Georgia and Georgians - the Digital Library of Georgia

GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS . 2931the efforts by which one of Georgia's prominent and esteemed citizen^Thomas Norwood Brown, a foremost member of the Swansboro bar, hasachieved the very definite success that, in many directions, has crowned his life..Thomas Norwood Brown is a native of Georgia and was born on his father'sfarm, situated five miles south of Swaiusboro, on February 25, 1879, and is ason of Lewis Bender and Vianna (Youmans) Brown, both natives, like himself, of Emanuel County.The family ancestry of Mr. Brown alludes to four brothers of the name,natives of North Carolina, who came to Liberty County, Georgia, at a veryearly date, one of these being James Brown, who was the grandfather ofThomas N. Brown. This pioneer in the state became, like his brothers, plantersand slave owners. His death occurred in Bryan County, Georgia, at the ageof forty-two years. Although scarcely in middle life he had amassed a largefortune in slaves and land, the latter, aggregating many thousand acres, lyingin both Liberty and Emanuel counties. In his will he made provision for thefuture of his infant son, Lewis Bender, who was born in Emanuel County, in1849, but was in Bryan County with his parents at that time, devising thatsaid son should be returned and reared in Emanuel County. This part of thewill was carried out and Lewis Bender Brown passed the rest of his life inhis native county and died there at the same age as his father, forty-two years.He had never been of robust constitution and during the last ten years of lifehad been an invalid. His death occurred in 1891, his widow surviving until1905. They were Christian people, devout members of the Primitive BaptistChurch, and were much beloved where known for their unfailing neighborlykindness. For a number of years in early life Lewis Bender Brown had beena school teacher, being the first public school teacher in Emanuel County, afterward becoming a farmer. To Lewis Bender Brown and wife the followingchildren were bornr.James L., who is an attorney at Metter, Chandler County,Georgia; Mary E., who died in 1902, was the wife of A. C. Phillips, of Swainsboro;Sallie L., who has been a teacher for the past ten years at Stillmore,Georgia; L. Walton, who was a merchant at Metter, Georgia, died in 1913;Thomas Norwood; Lily E., who is the wife of D. B. Burns, of Fort Meade,Florida; and Lonnie Bender, who is manager of the Western Union Telegraph Company, at Dallas, Texas.In early boyhood Thomas N. Brown attended the public schools, with littleprospect of ever having the advantages along educational lines that he craved,for, when his father died after ten years of invalidism, the family was practically without resources. He was just twelve years old at that time, with aboy's love of sport, but he was, also, ambitious, and soon brought himself torealize that his mother must be his first care and that if he ever made progressin the direction he wished, it would have to be through his own efforts. Hewas determined to attend school and the first money he paid out for instruction he had earned by performing the tasks of a janitor. He kept on earningthe means that helped support his idolized mother and advanced his knowledgeso that he was able to secure a teacher's certificate, and after that his pathwaywas cleared of many obstacles for in teaching he found a congenial field ofwork and his services everywhere were so much appreciated that he mighthave put aside his ambition for the law with the assurance of continued success in the educational field.Mr. Brown was twenty years old when he started to teach his first school,in the same schoolhouse in Emanuel County in which he had been a pupil,and continued to teach for eleven years after that, in the meanwhile givingas much time as possible to the study of law, his preceptor being Col. R. J."Williams, of Swainsboro. He taught school for one year at Long Branch,now Kenfield; one year in Rockhill Academy; two years in Bulloch County,returning then for one year to Emanuel County, after which, for two years,he was principal of the Stillmore school in Emanuel County, later teaching