Joseph E. Brown

Joseph Emerson Brown
United States Senator from Georgia
In office May 26, 1880 – March 3, 1891
Preceded by	John B. Gordon
Succeeded by	John B. Gordon
Chief Justice of the Georgia Supreme Court
In office 1868–1870
Preceded by	Hiram B. Warner
Succeeded by	Osborne Augustus Lochrane
42nd Governor of Georgia
In office November 6, 1857 – June 17, 1865
Preceded by	Herschel Johnson
Succeeded by	James Johnson
Personal details
Born	(1821-04-15)April 15, 1821 Pickens, South Carolina, U.S.
Died	November 30, 1894(1894-11-30) (aged 73) Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
Political party	Whig, Democratic, Republican
Spouse	Elizabeth Grisham
Children	Joseph Mackey Brown
Education	Yale University
Profession	Lawyer, politician
Signature

Joseph Emerson Brown (April 15, 1821 – November 30, 1894), often referred to as Joe Brown, was an American attorney and politician, serving as the 42nd Governor of Georgia from 1857 to 1865, the only governor to serve four terms. He also served as a United States Senator from that state from 1880 to 1891.

A former Whig, and a firm believer in slavery and Southern states' rights, Brown was a leading secessionist in 1861, and led his state into the Confederacy. Yet he also defied the Confederate government's wartime policies: he resisted the military draft, believing that local troops should be used only for the defense of Georgia; and denounced Confederate President Jefferson Davis as an incipient tyrant, challenging Confederate impressment of animals and goods to supply the troops, and slaves to work in military encampments and on the lines. Several other governors followed his lead.

After the American Civil War, Brown joined the Republican Party for a time, and was appointed as chief justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia from 1865 to 1870. Later he rejoined the Democrats, became president of the Western and Atlantic Railroad and began to amass great wealth; he was estimated to be a millionaire by 1880. He benefited from using convicts leased from state, county and local governments in his coal mining operations in Dade County. His Dade Coal Company bought other coal and iron companies, and by 1889 was known as the Georgia Mining, Manufacturing and Investment Company. Finally, he was twice elected by the state legislature as a U.S. Senator, serving from 1880 to 1891. During this time he was part of the Bourbon Triumvirate, alongside fellow prominent Georgia politicians John Brown Gordon and Alfred H. Colquitt.

Brown saved the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary financially in the 1870s.^[1] An endowed chair in his honor, the Joseph Emerson Brown Chair of Christian Theology, was established at the institution. In 2020, the endowed chair was vacated because of Brown's position on slavery and use of the convict leasing system.^[2]