Raleigh Brown

Who was Raleigh Brown?

Raleigh Holden Brown was a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives from 1963–1967, who later became a state judge.

Brown was born in Shreveport in northwestern Louisiana, and reared in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. Brown graduated from law school at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He lived most of his life, however, in Abilene, Texas.

Brown served two two-year terms in the Texas House, having been elected in both 1962 and 1964. In 1967, Governor John B. Connally, Jr., appointed him as judge of the 42nd Judicial District. He was elected to a four-year term in 1968. In 1972, he was elected justice to the Texas 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland, east of Abilene, where he remained until retirement in 1986. He then became presiding judge of the 7th Administrative District.

Brown was called into the United States Army while he was working on his undergraduate degree at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro. He served four years during World War II. In 1944, he came to Abilene when stationed at the former Camp Barkeley.