# Joseph Renshaw Brown *Minnesota and Wisconsin territorial politician, fur trader, newspaper editor and Indian agent (1805–1870)* Joseph Renshaw Brown (1805–1870) was active in the territorial and state politics of [[Minnesota]] and Wisconsin for more than half a century. Over that time he worked as a fur trader, newspaper editor, businessman, inventor, speculator and Indian agent, and he is also described as a pioneer.[^1] The project's at-issue record identifies Brown as the organizer and chair of the [[Stillwater Convention]] of August 26, 1848. It calls him "known in Minnesota politics as" "Jo the Juggler" and says the convention sent Henry Sibley to Washington. Congress created [[Minnesota Territory]] on March 3, 1849.[^2] The record anchors this account to a historical marker, which it treats as the state's own account of its founding.[^2] Brown's house was destroyed on August 19, 1862, during the Dakota War of 1862. Its granite ruins are displayed at a state wayside south of Sacred Heart. Brown County, Browns Valley and Brown's Creek are named after him.[^3] ## Who ### Early life and family Brown was born on January 5, 1805, in Harford County, Maryland. He trained as a printer but left that apprenticeship at 15 to enlist in the army.[^4] The army posted him to Cantonment New Hope, where he worked on building [[Fort Snelling]]. He was discharged in 1828.[^4] His third wife, Susan Frenier (1819–1904), belonged to the Sisseton tribe of the [[Dakota]]. She was a half-sister of Gabriel Renville, who, according to the account, became his legal ward.[^4] ### Public service Brown first arrived in what became Minnesota in 1820, when the area was part of Michigan Territory. During this period he traveled through the country that later became Minnesota and Wisconsin.[^5] His legislative service began in Wisconsin Territory, where he sat in the territorial House of Representatives from 1840 to 1842.[^5] In Minnesota Territory, he represented District 6 in the Territorial Council of the territorial [[Legislature]] in 1854–1855. He then represented District 10 in the territorial House of Representatives in 1857. That same year he was District 10's delegate to the Minnesota Constitutional Convention.[^5] Also in 1857, he was appointed Indian Agent to the Dakota Sioux.[^5] ### Role in Dakota War of 1862 Brown was away when the Dakota War of 1862 began.[^6] His family and the settlers fleeing with them were taken captive but not killed. The account credits their survival to Susan Brown, who confronted Dakota leaders and the combatants surrounding their wagon. The leaders named are Stands on Clouds (also called "Cut Nose"), Little Six and Dowanniye.[^6] Their son Samuel J. Brown later wrote that she stood up in the wagon, waved her shawl and called out that she was a Sisseton. She named her relatives Waanatan, Scarlet Plume, Sweetcorn and Akipa, and her friend Standing Buffalo, and said she had come seeking protection.[^6] A man in the party recognized her and argued that she should be spared, because she had once taken him in for a winter and saved his life.[^6] The captors said they would still kill the others in the party. She then warned them, in the account's words: "if you harm any of these friends of mine, you will have to answer to Scarlet Plume, Akipa, Standing Buffalo, and the whole Sisseton and Wahpeton tribe!"[^6] On August 23, Susan Brown and her children were released after her stepfather Akipa, a Wahpeton, and her half-brother Charles Renville Crawford demanded their release.[^6] She spent the rest of the war under the protection of the noncombatant Dakota camp of Akipa, Gabriel Renville and the Dakota Peace Party, which opposed conflict with the United States.[^6] In the war's final days, [[Little Crow]] confided in her as he grew more despondent about his options.[^6] When Brown returned, he wanted to learn what had happened to his family. He asked to join the burial expedition that left Fort Ridgely on August 31, 1862. On September 2 he was wounded by a ball in the neck.[^6] ### House and legacy Brown's three-story house was destroyed on August 19, 1862, during the Dakota War.[^3] The account describes it as a mansion compared with many other pioneer homes of the day. Its granite ruins are displayed at the Joseph R. Brown State Wayside Rest, on Renville County Highway 15 south of Sacred Heart, Minnesota.[^3] Three Minnesota places are named after him:[^3] - Brown County - Browns Valley, in Traverse County - Brown's Creek, near [[Stillwater]] in Washington County ### Personal life Brown married three times. He and his first wife, Margaret, whom the account identifies as Ojibwe, divorced in December 1839.[^7] ## In the at-issue record The record holds one at-issue pair for Brown, AI-Washington-051, ranked 51. It appears in the chapter *The Referral Architecture & the County That Got the Prison Edition* and is dated August 26, 1848.[^2] The pair makes the following statements:[^2] - Minnesota "was petitioned into existence from a lumber camp of about six hundred people." - The Stillwater Convention of that date was organized and chaired by Brown and sent Henry Sibley to Washington. - Congress created Minnesota Territory on March 3, 1849, "in President Polk's last hours in office." The pair's primary anchor is a historical-marker entry. The record gives its reason for choosing it: "a state-erected historical marker is the state's own account of its own founding."[^2] The row also lists two history sources, on mnhs.org and wchsmn.org, but their URLs are not in the pack. The record carried here therefore does not establish the convention's membership beyond Brown and Sibley, nor the figure of six hundred, independently of that anchor.[^2] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, lead section (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — Brown's dates, occupations and five decades in Minnesota and Wisconsin politics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown [^2]: Historical Marker Database, *marker entry m=43908* (event of August 26, 1848) — primary anchor of at-issue pair AI-Washington-051: the Stillwater Convention, Brown's role in it, Sibley's dispatch to Washington and the creation of Minnesota Territory. https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=43908 [^3]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, "House and legacy" (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the wayside rest, the ruins, the house's destruction on August 19, 1862, and the places named after Brown. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown [^4]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, "Early life and family" (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — birth, army service at Cantonment New Hope and Fort Snelling, discharge in 1828, and his third marriage. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown [^5]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, "Public service" (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — arrival in 1820, legislative seats and districts, the 1857 constitutional convention, and his appointment as Indian Agent. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown [^6]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, "Role in Dakota War of 1862" (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — the family's capture and release, Samuel J. Brown's account, the burial expedition and Brown's wound. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown [^7]: Wikipedia contributors, *Joseph Renshaw Brown*, "Personal life" (revision 1380019917, retrieved 2026-10-27) — three marriages and the divorce in December 1839. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Renshaw_Brown