number of children, many of whom did not live to adulthood. In a single month in 1881 five of the children, aged sixteen and younger, died of diphtheria. Brown's survivors in 1904 were his wife, two daughters, and three sons. The sons were all employees of the Intercolonial Railway, and the eldest of them, Lafayette S. Brown, became general manager for the CNR Atlantic Region. He was proclaimed a hero of the Halifax Explosion in 1917 when, for more than forty-eight hours, without a break, he personally supervised the restoration of rail service over the main lines into the city, making it possible for relief supplies to reach the injured.

Sources

[b] census [m] Gleaner 1 Jan 1859 [d] Advocate 3 Feb 1904 / Advance 9 Jun 1881, 16 Jun 1881, 29 Sep 1881, 5 Sep 1889, 22 Jan 1891, 4 Jun 1891, 23 Jul 1891, 30 Jul 1891, 17 Sep 1891, 28 Jan 1892, 12 May 1892, 30 Jun 1892, 8 Nov 1894; Advocate 28 Jun 1876, 12 May 1897, 8 Apr 1924, 9 Jun 1937; Arbuckle; Gleaner 28 Nov 1857; Leader 11 Apr 1924


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