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William Robinson Brown

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William Robinson Brown
File:William Robinson Brown.png
W. R. Brown
Born(1875-01-17)January 17, 1875
Portland, Maine, U.S.
DiedAugust 4, 1955(1955-08-04) (aged 80)
Dublin, New Hampshire[1]
Occupation(s)Brown Company, Woods Division Manager
Known forForestry management, Arabian horse breeder
SpouseHildreth Burton SmithTemplate:SfnChurchill
ChildrenFielding, Newell, Brenton, Nancy,Template:SfnChurchill Frances H. Townes (nee Brown)
RelativesHerbert Jenkins Brown, Orton Bishop "O.B." Brown

William Robinson Brown (January 17, 1875 – August 4, 1955), known as W. R. Brown, was a part-owner, manager and officer of the Brown Company of Berlin, New Hampshire, and an early promoter of sustainable forest management practices. He also was the founder and owner of the Maynesboro Stud, and became known as one of the most knowledgeable breeders and authorities on Arabian horses of his time. He traveled worldwide to purchase horses while serving as the President of the Arabian Horse Club of America and on the boards of multiple forestry organizations.

Family life

W. R. Brown was born in Portland, Maine in 1875,[2] the youngest of three sons of William Wentworth "W. W." Brown.[3] and Emily Jenkins Brown.[2] All three boys were avid horsemen.[1] He attended Phillips Andover Academy, [2] and graduated from Williams College in 1897.[4] His wife, Hilda Burton Smith Brown, was the granddaughter of John B. Gordon. They had five children and 15 grandchildren.[2]

Brown Company

Main article: Brown Company

The Berlin Mills Company was founded in 1853. W.W. Brown and others purchased an interest in the company in 1868.[5] By the 1880s, the elder Brown, in conjunction with other family members, had obtained 100 percent control of the pulp and paper manufacturing company.[6] By 1907, W.W. Brown and his older two sons, H.J. and O.B., were the sole owners of the company.[5] The corporation name was changed to the Brown Company in 1917, removing the word "Berlin" because of the conflict against Germany in World War I.[7]

W.R. Brown went to work for the company after finishing college, and managed the company's woods operations from 1900 until 1943.[2][7][8] At the time he began his career, the company owned 400,000 acres of land.[9] He managed the company's timberlands for 30 years.[10] Brown was interested in the principles of scientific forest management,[11] During his tenure, the company was one of the first to initiate modern forest-management practices, and to attempt to conserve the forest for industry and preserve the scenic value of New Hampshire's forests. Brown was particularly critical of the damage done by portable sawmills.[10][12] He built upon the sustainable forestry practices advocated by company forester Austin Cary, who had been recruited from the U.S. Forest Service. In 1919, Brown set up a tree nursery on the north shore of Cupsuptic Lake that researched sustained-yield practices,[7] and was at its peak the largest tree nursery in the United States.[2] He understood that pulp mills in his time were especially dependent upon locally accessible timber and therefore sustainable practices were important to the industry.[13] He "led the Brown company to international prominence as a source for scientific research and development."[14]

Brown was influenced by the Progressive movement as applied to business,[15] and helped organize a number of civic and business self-help organizations, including the Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, founded in 1901.[16] Beginning in 1910, he helped organize industry-run Timberlands Owners Associations, essentially forest fire protection groups, in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont, as well as a river conservation organization in Quebec.[17] In 1909, he also became a member of the New Hampshire Forestry Commission,[18] and served as chair from 1910 until 1952,[19] playing a significant role in shaping the forestry practices and laws of the state.[20] He also served on the boards of several industry organizations, including the American Forestry Association. Society of American Foresters, Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, and the Forest Research Council.[21]

The Great Depression had a significant impact on the Brown Company. There was less demand for the company's products, and it had to take out short-term loans for operating capital.[7] By 1931, the international financial crisis had caused major losses to the value of the company's bonds.[6][22] The Woods Department could not finance its logging operations and the company was forced to file for bankruptcy, going into receivership in 1934,[6] with an outside president appointed by the courts.[22] Family members sold off personal holdings, including Brown's Arabian horses, to help keep the company solvent. Brown continued as head of the Woods Department under the new management, overseeing a period of significant technological change.[22] The company again filed for bankruptcy in 1941; ultimately the Brown family ceased to have a significant role on the board of directors and the company was sold to outside investors.[6][23] Brown officially retired from the company in 1943,[1] his brother Orton remained on the board of directors until 1960.[7]

Arabian horse breeder

File:W.R. Brown riding an Arabian horse.png
Brown on an Arabian horse, 1919.[1]

