Brown, Henry N.
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Brown, Henry N.
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REVERElfD HENRY NE\iTON BROVIN
s erved a t Leesville, Sept. 8 , 1874 to Sep t. 11, 1877.
Also served \'/arren in 1874 and 1 875 and Norris in 1876.
Born at Ne ttleton, Lincolnsh ire, England; Nov. 1 5, 1821
converted Dec. 23, 1842, joining the we s leyan Methodi s t Church
in Bamford, Derbyshire, the following Sunday morning .
Left Hull , England , J.{ay 17 , 18 43 •
Arrived in New York, July 8 , 1843.
Joined Methodist Epi s copa l Church, Se ptember 1843 .
Received on tri a l, Michi gan Conference, Se ptember, 1846 .
Full member sh ip , Michi gan Conference , September, 1848 .
Entered Detroit Conference wi t h t he division in 1856.
Married Augus t 24 , 18 ~ 8 to LOANN R. HOARD , ha ving four s ons, the
second die d i n infancy .
SUperannuated in 1881.
Wife died Sept. 7, 1889 . One son, Arthur, married Mi ss Celia
Vokes of Lee sv i lle.
second marriage , 1892 to Mr s . ca therine c . Beagle of Bli ssfield.
His ministry in Michi gan began exactl y midway between the organiza t i on of t he t wo conference s --- t en yea r s after the organi za tion
of the Michi gan a nd ten ye ar s before tha t of the Detroit .
Hi s mem-
ber ship in the itinerancy l a cked but little more than a year of
rounding out a ha l f century.
Mu ch of hi s thirty-five year s of
active service was rendered to the Methodi st societie s in t he day s
of their feeb lene ss an d pionee r poverty.
The pre a cher shared in
.
their s truggle s and s e lf-deni a ls, l aboring some year s for $100 a
year.
He was a man of h appy di sposition and well a dap ted to help
people fa c i n g t he difficultie s of t ho s e e a rlier yea r s .
His pre a ch-
ing was clear and sound , but not e spe cia lly a dorned with rhetorica l
fi gures no r mar ked by cultiva ted eloquence.
He was self-made ,
not a product of the school s ; but only the persuasion of ol der
pre a chers prevented him from fini shing a cour s e a t Albion College.
He had a clea r mind, definitely outlined convictions, and pos s essed
will and courage.
He loved t o pre a ch and often crea t ed n ew preach-
ing stations .
He was diligent as a pastor, visiting hi s peop le
faithfully and coming in pers ona l touch wi th the m all.
Two hairbredth eEcape s while in pur suit of hi s mini s terial work
always seemed to him speci a l providenc e s.
While driving to an
appointment in wha t i s now "Port Huron District , in his cutter
through the wood s , a l a r ge tree fell a cros s the ro a d, coming down
u pon a nd instantly killing h i s hor s e .
At a noth e r time, when ford-
ing a swollen stream , he a nd his hors e were swept out of the i r
cour s e by the current.
The stream h a d much driftwood in it, and
hor se a.nd rider became mixed up with thi s .
foot became fa s tened in the stirrup str aps .
In the struggle his .
Gr asping in de speration
with the horse on top of him and both be ing carried to a pparent
death , he clutched a s traw, and with sudden inspiration, thrust it
into the ani ma l's ear .
This caused the hors e to make a fresh
plunge, and the movement released t h e prea cher's
SAVED BY A STRAW
foot s o that h e was able to save hi mself.
marked with simi l a r
and on hor s eba ck .
danger ~ .
Many of his ye a r s were
He travelled in c a noe, in snowshoe s ,
He visited lumber camp s and mining towns, and
l abored among the I ndi an s .
Four yea r s we r e spent in the Lake
SUperior region.
His se cond ma rri age was to a p a ri shioner of thirty years before,
and they lived ha ppi l y together in Bli s sfield , Michigan, doing good
in a quiet way , visiting the sick and a fflicted and a ttending the
means of grace , until hi s sad and sudden de a th.
he wa s quite
o~livious
\Vhen in meditation
to his surrounding s, and in t hi s condition
"HENRY NEWTON BROWN hea rd the sudden summons ca lling hi m fro m l a bor
to re s t and corona tion, near hi s home in Bli ssfield, Mich i gan, on
the first day of J uly, 189 5 , and a fe w minute s ·a fter being s t r uck
by a passing f r ei ght he was not, fo r God took him."
He was wal k i ng
a long the r a ilroa d f rom hi s h ome to t he bus i nes s part of t he t own
and n ev er saw or h eard t he t rai n unti l i t was a l most u pon h im.
Brown, Henry N.