HENRY BILLINGS BROWN
BROWN, HENRY BILLINGS, LL.D., associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, is a brilliant illustration of the wonderful opportunities for advancement and the vast possibilities for achievement which are open to the young men of our land. In the record of his life we see how by means of close application and earnest and well directed effort, reinforced by a strong moral character, the village youth may make his way to a place in the most important judicial tribunal in the world.
He was born at South Lee, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, March 2, 1836. He was the son of Billings and Mary A. (Tyler) Brown. He was married July 13, 1864, to Caroline Pitts, who died July 11, 1901. They had no children. He was married June 25, 1904, to Josephine E. Tyler, widow of Lieutenant F. H. Tyler, United States navy.
The father of Mr. Brown was a manufacturer. He was self-educated, a man of high intelligence, fond of reading and efficient in business. He was a member of the Connecticut legislature and was held in high esteem by his fellow citizens. His wife was a woman of clear and vigorous intellect and earnest piety. Mr. Brown traces his ancestry back to Edward Brown of Ipswich, Massachusetts.
The subject of this biography passed his childhood and youth in small villages. His health was good and he had no regular tasks which involved manual labor. Besides a great desire to read he had a strong liking for mechanical pursuits. In preparing for college there were no special difficulties to overcome. He attended the academies at Stockbridge and Monson (Massachusetts), and was graduated from Yale college in 1856, after which he studied in the law schools of Yale and Harvard until 1859.
The active work of life was commenced as a clerk in a lawyer’s office at Detroit, Michigan, in 1859, and soon developed into regular practice in the courts. In 1863-64 Mr. Brown was assistant United States attorney in Detroit. In 1868 he was appointed judge of the Wayne County Circuit court, to fill a vacancy, serving but five months.
