William Liston Brown was born in
St. Joseph, Michigan, on August 23, 1842. He was the son of Hiram Brown, a grain trader. In 1848, the family moved to
Chicago, Illinois. Brown attended public schools, then spent two years at the Garden City Academy. Upon graduation in 1858, he accepted a job as a clerk at H. Bacon & Company. Upon the outbreak of the
Civil War, Brown enlisted in the
Chicago Mercantile Independent Battery Light Artillery, serving until the end of the conflict. The unit saw action in the
Vicksburg Campaign and the
Red River Campaign. Brown rose from private to
quartermaster sergeant. After the war, Brown took a position as bookkeeper and cashier with A. B. Meeker & Company, becoming a partner in 1871. He purchased a controlling interest in 1883, renaming the company Pickands, Brown & Company. The company rose to become one of the largest distributors of
pig iron and
coke in the nation through a partnership with the
Illinois Steel Company. In 1890, he co-founded the
Chicago Ship Building Company. He was elected president of the organization nine years later and would later serve as chairman of the board of directors. Brown was also president of the South Chicago Furnace Company, a manufacturer of pig iron. Brown married Catherine Seymour in Chicago on September 27, 1871. In his free time, Brown enjoyed fishing and golf. He was a member of the
Chicago,
Commercial,
Pointe Mouillee Shooting,
Glen View, and
Onwentsia Clubs. He was also a member of the
Grand Army of the Republic and was a blue lodge
Freemason.
Daniel Burnham designed Brown's house in
Evanston, Illinois. Brown was also a member of the board of trustees of
Northwestern University and the
Chicago Orchestra. He was a
Republican, but never ran for public office. He died in
Pasadena, California, on November 1, 1929, and was buried in
Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. ==References==