256 THE PORTRAIT GALLERY 



A BUILDER OF CORNBELT AGRICULTURE 



99. The beginnings of Illinois cattle breeding were laid in 

 the days when early Kentuckians crossed over the Ohio to con- 

 quer the fertile prairies of Illinois. Typical of this pioneer type 

 both as to influence for the future on the state's farm practice 

 and as to the heritage in worthy descendants who carried for- 

 ward the pioneer ideal was Captain James Nicholas Brown 

 of Grove Park in Sangamon County. 



Captain Brown was born October 3, 1806, in Fayette Co., 

 Kentucky, amid the pastoral greens of fields early famous for 

 their contribution to American livestock. He was Captain of 

 militia in his native state but early acquired the taste for Short- 

 horn cattle under the inspiration of his maternal uncles, of the 

 famous Kentucky Warfield family. In 1834 with his father 

 he drove his herd from Kentucky to Illinois. So successful was 

 he on his better animals, even prior to this date, that he had 

 received numerous prizes, treasured heirlooms in the family to 

 the present time. Captain Brown was the first apostle of the 

 truth that the most profit in a permanent agriculture comes 

 from marketing good grass and good corn in the form of good 

 cattle. He was essentially a farmer and gradually extended 

 his interests to Berkshire swine and Southdown sheep. He was 

 a member of the State Legislatures of 1840, 1842, 1846 and 

 1853, a colleague and friend of Abraham Lincoln. From this 

 position he lent notable assistance in organizing the Illinois 

 Slate Agricultural Society, and was elected its first president. 

 So interested was he in the welfare of agriculture, that in present- 

 ing the case for state appropriations for this purpose before the 

 legislature, he said : "So you will know I stand for this heart and 

 soul, I will duplicate dollar for dollar any appropriation you 

 may make." His earnestness carried the day, and the initial 

 appropriation of $3,000 was matched by Capt. Brown. 



