Captain James Brown, the first permanent settler and pioneer of Weber County, Utah, was born fifteen miles from Lexington, in Davidson Conty, North Carolina, on the 30th of September, 1801. He was the son of James and Mary Williams Emerson Brown and was one of nine children by this marriage, and was the second to the last.

During his youthful days, James was engaged with his brothers in working on their father's farm. He was very studious, and when but eighteen years of age, acquired sufficient knowledge to qualify himself for the position of school teacher. He gradually grew in public favor, and when he became eligible to vote and hold office, he was elected to the office of constable in his native county. He was subsequently elected sheriff of the same county, which position he filled with honor to himself.

In 1823, he married Martha Stephens, and by her had eight children, seven sons, and one daughter.

Daniel Brown, a brother of James, moved west in 1831, he wrote back to his family and friends about the many opportunities that wee possible in the new frontier. This flattering account of Daniel's new home induced James to move with his family to Brown County, Illinois, where he settled, about twenty-five miles from the home of his brother Daniel in 1833. This was then the western limits of civilization. After residing two years in Brown County, James moved to Adams County, where he engaged in farming on a large scale, hauling his produce to market at Quincy, Illinois, on the Mississippi River. In Adams County he served the people as Justice of the Peace. By his firm, yet sympathetic character, he became very popular in that region, and through his enterprise, he was indeed in a fair way of becoming a wealthy man.

James accepted the Baptist doctrine, when but a young boy, and was a firm believer in the Holy Bible, having acquired, by diligent study quite a knowledge of the Bible's contents; he frequently addressed the Baptist congregation upon the principles of the gospel.

In the spring of 1839, after the Latter-day Saints had been expelled from Missouri, and the exiles began to settle in Adams Couty, Illinois, the principles of this gospel were first brought to James Brown by two Mormon Elders, by the names of Jacob Foutz and David Evans, this took place at a meeting held in Dunkard, Adams County, Illinois. After the meeting was over, James said to the Elders, "Gentlemen, if that is the doctrine which the Mormons believe in and teach, I want you to come and preach in my home." The invitation was accepted, and an appointment was made for the Elders to hold a meeting at the Brown residence, on Sunday, two weeks from that day. On the appointed day, Elders Jacob Foutz, and Tarlton Lewis came to the Brown home and held a meeting, after which Jacob Foutz baptized James Brown and his wife Martha Stephens Brown. This event occurred in the early part of June 1839.

James Brown at once became a zealous laborer in the cause of the Latter-day Saints, sharing with them in the trials and hardships prior to their expulsion from Nauvoo, and their settlement in the valleys of Utah. He lost no time in carrying the "glad tidings of great joy" to his brothers and sisters, who also lived in Illinois, and who shortly afterwards became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Not long after this, James, having been ordained an Elder, was sent on a mission though Illinois, and the adjoining territories, to preach to the Saints, and to collect means from among them, to be used in the construction of the Nauvoo House and Temple. [On September 28, 1840 Martha Stephens Brown died in Kingston, Adams County, Illinois. In January 1841 James married Jacob Foutz's daughter, Susan Foutz.] Because his business connections with the Church frequently called him to Nauvoo, James and Susan decided to move there with his family.

This he did in the spring of 1842. He had buried his wife, Martha, in 1840, a few days after her eighth and last child, Moroni Brown, was born. Finding himself a widower, with a number of small children to care for, married Susan Foutz, a daughter of Jacob Foutz, the man who had converted him to Mormonism.

Shortly after his marriage to Susan, James was called on a mission to the state of Mississippi, where he succeeded in converting, and baptising many people into the Church. [In August 1842 Susan Foutz Brown died along with her only child, Alma Brown, who was three weeks old.  James then married on November 20, 1842, a widow, Esther Jones Raper or Roper, adding her daughter, Ann Elizabeth Roper to the Brown family.] After returning home from this mission, he moved with his family from Nauvoo to Augusta, Iowa, after which he went in the spring of 1844 on a mission to his native state, North Carolina, where he preached the gospel to his relatives, and many others.

While James was upon this mission the Saints were called to mourn the death of their prophet and patriarch, Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith. Joseph Smith's successor proved to be Brigham Young, an outstanding leader and colonizer. Shortly after this great event, according to Mormon history, James returned to his home in Augusta and engaged in the business of running a saw and grist mill, which were situated on the bank of Skunk River. He spent much time and considerable money in the construction of his mills, in order that he might be able to supply the increasing demands of the settlers for lumber and lath. His flouring mill was a very good one, being built of hard wood; it contained three running stones for the grinding of flour. Here again, James applied his enterprise and genious to the accumulation of wealth, at the same time holding himself in readiness to heed any call that might be made of him by the authorities of the Church to which he belonged.