Brown bought his first Arabian horses in 1910, and founded the Maynesboro Stud near Berlin in 1912.[24] The farm was named after the original settlement in the area, Maynesborough, located in the White Mountains in an area also known as the Great North Woods Region. He found that, even though developed in the desert, Arabians adapted well to the severe winter weather of the region.[1] The main stallion barn, although moved from its original location, has been preserved and restored by the Berlin and Coös County Historical Society,[1][25] which also is working on restoration of the work horse barns of the Brown Company.[26] The historical society celebrates the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Maynesboro Stud on September 15, 2012.[27]

At its peak, Maynesboro was the largest Arabian stud farm in the United States.[28] In 1919, he had 88 horses, some at his main farm in New Hampshire, and others at other farms he owned in Decorah, Iowa and Cody, Wyoming.[29] He also served as President of the Arabian Horse Club of America, now part of the Arabian Horse Association, from 1918 until 1939.[1] In total, he is credited as the breeder of 194 Arabian horses,[27] and became known as one of the most knowledgeable breeders and authorities on Arabian horses of his time.[30] H

Foundation stock

When he started Maynesboro, Brown studied the pedigrees of nearly every purebred Arabian in the USA at the time. Many of the stud's first horses came from other American breeders who had purchased horses from the Crabbet Park Stud, which at the time was owned by Lady Anne Blunt and Wilfrid Scawen Blunt. He obtained some of his foundation bloodstock from his oldest brother, Herbert Brown, including Homer Davenport's *Abu Zeyd,[a] a son of Mesaoud bred by the Crabbet Park Stud in England.[1] Herbert Brown purchased the horse following Davenport's death. The Maynesboro stud also obtained 10 mares from the Davenport estate.[32] *Abu Zeyd was considered the best son of Mesaoud. Brown considered him such an ideal representative of the Arabian breed, that when the stallion died, Brown donated the skeleton to the American Museum of Natural History.[1]

W. R. Brown also purchased most of the horses owned by Spencer Borden's Interlachen Farms in Massachusetts when Borden dispersed his herd. These horses included animals descended from the breeding program of Randolph Huntington.[33][34] Brown also obtained Borden's extensive collection of literary works on horsemanship, Arab culture and the Arabian horse, which included 8th century Furusiyya manuscripts.[1] Based on this start, he looked abroad for additional bloodstock, eventually importing 33 horses into the United States.[27]

Brown and other American breeders obtained some of the best Arabians in the United Kingdom during the early 1900s due to the turmoil within the Blunt family. The Blunts had legally separated in 1906 because of Wilfrid's chronic infidelity, and Lady Anne had passed away in 1917, leaving their adult daughter, Judith, Lady Wentworth, in a rancorous and expensive estate battle with Wilfrid over the Crabbet lands and horses.[citation needed] Brown had begun corresponding with Lady Anne in 1916, respected her for her love and knowledge of the Arabian horse, and he described her favorably as “a true scientist.”[1] Following Lady Anne's death, Wilfrid, needing to appease creditors, sold a number of the stud’s best horses to international buyers,[1] including Brown, who purchased a total of 20 horses from Wilfrid in 1918, although only 17 actually made it to Brown’s stud farm. Brown paid Blunt only £2727.00 for the entire lot.[1] The most significant animal purchased was the well-known stallion *Berk, who died after siring only four foals while in America, much to the dismay of Lady Wentworth, who was trying to buy back some of the horses lost to Crabbet following her father's shenanigans.[35] Brown established correspondence with Lady Wentworth, the two exchanging over 35 letters. But he found her far less forthcoming than her mother, primarily interested in trying to sell him as many horses as possible, and tending to speak in overly favorable terms of her own horses but quite harshly of everyone else’s.[1]

One of the most notable Crabbet-bred stallions Brown eventually obtained was *Astraled, who had come to America in 1909, another horse sold by Wilfrid, but upon arrival in America had lived in obscurity on the west coast, producing few purebred Arabian offspring before being sold to the remount service and ultimately obtained by Brown in 1923, who shipped the aged stallion by rail from Idaho to New Hampshire. Under Brown's ownership, *Astraled only sired one foal crop before the horse died, but that group of foals included his most notable American-bred offspring, the stallion Gulastra.[36]

International travel

Brown traveled to Europe with the U.S. Army Remount Service in 1921, visiting a number of major European studs. He met in person with Lady Wentworth at Crabbet on the way home, but did not purchase more Crabbet horses, finding her prices too high.[1] He also imported several Arabians from France in 1921 and 1922,[35] in part due to the reputation of France for producing excellent cavalry horses.[37] He bought two additional horses from England (though not purchased from Crabbet Park) in 1923.[29]

