J. Hay Brown was born on September 11, 1849,[1] in York, Pennsylvania.

He studied law, becoming an associate of William U. Hensel in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the law firm Brown and Hensel.

[2] In 1899, Brown was elected to the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

He served as chief justice until his retirement in January 1921.

[2][3] He was the last Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to come from south-central Pennsylvania until Thomas G. Saylor, who became chief justice in January 2015.