[James was then called to live the celestial order of plural marriage. As his first plural wife, he married a divorcee, Sarah Sally Steadwell Wood on January 10, 1845 at Nauvoo. Sarah brought with her her three sons, Warren Wood, Charles Wood, and Joseph Wood.]

There was no peace for the Saints; they were being driven from place to place. Brigham Young and his associates realized that they must leave their beloved Nauvoo. He wrote a letter to Governor Thomas Stevenson Drew of Arkansas asking for a place of refuge for his people in the state. This Governor Drew refused, but he advised them to go to Oregon, California, Texas, or even Nebraska. A plan was then made to go west to the Pacific Coast.

Thomas Stevenson Drew, Gov of AR 1844-1849

[James Brown had a very good friend in Nauvoo named Stephen Joseph Abbott. The two men had made a promise to each other that in the event one or the other died, the remaining man would marry the others widow. Stephen Joseph Abbott died on October 19, 1843. True to his promise, James married the widow Abigail Smith Abbott his second plural wife, on February 8, 1846, and Abigail was sealed to her husband Stephen Abbott the same day with James Brown serving as proxy. James then helped Abigail provide for her eight children.]

Captain Brown remained in Augusta until the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo in February of 1846 [around the time he married his second plural wife, the widow Abigail Smith Abbott]. He then joined the Saints in their journey west. Travel was slow but from day to day the caravan wearily crossed snow-covered Iowa. At various points between Mississippi and Missouri the Mormons built temporary settlements, breaking the land and putting in crips for the benefit of those who were to follow.

Early in 1846 President Young sent Jesse Little on a mission to Washington, D.C., asking for "an facilities for emigration to the western coast which the government might offer." By the time Mr. Little reached Washington, the Mexican War was causing quite a bit of excitement. Elder Little talked with President James K. Polk, President of the United States, who received him kindly, and stated that he believed the Mormons to be loyal Americans. President Polk hoped to use the Mormons to take possession of California in the name of the United States, at the same time giving them assistance in their journey westward, "with a view to conciliate them, attach them to our country, and prevent them from taking part against us."

It was on Wednesday, July 1, 1846, at Council Bluffs, Iowa, that President Brigham Young introduced Captain James Allen of the United States Army to the people who had gathered to hear his message. Captain Allen addressed the people and told them that through the benevolence of the President of the United States, an order had been given to enlist men to take part in the war against Mexico.

James Brown and three of his sons, were among the five hundred Saints at Council Bluffs who enlisted in the Mormon Battalion. He became Captain of Company "C". According to Captain Brown's biography he married a widow, Mary McRee Black [in July 16, 1847 James Brown married his third plural wife, the widow Mary McRee Black. Mary and her 5 year old son, George David Black Jr accompanied the Mormon Battalion on their long trek west.] Her job was to do the laundry for sixteen men, a duty which called for days of hard work. She went with her husband James to Pueblo, and it is said of her, "she went among the sick men as a ministering angel."

They were to unite with the army of the West at Santa Fe, and be marched to California. The going was rough, a very few had horses, their shoes soon wore out, and many men marched hundreds of miles with their feet wrapped in rags, the food was scarce and many became sick, many many graves mark the trail of the Mormon Battalion march. The march of the Mormon Battalion is still the longest march in the history of the world.

At Santa Fe, New Mexico, Captain Brown was placed in charge of the sick detachment of the Battalion and ordered to Pueblo, Colorado, where the winter of 1846-1847 was passed.

The next spring Captain Brown marched with his detachment by way of Fort Laramie, and the South Pass, to Great Salt Lake Valley, arriving there [in groups from July 24th to] July 29th, 1847 {See Merrill sisters journal, "Captain Brown's Company fell in the wake of the pioneers and all but overtook them before the Valley of the Great Salt Lake was reached.  As a matter of fact, some of the Battalion people came in with the pioneers, but the wagon containing Mrs. Williams and her sister did not arrive on the banks of City Creek until five days after President Young had pitched a tent there." --Heart Throbs of the West, Vol. 2, 1940, page 72.] . Shortly after their arrival in Utah, his wife, Mary black, gave birth to the first female white child to be born in Salt Lake City. She was named Mary Eliza Brown.