In 1929, he traveled with Arabian expert Carl Raswan to Egypt and Syria to look for desertbred horses. According to Brown’s wife, the two apparently did not get along well, and the horses they purchased on the trip somehow never made it to America. Following that uncomfortable trip, Brown wrote The Horse of the Desert, which, even today, is considered one of the best works written about the Arabian horse.[1]

In 1932, Brown sent his stud manager Jack Humphrey to Egypt, where he bought two stallions and four mares from Prince Mohammed Ali.[1] The Prince was known as a horseman and scholar, publishing a two-volume treatise on the breeding of Arabian horses. Two of the mares purchased were daughters of Mahroussa, whom Brown described as "the most beautiful mare he ever saw."[38] The stallions were *Nasr, a successful race horse, and *Zarife.[39]

Endurance testing and remounts

Brown trained most of his horses to ride and drive. Many were used in endurance races, others shown, and at least one was a polo pony.[40] Brown was a remount agent,[36] and his interest in improving horses for the U.S. Cavalry might have been his motivation to breed Arabians.[1] He shared this interest in Arabians as remount bloodstock with Spencer Borden.[24] Brown believed the Arabian was actually a separate subspecies of horse,[1][41] a popular but now discredited theory.[42] Seeking to prove the benefits of Arabian breeding to the U.S. Army Remount Service, he actively encouraged the participation of Arabians in endurance races.

In 1918, he performed a test where he had two of his horses travel from Berlin to Bethel, Maine, a distance of 162 miles (261 km). They completed the ride in just over 31 hours including breaks, with each horse carrying 200 pounds (91 kg) in poor weather and on muddy roads. The horses were Kheyra, a purebred seven-year-old mare who weighed 900 pounds (410 kg), and Rustem Bey. Rustem Bey, was taller and heavier than Kheyra. He was a half-Arab by Khaled out of a Standardbred mare. Both horses vet checked sound and fit to continue at the end of the ride, and showed no evidence of soreness 24 hours later. A third Arabian, another of Maynesboro's Arabians, Herbert Brown's *Crabbet, was ridden by a military officer supervising the test, and that pair covered 95 miles (153 km) in seventeen hours. The results were reported in The New York Times.[43]

Following the 1918 test, Brown helped organize the first U.S. Official Cavalry Endurance Ride in 1919, winning it with his mare Ramla, who carried 200 pounds (91 kg).[44] The race covered 306 miles (492 km) in five days.[1] The U.S. Remount Service requested the weight horses carried in 1920 be raised to 245 pounds (111 kg), and required horses to travel for about 60 miles (97 km) a day for five days. Arabians won the highest average points of any breed, and though an Arabian horse did not win first place that year,[44] Rustem Bey was second.[45] In 1921, with a weight requirement of 225 pounds (102 kg),[44] again covering 300 miles (480 km) in five days, Brown's gelding *Crabbet won the race and Rustem Bey was third,[45] despite a donation of $50,000 from The Jockey Club to the Army to buy the best Thoroughbreds possible to try and beat the Arabians. Brown won again in 1923 with an Anglo-Arabian named Gouya, thus retiring the U.S. Mounted Service Cup.[44]

Brown used Arabian stallions owned by the remount service,[36] and over time provided 32 of his own stallions to sire remounts. He advocated crossing Arabians to improve other breeds. However, he concluded that attempting to breed purebred Arabians for increased size resulted in a sacrifice in quality and Arabian type.[1]

Dispersal

Brown sold all his horses in 1933[46] in an attempt to raise funds to keep the Brown Company solvent at the time the company entered bankruptcy.[47] The horses were sold to the Kellogg Ranch, Roger Selby, William Randolph Hearst's San Simeon Stud,[46] and "General" J. M. Dickinson of Traveler's Rest Stud, who acquired most of the horses from his 1932 importation from Egypt.[29] Dickinson in turn sold *Zarife to Wayne Van Vleet of Colorado in 1939;[39] and Azkar, the last foal bred by Brown,[1] to a ranch in Texas where the horse was left to fend for himself on the open range as a herd stallion, but survived and was subsequently purchased and returned to the Arabian breeding world by Henry Babson. Dickinson sold the mare *Aziza to Alice Payne, who later owned *Raffles.[48]

Death and legacy

Brown died of cancer on August 4, 1955.[1]

Among his other civic activities, Brown promoted early legislative efforts to protect public riding trails. A scholar of the Arabian horse, he collected a significant library of works on the Arabian horse. His papers today are held by the Arabian Horse Owners Foundation (AHOF).[1]

