J. J. (aged 30) & D. B. Brown (aged 21), are listed in household #78 in the 1870 federal census and were both born in New Jersey. Josiah J. and Daniel B. Brown were the oldest and youngest sons of Daniel B. Brown, Sr. and Elizabeth Johnson, of Newark, NJ. Daniel, a chair maker, and Elizabeth were married in Feb 1833. After 17 years of marriage, Daniel died of typhus fever, leaving a widow and five children: Josiah, aged 10; Eliza, aged 8; Mary, aged 5; Henry, aged 3, and baby Daniel, aged just 1.
Josiah Johnson Brown
Josiah Brown is possibly one of the most remarkable and accomplished men ever to have resided in Montgomery County—his life story warrants a book all to itself.
In 1860, Josiah was 20 years old and working as a teacher in Newark to support his mother and siblings. However, he felt called to the Christian mission field and became an ordained minister. Following his ordination, Rev. Josiah J. Brown became a Presbyterian missionary and was the first preacher and resident minister in Independence, KS.
He was actively involved in the formation of the first church group, which met in the log cabin home of Daniel Cline on April 2, 1870. He held the first church service the following day in the log schoolhouse on the NW corner of Fourth and Maple. In the service, he also ordained the first elders, John McDill and Daniel Cline. That evening, he conducted the first marriage ceremony in Independence in the same schoolhouse.
Daniel B. Brown
After spending time in Independence with Josiah, Daniel returned to New Jersey, where he died as a single man, aged just 29. He was interred in Mount Pleasant Cemetery on March 11, 1878, three days after his death.