On August 10th, 1847, in company with nine others, Sam Brennan being the guide, Captain Brown left Salt Lake City bound for San Francisco, California, for the purpose of collecting from the government pay-master, who was stationed at San Francisco, the money due to the volunteers of Company "C" [collecting the money due only to the Sick Detachment soldiers. A number of Mormon Battalion soldier diaries and journals record receiving their individual pay in San Diego and various other times and locations while in California.] The total amount due being 10,000 Spanish doubloons. The journey took them via Fort Hall, the "sink of the Humbolt", and Lake Donner, then to San Francisco, via Sutter's Fort, which was situated six [60] miles from where Sacramento was afterwards built.

This was the first company traveling westward, to view the remains of the celebrated Hasting Company who had perished at that memorable lake (Donner) the previous winter. The dead bodies of men, women, and children were still strewn about the few rude huts which had been built by those who had perished. The awe-stricken travelers gazed upon the scene in horror.

It required about one month to accomplish the journey to San Francisco, and after spending two or three days attending to his business with the pay-master, Captain Brown prepared to return to Salt Lake City, but could get only four men to join him in the return trip, among whom was his son Jesse Sowell Brown. At Sutter's Fort the small company stocked up with twenty-three days provisions--expecting to accomplish the journey from that point in the same length of time that it required to go from Salt Lake City to Sutter's Fort. On his pack horses, Captain brown, put four bushels of wheat, some corn and other seeds. The journey, however, required forty-eight days to accomplish, Captain Brown and his company came very near starving to death on the way back. They were pursued by twenty-five Indians while on the Truckee River, these Indians who followed them for several days, were attempting to steal their horses and supplies. At one point Captain Brown ordered them to stop following. They did not take heed. Captain Brown leveled his rifle at the squad of Indians, and one was struck. After this episode Captain brown and his party outwitted the Indians by traveling through the night, and lost them.

The company proceeded to the "sink of the Humbolt River", then left the old Fort Hall route, and took what was called "Hastings Cut off". This course led them southward across what is know as the "Seventy-five mile desert".

By the time they reached the Humbolt their provisions had entirely given out, their horses being considerably reduced, were unable to travel very fast, and there was not as much game as was expected. They yet had to encounter their greatest foe. It was the desert of seventy-five miles width. The weather was getting very cold, and light snowstorms had not been infrequent from the time they had left the Humbolt region. This condition made traveling very difficult.

At one time they were lost, traveling for three days and coming back to the same spot they had left three days before. During that length of time they had no water.

The last two weeks of their journey they existed on three very lean geese and a crow, which Jesse had killed, and soup made from the leather of their saddles.

They arrived in Salt Lake City the first of December 1847, almost starved, and so weak they could travel no farther. They had refused to eat the grain, realizing that it was needed for seed and that the lives of so many would depend on the harvest reaped from this seed. This trip had reduced Captain Brown from two-hundred weight to one-hundred and fifty pounds, and the other members of the company were proportionately reduced.

On January 15, 1843, Captain Brown negotiated the purchase of Miles Goodyear's holdings, the boundaries being from the foot of the Wasatch Mountains on the east, to the shores of the Great Salt Lake on the west, and from the Weber River on the south, to the Utah Hot Springs to the north. These being the present boundaries of Weber County. Captain Brown paid Goodyear 3, 000 Spanish doubloons, approximately $1,950 in U.S. money.

Along with the land purchased, Captain Brown obtained 75 head of cattle, 75 goats, 6 horses, and 12 sheep. There was a stockade, and a [three] log cabin[s] on the property. (This [one of the] cabin[s] stands on Tabernacle Square in Ogden at the present [1958] time.) It was the first cabin to be built in the state of Utah.

In the spring of 1848, Captain Brown and his sons planted five acres of wheat from the seed he brought from California, which was the first wheat planted in Weber County. They also planted corn, potatoes, cabbage, turnips, and a few watermelons. That season they raised one hundred bushels of wheat, and seventy-five bushels of corn, besides potatoes, cabbage, a fine crop of turnips, and melons. From the stock purchased from Goodyear the family milked twenty-five cows, and made the first cheese produced in Utah. The dairy furnished the community at Salt Lake, as well as the settlers of Weber, the rare luxuries of dairy supplies. Through the first years when starvation faced the pioneers, Captain Brown shared not only with the people in "Brownsville", as the settlement was called at that time, but sent supplies such as beef, butter, cheese and wheat to Salt Lake for the Saints there.

