Joseph Taylor Brown. One of the largest and most ideally situated ranches in Oklahoma is that owned by Joseph Taylor Brown, a property in the extreme northwest part of the state, twelve miles south of the Colorado line and six miles east of the eastern boundary of New Mexico. Here Mr. Brown has 10,000 acres, one-half of which he owns, while the other half is leased from the United States Government. While it is primarily a stock ranch, Mr. Brown has also carried on extensive operations in the line of alfalfa and feed growing, and has met with well-merited success in both lines of activity.

Mr. Brown was born September 17, 1868, in a log house on a farm in Morgan County, Missouri, and is a son of Moses P. and Cynthia J. (Bills) Brown. His father, the youngest and only one living of a family of nine children, was born in the same county in 1846, and in 1885 removed to Kansas, where he took a leading part in the organization of Wichita County and continued to be engaged in agricultural pursuits until the original opening of Oklahoma, April 22, 1889. At that time he located among the earliest settlers at Oklahoma City, homesteading 160 acres of land adjoining that city on the northwest, and west of the present site of Belle Isle. He took a leading part also in the upbuilding and development of Oklahoma City, where he still makes his home, being one of the substantial citizens of the community. Mr. Brown is a Mason and a consistent member of the Christian Church. In 1865 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Cynthia J. Bills, who was born in Morgan County, Missouri, in 1848, the eldest daughter of Dr. J. T. Bills, who migrated from Kentucky at an early day and became a well known physician and surgeon of Morgan County, Missouri. Mr. and Mrs. Brown became the parents of three sons and two daughters, namely: Mollie F., who is the wife of George G. Hunt, of Oklahoma City; Joseph Taylor, of this review; Alfred T., president of the Arkansas River Beds Oil Company, of Tulsa, Oklahoma; Claytie Bills, deceased, who was killed in the cyclone that swept Cimarron County, Oklahoma, October 18, 1908; and Lorena, who is the wife of DeWitt Allen, a traveling salesman of Oklahoma City.

The early education of Joseph T. Brown was secured in the public schools of Morgan County, Missouri, and when he was seventeen years of age he accompanied the family to Kansas. He joined his father in coming to Oklahoma, April 22, 1889, and when he had attained his majority settled on land in Pottawatomie County, where he resided for three years. Later he bought land adjoining Oklahoma City, but this he sold to the Classen Company, this being the land on which Belle Isle is now situated. He has always devoted his attention to farming and stock raising. In 1907 Mr. Brown came to Cimarron County and purchased 500 acres, his present property, located in the vicinity of the town of Wheeless, an ideal spot for a large ranch, on which the site of old Fort Nichols is located. His 10,000-acre property is all enclosed in fence, and is also cross-fenced, the land being divided into summer and winter pastures. The land abounds in native building stone, of which his ranch house and other buildings are constructed and every modern appliance and convenience has been installed to assist him in his work. Few men have become better known in stock circles during recent years than has Mr. Brown, whose name is an honored one on commercial paper, and whose reputation has extended far beyond the limits of his immediate community. Each year he raises large crops of alfalfa and feed, and he has always found a ready market for his product.

Mr. Brown was married in 1892 to Miss Grace R. Daily, who died without issue in 1901. In 1903 he was again married, being united with Miss Theodosia L. London, who was born in Vernon County, Missouri, a daughter of Elisha Landon, a native of Illinois. They have three children: Alfred Clay, Ruth and Cynthia J. Mrs. Brown is a college graduate and a woman of culture . and refinement, who has assisted her husband signally in his activities. Mr. Brown is a valued and popular member of the local lodges of the Masons and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. A democrat in polities, he has taken some interest in public affairs, and in November, 1914, was elected a member of the Cimarron County Board of Commissioners. His public spirit has led him to support actively every good and beneficial movement launched in his community.