He was elected the superintendent of schools for Mercer County, serving a single term from 1854 to 1856, when he married his wife Mary Anna Née Bittenbender.
[2][1] Brown would enlist as a Private in the Union Army during the American civil war, serving in Company C of the 55th regiment of the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia in 1863.
After the war Brown again sought a seat in the Pennsylvania Senate, winning a term from 1867 to 1868.
Concurrently, Brown was elected President of the Greenville school board from 1874 to 1879 and was the proprietor and editor of the Advance Argus from 1877 to 1890.
Brown unsuccessfully sought a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the 1890 election before working as the proprietor and editor of the New Wilmington Globe.