OF THE SADDLE AND SIRLOIN CLUB 257 



In the early 50's he made trips both to Ohio and Kentucky, 

 bringing back a number of valuable Shorthorns. He partici- 

 pated in organizing the Illinois Importing Association and 

 together with Dr. John of Decatur, and Henry Jacoby of 

 Springfield went abroad in 1857. A valuable consignment of 

 cattle, horses, swine and sheep was obtained, the first direct 

 importation into Illinois. At the sale of this stock held at 

 Springfield, he purchased imp. Rachel 2n4 at the then long 

 price of $3,025. The venture was a great success, twenty-seven 

 head bringing an average price of $1,165. 



Previous to this time Captain Brown had initiated his Illinois 

 career as a showman. At the first exhibition of the State Board 

 of Agriculture in 1853 he took six prizes. Thenceforward his 

 success in the showring was cumulative, and the ensuing battles 

 at the Illinois State Fair brought him victory during the eleven 

 successive years for the grand herd prize. Capt. Brown was 

 more than a breeder. In 1856 Grove Park received the prize 

 of the Illinois Board of Agriculture for the best arranged and 

 most economically conducted grazing farm in the state. He 

 was a student of rural beauty, and his plantations of black 

 locusts, and his field and drive lines of black walnut, elicited 

 the admiration of all visitors. 



He was a close personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and at 

 the funeral of the lamented statesman in Springfield, he had 

 the honor of being one of the pallbearers. Capt. Brown's por- 

 trait hangs on the walls of the State Capitol at Springfield and 

 also in the Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois. During 

 the later years of his life Capt. Brown's three sons, William, 

 Charles and Benjamin, participated in the management of the 

 farm, enabling the continuation of the breeding and feeding 

 operations till the present. Capt. Brown's death occurred in 

 1869, and his body lies at rest under the bluegrass he so thor- 

 oughly builded on. 



