A Remarkable Kentucky Family

A Remarkable Kentucky Family. . , Side 1 , This village's first postmaster and a charter member of Munfordville Presbyterian Church, John Thompson Street Brown (1793-1875) is the forbear of a remarkable and internationally known Kentucky family. William and Hannah Street Brown settled 1,000 acres on Nolin River north of here in 1792. Their son, J.T.S. Brown, bought 435 acres, later called "Summer Lea," three miles west of here. After his marriage to Elizabeth Creel, daughter of Elijah and Ermine Creel, whose house off Old Street overlooks the river, he and his wife built the brick home north of the Creel house. Their third child, J.T.S. Brown, Jr., born here in 1829, married Emily Graham in 1856. After moving to Louisville, they returned many summers to the family retreat at "Summer Lea." , Side 2 , After his first wife’s death in 1839, J.T.S. Brown, Sr. married Mary Jane Garvin. Their son, George Garvin Brown, was born here in 1846. George Garvin Brown married Amelia Owsley, granddaughter of Governor William Owsley., During the Civil War, George Garvin Brown moved to Louisville. Beginning in 1870, he formed, with partners including his half-brother J.T.S. Brown, Jr., the company that would become known from 1890 to present as “Brown-Forman.” His descendants still own the majority of this international, public company and have long been involved in leading its growth. Current family members of the company and its board are the great-great-great-great-grandchildren of William and Hannah St., Brown, who settled north of here 216 years ago.