J.P. Brown House

J.P. Brown, a self-made wealthy businessman, came to Atchison in 1859 after hearing of the possibility of railroads being constructed here. He had arrived in the U.S. from Ireland in 1835 and literally worked his way from a railroad construction worker to head of a construction company specializing in grading and building railroad lines. Brown ended up living in town while he secured contracts for building a number of rail lines in northeast Kansas. He also did work on lines in Missouri and Colorado. Brown invested much of his money in farmland and became one of the largest landowners in this part of Kansas. He owned many shares of stock of local banks and utility companies. By the turn of the twentieth century, Brown's wealth was estimated at a million dollars, making him possibly the wealthiest resident of Atchison.

J.P. Brown and his family resided in the house on 4th Street by late June of 1880 when they were visited for the federal census. The 50-year-old railroad contractor and capitalist lived with his wife, Sarah, four sons, three daughters, two boarders and a servant. Sarah was a 43-year-old Pennsylvania native whose maiden name was Wagner; the pair married in 1854. The children ranged in age from 3 to 24. The two eldest children, Alex M. (age 24) and John H. (22), worked as clerks in a store. One boarder was a 19-year-old named Thomas Brown (maybe a nephew of J.P.) who worked as a teamster and was born in Ireland. The other boarder was a 3-year-old child, the son of the married servant, Fanny Carter (25); they were African-American.

The house on 4th Street was still occupied by J.P. Brown and his family in 1900. Of the ten children Sarah had given birth to (including an 18-year-old-son born after the 1880 census), seven were still alive. Two of the sons living with their parents were widowers: John H. (43) and W. F. (32). Two other sons were single: Charles A. (38) and Patrick (18). Two daughters still lived with their parents: Alice (21) and Sarah Johnson (21) and her husband of one year, William Johnson (38). By 1900, J.P. Brown worked as a real estate dealer. The female residents did not work; the sons and son-in-law worked as manufacturers, electricians or bookkeepers. The owner of the house in 1900 was listed in the census as the son, John H.

John P. Brown died on August 23rd, 1909 at his home on 4th Street after a lingering illness, surrounded by his wife and all of his surviving children except Frank, who had been in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. News of his death, although not totally unexpected, made the front page of the newspaper.

The house at 805 4th Street was owned and occupied by Alice Brown and her family by 1920. Alice was married to Warren P. Byram, the 40-year-old secretary-treasurer of an implement company. The couple had four children in the home: Florence (16), John (15), Jane (9), and Warren P. Jr. (3).

Anonymous. "Death of J. P. Brown this Morning." Atchison Daily Champion (Atchison, KS) August 23rd 1909. 1.

Chaturvedi, Sherri. 025-0260-00507 J.P. Brown House, 805 N 4th St, Kansas Historic Resources Inventory. Accessed July 10th 2020. https://khri.kansasgis.org/index.cfm?in=005-0260-00507.

Pankratz, Richard D.. NRHP Nomination for J.P. Brown House. National Register. Washington, DC. National Park Service, 1975.

U.S. Census. Household of John P. Brown on 4th Street. City of Atchison, KS, 2nd Ward. June 30th 1880. Dwelling 448, family 634. Heritage Quest database.

U.S. Census. Household of John P. Brown on 4th Street. City of Atchison, KS, 2nd Ward. June 1st 1900. Dwelling 5, family 5. Heritage Quest database.

U.S. Census. Household of Warren P. Byram at 805 4th Street. City of Atchison, KS, 2nd Ward. January 6th 1920. Dwelling 98, family 100. Heritage Quest database.