Library of Congress

BROWN, Joseph Emerson, a Senator from Georgia; born in the Pickens District of South Carolina April 15, 1821; moved to Georgia; attended Calhoun Academy in South Carolina; taught school; studied law; admitted to the bar in 1845 and later graduated from the Yale Law School; returned to Georgia and commenced practice in 1846; member, State senate 1849; judge of the superior court of the Blue Ridge circuit in 1855; Governor of Georgia 1855-1865, when he resigned; chief justice of the supreme court of Georgia 1865-1870, when he resigned and accepted the presidency of the Western Atlantic Railroad Co.; appointed and subsequently elected in 1880 as a Democrat to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of John B. Gordon; reelected in 1885 and served from May 26, 1880, until March 3, 1891; not a candidate for reelection; died in Atlanta, Ga., November 30, 1894; interment in Oakland Cemetery.