John Henry Brown

John Henry Brown (October 29, 1820 – May 31, 1895) was an American historian, journalist, author, military leader, and a politician who served as a state legislator and as mayor of both Dallas and Galveston, Texas. Brown was among the first to publish scholarly histories of the state of Texas and the city of Dallas. In recent decades, Brown has been the subject of significant criticism as researchers and the media have revealed a strong and consistent theme in his writing and speeches of rhetoric bigoted against African Americans and those who advocated their rights.

John Henry Brown was born in Pike County, Missouri Territory, the son of Henry S. Brown and Margaret Jones Brown. He received little formal schooling but apprenticed as a youth in a printer's office and various newspapers in Missouri. At age 17, Brown moved to the Republic of Texas and soon thereafter worked for a newspaper in Austin. His military career began in 1840 in skirmishes with Indians, and by 1841 he had attained the rank of first sergeant. He was involved in several battles in the succeeding two years.

In April 1843 Brown returned to Missouri, where in July of that year he married Marion F. Mitchel, with whom he would eventually have five children. In 1845 the couple came to Texas to live. In 1846, Brown was given the rank of major in the militia of Texas, which had joined the union as a state in December 1845. He resumed his newspaper career the same year.

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