Samuel Brown
23 May 1852
bornSan Francisco, California, USA
SchooltblData
BiographyCame to Tempe from Los Angeles in 1878. Occupation: blacksmith, businessman, Tempe marshal and superintendent of streets.
His father was a ship's captain from Maine who settled in California in 1848 and married Bertha Braza, a Mexican woman. Jeffrey Brown settled in San Francisco and later moved to Los Angeles (c1857). When Samuel Brown was fourteen his father died (c1866) and he became
responsible for his family. He was a blacksmith's apprentice for about five years in Los Angeles before he moved to Tempe in 1878, and was employed by Charles T. Hayden. By 1883, he opened his own blacksmith shop at 6th Street and Mill with a partner named White. He later had a partnership with Alejandro Moraga, with a shop at 7th Street and Ash Avenue, and also operated a saloon.
He was actively involved in local and territorial politics. He was an Assemblyman representing
Maricopa County in the Twentieth Territorial Legislature, and President of the Board of Trustees for Tempe Schools. On April 4, 1908, he was elected chairman of the first Board of Trustees of the newly formed Tempe High School District, where he was chosen as chairman, and served until c1911.
He served two terms on the Tempe Town Council, 1898-1904, and was Mayor of Tempe, April 10, 1902 - May 4, 1903.
On May 4, 1903, he resigned as Mayor and applied for the position of Tempe Marshal, who also served as the tax collector and supervisor of streets. He served in that position for nine years, 1903-1912. He organized Lodge No. 5 of the Alianza Hispano-Americana in Tempe in 1897. He became Supreme President of the Tucson- based Alianza Hispano-Americana, 1902-1927.
He lived at 604 S. Ash Avenue, c1883-1910.
OSB 48
BIO-Brown
TH-310, TH-311, HPS-119
Portrait and Biographical Record (1901)
Tempe Town Council minutes
History of Tempe School District No. 3 (1992)
Maricopa County Great Register, 1882 and 1894
Federal census (Tempe), 1880, 1900, 1910
Tempe CD, 1892-1911
Territory of Arizona vs. Alfredo Brown, 1881
Solliday, Journey to Rio Salado, pp. 76-80
Arturo Rosales, Lost Land in Salt River Valley
Farley, Law Enforcement, 1 Aug to 29 Aug 1975
Tempe High School website, 1997
(http://www.tuhsd.k12.az.us/Tempe_HS/index.html)
Person TypeIndividual
