Page:Sketches of representative women of New England.djvu/546

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REPRESENTATIVE WOMEN OF NEW ENGLAND
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signeil to the Thinl Maine Regiment and later transferred to the Seventeenth. The ex- posure and hardsliips of a soliher's hfe brought on disease, from which lie died at City I'oiiit, Va., in 1864, after thirteen months' service. His wife, Matilda -J., who was born Novem- ber 20, 1830, in Lincolnville Centre, Waldo County, Me., was the daughter of Archibald and Betsey (Knights) Mathews.

On the death of Mr. Brown his widow re- moved from Liberty to Augusta, Me., where her daughter was educated. While a pupil at the high school in that city. Miss Brown was a classmate of Harriet and Alice, the daughters of the Hon. James G. lilaine. Her school-days were marked by the faithful and diligent application that has characterized the work of her later life, and she was grad- uated from the high school with high honors. Besides being noted as one of the best schol- ars in her class, she was beloved by her teachers and school associates for her kindly and amiable disposition.

Early in life Miss Brown received fundamental training in temperance work, a sphere in which she was destined to wield a potent influence in later years. While yet a child she became a member of a Cold Water Temple organized at Augusta by General Joshua Nye, and for several terms held the office of Chief Templar of that society. Soon after leaving the high school she removed with her mother to Massachusetts. Of this State they have since remained residents, their home at the present time (May, 1902) being in Quincy. Here Miss Brown is connected with the parish of the First Unitarian Church, of which the Rev. Ellery Channing Butler is pastor.

Miss Brown's connection with the temperance movement in Massachusetts may be said to date from the fall of 1878, when she first entered the employ of Mr. Henry H. Faxon, the noted temperance reformer. Mr. Faxon was then at the zenith of his power, conducting such vigorous campaigns against the liquor traffic and in support of morality and an up- lifting home life as never Ix^fore had been witnessed in the Commonwealth. About this time Miss Brown joined the orders of the Sons of Temperance and the Good Templars, in which she has been honored with the highest official positions. Her duties in Mr. Faxon's office were at first those of an assistant clerk. Her abilities and true worth were, however, soon recognized by Mr. Faxon; and he pro- moted her to the position of chief clerk. In 1884 she became Mr. Faxon's private secre- tary, in which capacity she has since contin- ued. The nmltifarious duties that have de- volved upon her since assuming this office can be realized only by Mr. Faxon and her- self. P'rom the first she seemed to catch the spirit of untiring zeal and unremitting energy that Mr. Faxon had infused into his life work, a work that would have Ineen voiil of results but for those superabundant qualities, together with his unsleeping vigilance and the generous use of his money in aid of the temperance cause.

The management of the Faxon Political Temperance Bureau was publicly transferred to Miss Brown on March 22, 1902, although for several years previous to that date she had been the directing spirit of Mr. Faxon's work. During his crusade in enforcing the liquor laws in his home city, Quincy, Mr. Faxon bi'ought more than five huntlred cases before the courts, the testimony in nearly all of which, both in the upper and lower courts, was taken by Miss Brown. This experience proved of inestimable value to her, and has been turned to good advantage in later years.

Nor is it alone in direct temperance work that Mr. Faxon has found a most helpful co-laborer in Miss Brown. In all of his great political battles she has proved to be a most efficient assistant. She took a prominent part in the famous Temperance Republican Con- vention in August, 1879, where plans were per- fected for the nomination of the Hon. John D. Long for the office of governor, an event to have taken part in which she has always re- garded as an honor; for, as she says, "John D. Long has always been a consistent temper- ance man. His record as a legislator and as an office-holder are perfectly satisfactory to the friends of the reform." Mr. Faxon very generously shares with Miss Brown the honors of his victory over the saloon forces in the city of Quincy. He has always maintained that