Title: William Fiske Brown Papers
Inclusive Dates: 1848-1923

Creator:

• Brown, William Fiske, 1845-1923

Call Number: Whitewater Mss AC

Quantity: 1.2 c.f. (3 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University Archives & Area Research Center, Harold Andersen Library, University of Wisconsin-Whitewater; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Whitewater Library / Whitewater Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Papers of Brown, a Presbyterian pastor and local historian in Janesville and Beloit, Wisconsin; including family correspondence, clippings on Beloit history, and a large number of diaries and notebooks kept by Brown and his wife, Hila Bennett Brown. Hila Brown's diaries contain reports on her school, church, and musical activities prior to her marriage. William Brown's notebooks consist mainly of sermon ideas, financial accounts, business records concerning his father's property in Beloit, and genealogical information. The volume for the 1895 contains interesting diary entries made during a visit to the Stockbridge Indian Reservation. A typed copy of 1877 diary entries describes a camping trip to the Apostle Islands. One diary (1865) was kept by Belle Waterman whose relationship to the Browns has not been determined.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-whit00ac

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Born March 18, 1845, William Fiske Brown was raised and lived most of his life in Beloit, Wisconsin. From May to September, 1864, he served in Company B of the 40th Regiment Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry. Later he graduated from Beloit College, attended Chicago Theological Seminary, and graduated from Union Theological Seminary, New York City, in May, 1870. A Presbyterian, he served churches in Maywood, Illinois; Black River Falls, Beaver Dam, Baraboo, Evansville, and Beloit, Wisconsin; and from 1880 to 1893, Janesville, Wis. In 1893 he became Presbyterian synodical missionary for Wisconsin. After leaving the active ministry, Mr. Brown concentrated on his historical interests, publishing in 1908 a two-volume definitive history of Rock County, Wisconsin.

On June 24, 1870, Brown was married to Hila M. Bennett of Beloit. She had attended Elmira College in New York and was then teaching school in Beloit. They subsequently had several children, Will W. born in 1871, Anna born in 1873, Edward B., Robert L., and B. Warren. Mrs. Brown died in 1917. Mr. Brown died in Beloit, October 12, 1923.

Acquisition Information

Presented by Mrs. William L. Bachmeyer, Port Washington, New York, March 29, 1965. Accession Number: M65-102

Processing Information

Processed by Karen Baumann and SG, February 23, 1973.

	Correspondence
Box   1 Folder   1	1850-1864
Box   1 Folder   2	1864, August - 1869
Box   1 Folder   3	1875 - 1906, 1912
Box   1 Folder   4	undated
Box   1 Folder   5	Account of Apostle Island Trip from W. F. Brown diary, July 1877
Box   1 Folder   6	Clippings re: Beloit history, 1916
Box   1 Folder   7	Unidentified Daybook, 1848-1850
Box   2 Volume   1	Pastor's Record Book, 1870-1910 Scope and Content Note: Includes genealogical information in the back.
Box   2 Volume   2	Belle Waterman Diary, 1865
	Hila Bennett Brown Diaries
Box   2 Volume   3	1858, 1862, 1868, 1870, 1890
Box   2 Volume   4	1864-1865
Box   2 Volume   5	1866
Box   2 Volume   6	1867
Box   2 Volume   7	1868
Box   2 Volume   8	1869
Box   2 Volume   9	1870
	W. F. Brown Notebooks Note: There are no volumes for 1885 and 1892.
Box   2 Volume   10	1873
Box   2 Volume   11	1879
Box   2 Volume   12	1880
Box   2 Volume   13	1881
Box   2 Volume   14	1882
Box   2 Volume   15	1883
Box   2 Volume   16	1884
Box   2 Volume   17	1886
Box   2 Volume   18	1887
Box   2 Volume   19	1888
Box   2 Volume   20	1888-1889
Box   2 Volume   21-22	1889
Box   2 Volume   23	1890
Box   2 Volume   24-25	1891
Box   2 Volume   26	1893
Box   2 Volume   27	1894
Box   2 Volume   28	1895
Box   2 Volume   29	1896
Box   2 Volume   30	1897
Box   2 Volume   31	1898
Box   2 Volume   32	1899
Box   2 Volume   33	1900
Box   2 Volume   34	1901
Box   2 Volume   35	1902
Box   2 Volume   36	1903
Box   2 Volume   37	1904
Box   3 Volume   38-39	1905
Box   3 Volume   40	1906
Box   3 Volume   41	1907
Box   3 Volume   42	1908
Box   3 Volume   43	1909
Box   3 Volume   44	1910
Box   3 Volume   45	1911
Box   3 Volume   46	1912
Box   3 Volume   47	1913
Box   3 Volume   48	1914
Box   3 Volume   49	1915
Box   3 Volume   50	1916
Box   3 Volume   51	1917
Box   3 Volume   52	1918
Box   3 Volume   53	1919
Box   3 Volume   54	1920
Box   3 Volume   55-56	1921
Box   3 Volume   57	1922
Box   3 Volume   58	1923