Brown, Charles (Congressman)

Born: 1797-09-23 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Died: 1883-09-04 Dover, Delaware

Charles Brown was a local and state government official and U.S. congressman. As a child, Brown moved with his father from Philadelphia to New Jersey, settling near Bridgeton. He was an officer in the Pennsylvania militia from 1817 to 1819, and town clerk of Dover Township in 1819. He returned to Philadelphia and won his first elected office as a city councilman in 1830. Brown served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1830 to 1833. From 1834 to 1838, he was a delegate to the Pennsylvania constitutional convention. Brown served in the Pennsylvania Senate from 1838 to 1841. In 1840, he was elected, as a Democrat, to the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1841 to 1843. Jones was not a candidate for reelection in 1842. He was president of the Pennsylvania convention to nominate candidates for the board of canal commissioners in 1843. Brown won election back to the House in 1846, serving until 1849. He was not a candidate for reelection in 1848. After leaving the House, Brown served as a member of the board of inspectors for the Eastern State Penitentiary from 1851 to 1853. From 1853 to 1857, he was collector of customs at the port of Philadelphia. In 1861, he moved to Delaware, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits and held various local offices.

Biographical Directory of the American Congress 1774-1996 (Alexandria, VA: CQ Staff Directories, 1997), 719; Gravestone, Laurel Hill Cemetery, Philadelphia, PA.