Roy E. Brown, M.D.
Among those who stand as distinguished types of the world's workers the physician always commands a high place. One of the men of Washington C. H. who has attained distinction as a physician and surgeon is Dr. Roy E. Brown, a man of fine intellectual and professional attainments. He is devoted to his chosen calling, and has lent honor and dignity to the medical profession, having due regard for the highest standard of professional ethics and exhibiting marked skill in the treatment of disease. Not only as a physician is he known to the citizens of his county, but as a public-spirited man of affairs as well. He is active in all of the various phases of civic life in his community and has made a reputation for himself which extends beyond the limits of his city and county.
Dr. Roy E. Brown, the son of Henry H. and Ruth ( Mclntyre) Brown, was born in Adams county, Ohio, October 13, 1875. Henry H. Brown was born in Ohio, and was a son of William Brown and wife, who in turn were natives of Kentucky and early settlers in Adams county. Ohio. William Brown was a merchant, farmer and politician, filling the offices of treasurer and auditor of Adams county for many years. His death occurred in that county at an advanced age. He and his wife reared a family of several children: Carey H., James W., Newton, Ronie, Margaret, and Henry, the father of Doctor Brown. Henry H. Brown was reared in Adams county, Ohio, and has been engaged as a merchant and manufacturer the most of his life. He came to Washington C. H. in 1884 and for several years engaged in the hardware business. In 1895 he assisted in the organization of the Wonder Manufacturing Company, a concern engaged in manufacturing all kinds of stove supplies. At the present time he is in the insurance business in West Virginia. The parents of Henry H. Brown's wife were natives of Ohio and of Scotch descent. They were early settlers in Adams county, where they died at an advanced age. Mrs. Henry H. Brown is one of several children, the others being Mary, Elizabeth, Pearl, Anna, Ambrose, Herbert, Wilbur and Homer. Henry H. Brown and wife are the parents of four children: Dr. Roy E.. the immediate subject of this sketch; Denver, who died when a child; Ethel died at the age of twehe; Marguerite, the wife of Frank Wolfe. of Columbus, Ohio.
Dr. Roy E. Brown was reared in Adams county, Ohio, and spent part of his boyhood days on the farm and the remainder in the village of Wheat. He moved with his parents to Georgetown, Ohio, in 1882, and attended the public schools of that place until 1884. He then entered the public schools of Washington C. H. and graduated from the high, school in 1895. For the next three years he worked in the stove factory at Washington C. H., but, always having had a desire to become a physician. he left the manufacturing business and enrolled as a student in the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Chicago, Illinois. He entered in the fall of 1898 and gradiuited in the spring of 1902. The year following his graduation he went into the clinics in Chicago and then became assistant to Dr. W. M. Harsha. a noted surgeon of Chicago, remaining with him until the early part of 1905. In the spring of that year he went to York, North Dakota, as surgeon for the Great Northern Railway Company, remaining there about a year, and in January, 1906, permanently located in Washington C. H., where he has since practiced. He has been. physician of the Children's Home of this county for seven years, and has also served as jail physician for three years. He is president of the civil service commission and a member of the city board of health. That his ability is well recognized is shown by the fact that he is the present examining surgeon for the state industrial commission of Ohio, a position of great honor and responsibility. He belongs to the Fayette County, the Ohio State and the American Medical Associations, and keeps fully abreast of the latest advances in medical science.
Doctor Brown was married November 20, 1912, to Mary E. Baker, the daughter of Robert and Cornelia (Wilson) Baker. His wife was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, while her parents were natives of England. The Baker family lived in Portsmouth for many years, where her father died in 1896, her mother still surving. Robert Baker and wife were the parents of six children: Harriett, Jean, John, Robert and William, besides Mrs. Brown.
Doctor Brown is a Presbyterian, while his wife holds her membership in the Episcopalian church. Fraternally, he is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks. Politically, he is affiliated with the Democratic party, but the nature of his profession prevents him from being actively identified in political matters. The only official position which he has held in connection with local politics is that of township physician, a position which he has held for four years. For several years he was a member of the Democratic county central committee. but his practice made it necessary for him to retire from active political affairs.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)