Today, the term "CMK", meaning "Crabbet/Maynesboro/Kellogg" is a label for certain "Domestic" or "American-bred" Arabian horses. It describes the descendants of horses imported to America from the desert and from Crabbet Park Stud in the late 1800s and early 1900s and bred on by the Hamidie Society, Randolph Huntington, Spencer Borden, Homer Davenport, William R. Brown, W. K. Kellogg, W. R. Hearst, and J. M. Dickinson.[46]

Bibliography

Brown authored the following works:

  • — (1929). The Horse of the Desert (1st ed.). New York: Derrydale Press. p. 218. OCLC 2438208. Republished in 1947.
  • — (1958). Our Forest Heritage: A History of Forestry and Recreation in New Hampshire. Concord, N.H.: Derrydale Press. OCLC 2197078.

Notes

  1. ^ An asterisk before the name of an Arabian horse is an indicator that the horse was imported to the United States from another country. [31]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Steen, Andrew S. (Summer 2012). "W.R. Brown's Maynesboro Stud". Modern Arabian Horse. Arabian Horse Association: 44–51. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d e f Churchill.
  3. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:04:52.
  4. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:04:55.
  5. ^ a b Defebaugh.
  6. ^ a b c d Upham-Bornstein, Linda. "Berlin History". Berlin, New Hampshire. City of Berlin, NH. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  7. ^ a b c d e Rule, John. "The Brown Company: From North Country Sawmill to World's Leading Paper Producer" (PDF). Beyond Brown Paper. Plymouth State University ; and New Hampshire Historical Society. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  8. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:05:04.
  9. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:04:15.
  10. ^ a b Life and Times part 1, 0:01:06.
  11. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:07:00.
  12. ^ "Protecting the Forest". Museum of the White Mountains. Plymouth State University. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  13. ^ Life and Times part 1, 0:07:58.
  14. ^ "The Life and Times of W.R. Brown". Center for Rural Partnerships. Plymouth State University. 2011. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  15. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:01:26.
  16. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:01:42.
  17. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:02:26.
  18. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:00:05.
  19. ^ Brown, William E., Jr (June 1985). "Guide to the William Robinson Brown Papers" (pdf). William Robinson Brown Papers. Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library. Retrieved August 26, 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  20. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:00:21.
  21. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:03:30.
  22. ^ a b c Life and Times part 2, 0:04:40.
  23. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:06:08.
  24. ^ a b Edwards, p. 53.
  25. ^ Leclerc, Donald (November 2, 2011). "Brown Company Barns Restoration Project". News Letter Fall 2011. Berlin and Coös County Historical Society. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  26. ^ "About Us". Berlin and Coös County Historical Society. Berlin and Coös County Historical Society. Retrieved 30 August 2012.
  27. ^ a b c Leclerc, Donald (April 3, 2012). "Maynesboro Stud Memorial Ride". News Letter Spring 2012. Berlin and Coös County Historical Society. Retrieved 29 August 2012.
  28. ^ Conn, p. 172.
  29. ^ a b c Conn, p. 194.
  30. ^ Forbis, p. 199.
  31. ^ Magid.
  32. ^ Edwards, pp. 52–53.
  33. ^ Edwards, pp. 51–53.
  34. ^ Conn, p. 191.
  35. ^ a b Edwards, pp. 55–56.
  36. ^ a b c Edwards, p. 51.
  37. ^ Cadranell, R.J. (Summer 1989). "The Double Registered Arabians". The CMK Record. VIII (I). Republished by CMK Arabians, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  38. ^ Forbis, pp. 198–199.
  39. ^ a b Edwards, p. 60.
  40. ^ Edwards, pp. 60–61.
  41. ^ "Standard Conformation and Type" (published online 2011-03-23). The Arabian Stud Book. 1918. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  42. ^ Edwards, p. 27.
  43. ^ "ARABIAN HORSES PROVE FIT. Complete Severe Endurance Test Under Service Conditions". New York Times. October 6, 1918. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  44. ^ a b c d "Arabians in the U.S. Army? You bet!". Arabian Horse History & Heritage. Arabian Horse Association. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  45. ^ a b Edwards, p. 52.
  46. ^ a b c Kirkman, Mary (2012). "Domestic Arabians". Arabian Horse Bloodlines. Arabian Horse Association. Retrieved August 26, 2012.
  47. ^ Life and Times part 2, 0:04:58.
  48. ^ Cadranell, R.J. (Nov/Dec 1996). "*Aziza a& *Roda". Arabian Visions. Republished by CMK Arabians, 2008. Retrieved August 26, 2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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Sources

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