Not to be confused with the John Brown of Harper’s Ferry fame, the subject of this web site was born December 1, 1800 in South Carolina and his family soon after moved to western Tennessee.  His early education was at a military academy at Frankfurt, Kentucky and he was graduated from law school in Louisville in 1822.  He built the first frame house in Somerville, Tennessee in 1825 and was married to Clara Coleman in 1832.  In those early years his inclination was toward being a planter rather than following his profession and with his wife, five children and slaves he moved to Arkansas about 1847 and established his plantation in Dallas County.  In 1854 he moved his family to Camden, Arkansas where he started a law practice as well as getting involved in a number of business ventures. 

John Brown maintained a daily journal from July 4, 1852 to July 13, 1865.  Reading it today provides one with a view of an important period of our history in an unfiltered fashion.  His journal provides unique views into things as mundane as the food people ate, the illnesses they contracted, as well as what it was like to travel in the American frontier in the middle of the 19th Century.  But perhaps even more interesting are his political insights at the critical time leading up to the Civil War as well as his detailed chronicles of the war itself. 

The diary is being published on this site as a monthly blog as the latest transcription becomes available in a digital format.

Copyright (c) 2008 by Paul Swepston.  All Rights Reserved.