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.
