The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1859-03-23
THE ASHLAND UNION, WEDNESDAY, q
The late GOV. v. Browne

lie service, whose loss could have been more
widely and deeply deplored than that of the
late Post Master General. As a public man,
he was guided alone by the highest considera-
lions of public duty. His large capacity, his
scrupulous integrity-his self-sacrifcing devo-
ton to the public interests-were qualities
which marked conspicuously his official life.
Next to his obligations to his GoD, he regarded
those he WED his country-his WHOLE coun-
try. He was accurate in his estimate of the
character of men, and his friendships, when
once formed, were g~rappled to his breast with
"hooks of steel" No artifce and no calumny
could shake his confidence in one whom he had
adopted as his friend. There are few public
men, who have filed SO large a space whom
we knew better, and none whom we loved so
well.
Touching his history, we gather from cotem-
poraries these facts:
Aaron V. Brown was born on the 18th of
August, 1875, in the County of Brunswick,
Va. His father, the Rev. Aaron Brown, serv-
ed in the Revolutionary War and was greatly
respected as a faithful minister of the Gospel
and worthy citizen. Gov. Brown graduated
from the University of North Carolina in 1914,
and after finishing his college course returned
to his parents home in Giles County, Tenn
He studied law in the Office of Judge Trimble
in Nashville, where he commenced practice,
but afterward engaged in business, first with
Alfred NJ. Harris in Giles County, and next
with the late President Polk in Maury County.
From 1921 to 1882 he was a member in sew
1-S1 - Al. GIL a:1-z - =.
the session of 1912 he prepared an able re-
port on the subject of capital punishment.
From 1889 to 1915 he was elected as a
member of the House of Representatives,
where his advocacy of Democratic measures
was uniform and effective, taking a prominent
part in the discussions on all the great issues
of the day.
He made an able argument against the pass
age of the Tariff bill of ~, and an eloquent
speech in opposition to the Fiscal Bank bill in
1S41. Strong speeches we're also delivered by
him in favor of remitting the fine imposed on
Gen. jackson at New Orleans, and against re-
ceiving or reportingon Abolition petitions. In
1915 Gov. Brown was elected Governor of the
State of Tennessee, after a spirited contest
which brought out all his power as a popular
orator. From that time to the present he has
been one of the most active and energetic of
the Democratic leaders in his State, and his
influence has always been exerted in favor of
the Union at all hazards and under every ag-
~gression.
At the formation of Mr.. Buchanan's Cabi-
net Governor Brown was appointed Postmaster
General, the arduous and most responsible du-
ties of whsch position he has performed with
untiring zeal and assiduity. Since he entered
on the office he has devoted his talents to the
business of the department with a single eye to
the interests of the country. Never have the
complicated affairs of the mail service been
more economically or prudently administered,
or with more general satisfaction than under
Governor Brown.
In all the relations of life Governor Brown
presents a model that our youth may well take
for imitation; studious in his profession, and
industrious in it's practice; faithful to his party
and honorable to his political opponents, the
voice of calumny has never dared to breathe a
syllable against his fame.
TIL private character of Gov. Brown was If
reproachable. AS a man and a Christian, his
friends have the happiness to know that the
virtues they admire on earth have not persisted,
but have been transplanted to a purer and
more genial sphere, where they will flourish
Immortality.
We fear that the disease under which Gov.
Brown succumbed was aggravated by the fail
ure of the Post Office Appropriation bill. His
death-bed was attended by the President and
the members of Cabinet, who paid the last fare
well to their associate in the councils of the
nation. They nave lost in this melancholy
event an able adviser, the country a patriotic
citizen and talented officer, and society a wor-
thy man and a true Christian. Cut off in the
midst of his usefulness, we may heartily re-
gret the loss of his varied talents, but when
we reflect that this present life is but a scene
of trial, it is but reasonable to- conclude that
what is so deeply regretted by his surviving
friends is to him a blissful gain.