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. JoHNn of Decatur, and Henry Jacosy 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 2nd 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 I]linois 
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. 
