James S. Brown

Who was James S. Brown?

James Sproat Brown was an American lawyer and Democratic politician from Wisconsin who served in Congress.

Brown was born in 1824 in Hampden, Maine. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1840 and, after being admitted to the bar in 1843, began practicing law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1844. Brown was elected prosecuting attorney for Milwaukee County in 1846, and from 1848 to 1850 served as the first attorney general of Wisconsin. In 1861 Brown served as mayor of Milwaukee. From 1863 to 1865, Brown served one term in the United States House of Representatives during the 38th Congress representing Wisconsin's 1st congressional district from March 4, 1863 to March 3, 1865. He ran for reelection in 1864 but was defeated.

After his term in Congress, Brown moved to Europe in 1865 to recuperate his health. He returned to the United States in 1873, where he practiced law once again in Milwaukee. Brown died in 1878 in Chicago, Illinois, at age 54. He was buried at Milwaukee's Forest Home Cemetery.