[1][2] Brown was born in Greenville, Pennsylvania but grew up in Iowa, where his family purchased a farm following the death of his father.

In 1883, Brown took a job negotiating homesteading contracts for the federal government, which required him to return for two years to Iowa.

He moved back to New Castle in 1885, where he opened a department store and helped to finance the city's streetcar line.

At the end of his term in Harrisburg, Brown returned to New Castle and invested in banking and railroad interests.

In 1914 he was elected to the United States House of Representatives, but died from pneumonia in New York City on January 31, 1915, before he was able to take office.