Their son William Gay Brown Jr., born the following year also served in the U.S. Congress, representing West Virginia.

In 1844 Congressman Lewis Steenrod decided not to seek re-election to the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 15th congressional district, and Brown was elected to replace him.

Preston County voters nonetheless elected Brown as their delegate to the Virginia Constitutional Convention in 1850.

A delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1860 in both Charleston, South Carolina and Baltimore, Maryland, Brown was a presidential elector for losing candidate Stephen A. Douglas.

Voters again elected Brown to the U.S. House, this time as a Unionist, and he served (and was seated, unlike many Virginia secessionists) from 1861 to 1863.

By 1870, Brown lived in Rowlesburg, West Virginia, Preston County's second largest town, with a major lumber industry and a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station, and convenient access to the Cheat River.

[7] This article incorporates public domain material from the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress