Brown, William Laban, 1834-1865

Person

Staff Only

Biography

William Laban Brown was born in the Stock Creek community of Knox County, Tennessee on May 28, 1834. He married Nancy Colvin Brown (1834-1913) and they had five children: Martha Louisa (1856-1875), Mary Melissa (1858-1871), John Judson (1859-1877), William Henry (1861-1934), and Albert Rosecrans Brown (1863-1937).

William Laban Brown served as a private in Company B of the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry Regiment in the Union Army. He was taken prisoner by forces led by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest in September 1864 near Athens, Alabama. On April 27, 1865, Brown was among a group of former Union prisoners being transferred from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Cairo, Illinois for release from service when the "Sultana", the steamboat on which they were traveling, exploded on the Mississippi River near Memphis, killing Brown and over 1,800 other passengers in the worst maritime disaster in United States history. His widow was unable to care for their five young children and sent them to live at the Soldiers and Sailors Childrens' Home in Washington, D. C.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

William Laban Brown and A. R. Brown Family Papers

Collection — Multiple Containers

Identifier: AppMs-0786

Arrangement The collection is arranged into eleven series, as follows: Series I, William Laban Brown Civil War Letters, 1861-1865, Box 1; Series II, A. R. Brown and Company Records, 1892-1985, Boxes 1-8; Series III, A. R. Brown Political Papers, 1916-1933 and undated, Boxes 8-9 and oversized Folder 1; Series IV, Alberta Brown Papers, 1927-1934 and undated, Boxes 9-11; Series V, Nancy Brown Family Papers, 1858-1912 and undated, Boxes 12-14; Series VI, William Henry Brown Papers, 1883-1900 and undated,...

Dates: 1861-1985 and undated

Found in: Archives of Appalachia / William Laban Brown and A. R. Brown Family Papers