Ignatius Brown

(Aug. 11, 1831-July 8, 1903). A native of Indianapolis, Brown received his early education at the Marion County Seminary. Upon graduating from the law department of Indiana University in 1852, he entered his father’s law practice in Indianapolis. Following the latter’s death in 1853, Brown continued with the general practice of law until 1868, thereafter specializing in real estate law.

In 1854, he served as a delegate to the first national convention of the Know-Nothing Party. He later took part in organizing the Republican Party in Marion County. From 1856 to 1857, Brown served as secretary to the state board of agriculture. In association with Richard J. Gatling, inventor of the Gatling Gun, Brown organized the city’s first Board Of Trade.

Brown’s history of the city, which appeared in the 1857 city directory, was the first historical sketch of Indianapolis to be published. For the 1868 city directory, he expanded this work into a 100-page essay covering the city’s history from 1819 to 1867. In 1874, at the request of the City Council, he prepared a widely distributed pamphlet that set out the advantages of the town as both a commercial and a manufacturing center. In his later years, much of his leisure time was devoted to preparing a comprehensive abstract of the titles to all real estate in Marion County.

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