John C. Brown

Who was John C. Brown?

John Calvin Brown was an American politician, soldier and businessman. He served as Governor of Tennessee from 1871 to 1875, and was president of the state's 1870 constitutional convention, which wrote the current Tennessee State Constitution. Although he originally opposed secession, Brown fought for the Confederacy during the American Civil War, eventually rising to the rank of major general.

A leader of the state's Bourbon Democrats, Brown dedicated much of his time as governor to solving the state's mounting debt issues. Following his gubernatorial tenure, he advocated railroad construction, briefly serving as president of the Texas & Pacific Railroad in 1888, and as president of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company in 1889.