Of the Goodyear claim, Captain Brown retained only two or three hundred acres of land, allowing his fellow colonists to settle in the country without pay, or question of their rights; it was theirs for legitimate settling without money and without price.

Captain Brown was a strong believer in celestial, or plural marriage, which doctrine he accepted and entered into, even before the Saints were expelled from Nauvoo He had a total of thirteen wives. His children through these marriages numbered twenty-four [twenty-eight]. Five of these thirteen wives had no children by Captain Brown. [James Brown adopted and/or provided for an additional fifteen children from his wives' prior marriages, bringing the total to 43 children.]

It is told that there were many, many widows with small children to care for among these early Mormon pioneers. Their husbands having died while [protecting their homes and families from mob attacks, or during the long voyages, or while beginning the long trek to Utah valley, and later] while serving on the Mormon Battalion march, or were killed while being driven from Nauvoo. This surplus of women among the Saints is the reason for them entering into polygamy.

Captain Brown figured prominently in public matters from the early settlement of Utah by the Mormon Pioneers until his death.

[On the 17th of October 1850 James married his 4th plural wife Phebe Abbott in Brownsville, Utah. They are the parents of Orson Pratt Brown.]

On the 26th Day of January 1851, the Weber Stake of Zion was organized. James Brown was chosen as first counselor to Bishop Isaac Clark of the First Ward.

He was a member (of the House) of the Territorial Legislature which passed an act on the 6th day of February 1851 to incorporate Ogden City and on the 23rd day of October 1852 the first municipal election was held, at which time James Brown was elected as a member of the city council.

He was the first magistrate elected for the Weber River precinct, and with David B. Dillie, and James G. Browning, he represented Weber County as a member of the House at the first session of the legislative assembly of the Territory of Utah, which convened on the 22nd day of September 1851.

Captain James Brown was called to go on a mission to British Giuana, South America, but was unable to enter that country because of the bad feelings that existed against the Mormons. During this mission and while on the Isthmus of Panama he was attacked by the yellow fever, from which he recovered. He then went to New York, and filled a mission in the Eastern States where he labored several months. He sailed to New Orleans and assisted in the immigration of Saints from England.

Captain James Brown brought a company of converts to the Salt Lake valley in the fall of 1854, having been absent from home two years. When returning home in charge of this company of Saints he became the victim of another dread disease, the cholera, and was at one time given up for dead. However, he recovered and came on to the Valley. [Among the 300 souls in the wagon train led by Captain James Brown included five women who would later marry James, they were (9) Mary Wollerton, (10) Darthula Catherine Shupe, (11) Lavinia Sarah Mitchell, (12) Harriet Wood Yancey, a divorcee with one son, Adam Yancey, and (13) Maria Mitchell. Wife number (8) Cecelia Cornue Robellez lost her husband and infant daughter during the trek west, she and her 3 year old son, George Constant Robellez, traveled to Salt Lake in 1854 in the group led by Robert Campbell.]

On the 25th day of September 1863, he was operating a molasses mill near Weber River, just west of where the railroad depot is now situated in Ogden City. When he met with an accident which five days later resulted in his death. He was in the act of feeding the machine when the sleeve of his garment caught in the cogs while the machine was in motion. As soon as he could recover his balance he made a tremendous surge which drew from the mill his arm in a lacerated condition. The muscles being literally torn off. On the 30th day of September, just five days later on his sixty-second birthday, he passed away, after having suffered intensely.

Thus ended the life of Captain James Brown, one of the most outstanding colonizers of the West. In reviewing James Brown's life, we see him as an obscure farmer's boy, laboring upon his father's farm; we have seen him as a school teacher; as an officer of the law; as constable, sheriff, and justice of the peace; as an extensive farmer in Illinois; as a minister of the gospel, traveling among friends, strangers, and enemies; as a miller, located on the Skunk River, in Iowa, on the frontier of civilization; as an exile, driven with his people from the haunts of civilized life into the wilderness; as a pioneer; as a wanderer across the American Desert from Salt Lake to California; pursued by hostile Indians; wandering three days without food or water on a desert; as founder of a city; on the Isthmus of Panama, prostrate with the yellow fever while on his way to fulfill a mission in British South America; as an elected representative of the people of Weber County, helping to make the laws of our state, to the satisfaction of all who knew him; as the father of a numerous posterity; and as a benefactor to all who came his way, sharing his land, his food, and his compassions with his fellowmen.

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