Representative women of New England/Eva M. Brown
EVA MARIA BROWN, manager of the Faxon Political Temperance Bureau, was born in Camden, Me., December 27, 1856, being the only child of John and Matilda Jane (Mathews) Brown. When she was two years old, her parents moved to Liberty, Me. Her father, John Brown, 2d, who was a native of Palermo, Me., enlisted in the army, during the Civil War, being signeil to the Thinl Maine Regiment and later transferred to the Seventeenth. The ex- posure and hardsliips of a soliher's hfe brought on disease, from which lie died at City I'oiiit, Va., in 1864, after thirteen months' service. His wife, Matilda -J., who was born Novem- ber 20, 1830, in Lincolnville Centre, Waldo County, Me., was the daughter of Archibald and Betsey (Knights) Mathews.
On the death of Mr. Brown his widow re- moved from Liberty to Augusta, Me., where her daughter was educated. While a pupil at the high school in that city. Miss Brown was a classmate of Harriet and Alice, the daughters of the Hon. James G. lilaine. Her school-days were marked by the faithful and diligent application that has characterized the work of her later life, and she was grad- uated from the high school with high honors. Besides being noted as one of the best schol- ars in her class, she was beloved by her teachers and school associates for her kindly and amiable disposition.
Early in life Miss Brown received fundamental training in temperance work, a sphere in which she was destined to wield a potent influence in later years. While yet a child she became a member of a Cold Water Temple organized at Augusta by General Joshua Nye, and for several terms held the office of Chief Templar of that society. Soon after leaving the high school she removed with her mother to Massachusetts. Of this State they have since remained residents, their home at the present time (May, 1902) being in Quincy. Here Miss Brown is connected with the parish of the First Unitarian Church, of which the Rev. Ellery Channing Butler is pastor.
Miss Brown's connection with the temperance movement in Massachusetts may be said to date from the fall of 1878, when she first entered the employ of Mr. Henry H. Faxon, the noted temperance reformer. Mr. Faxon was then at the zenith of his power, conducting such vigorous campaigns against the liquor traffic and in support of morality and an up- lifting home life as never Ix^fore had been witnessed in the Commonwealth. About this time Miss Brown joined the orders of the Sons of Temperance and the Good Templars, in which she has been honored with the highest official positions. Her duties in Mr. Faxon's office were at first those of an assistant clerk. Her abilities and true worth were, however, soon recognized by Mr. Faxon; and he pro- moted her to the position of chief clerk. In 1884 she became Mr. Faxon's private secre- tary, in which capacity she has since contin- ued. The nmltifarious duties that have de- volved upon her since assuming this office can be realized only by Mr. Faxon and her- self. P'rom the first she seemed to catch the spirit of untiring zeal and unremitting energy that Mr. Faxon had infused into his life work, a work that would have Ineen voiil of results but for those superabundant qualities, together with his unsleeping vigilance and the generous use of his money in aid of the temperance cause.
The management of the Faxon Political Temperance Bureau was publicly transferred to Miss Brown on March 22, 1902, although for several years previous to that date she had been the directing spirit of Mr. Faxon's work. During his crusade in enforcing the liquor laws in his home city, Quincy, Mr. Faxon bi'ought more than five huntlred cases before the courts, the testimony in nearly all of which, both in the upper and lower courts, was taken by Miss Brown. This experience proved of inestimable value to her, and has been turned to good advantage in later years.
Nor is it alone in direct temperance work that Mr. Faxon has found a most helpful co-laborer in Miss Brown. In all of his great political battles she has proved to be a most efficient assistant. She took a prominent part in the famous Temperance Republican Con- vention in August, 1879, where plans were per- fected for the nomination of the Hon. John D. Long for the office of governor, an event to have taken part in which she has always re- garded as an honor; for, as she says, "John D. Long has always been a consistent temper- ance man. His record as a legislator and as an office-holder are perfectly satisfactory to the friends of the reform." Mr. Faxon very generously shares with Miss Brown the honors of his victory over the saloon forces in the city of Quincy. He has always maintained that without her assistance he could never have achieved the grand and beneficial results that are apparent on every hand in consequence of the continuous and well-enforced policy of no license that has prevailed for the past twenty years in Quincy. For many years Miss Brown has prepared Mr. Faxon's articles for the press, besides editing all the circulars and pamphlets that have been issued from his bureau — millions of pages annually.
Probably the most notable work that Miss Brown has compiled, and which has proved to be of incalculable value to those whose duty it is to enforce the liquor laws, is the book en- titled "The Laws of Massachusetts relating to Intoxicating Liquors." The compilation of this work was a stupendous task and neces- sarily a most exacting one, since the volume was intended to be, as it is, a standard author- ity, to which public j)rosecutors might turn for information and advice. Li preparing it Miss Brown was obliged to make an exhaustive investigation of the liciuor laws passed by the Legislature, together with the court decisions rendered in cases of violation of those laws. So thoroughly did she do her work that it is safe to say there is not a law on the statute books pertaining to the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, nor a decision on the same, with which she is not familiar. Eleven editions of this book have Ikhmi published by Mr. Faxon, and to-day th(> manual is in gen- eral use in courts and municipal offices all over the State.
In LS89 Miss Brown was the chief clerk of the Constitutional Prohibitory Amendment Campaign Committee (of which Colonel Ed- ward H. Haskell, of Newton, was chairman), having charge of the correspondence and the assignment of the speakers. The campaign was one of the memorable ones of the Common- wealth, and her abihty and untiring persever- ance were amply demonstrated in connection wkth her part in it.
About twelve years ago Miss Brown began her career at the State House. At first she did not like the work, owing to the publicity it entailed, but under the guidance of Mr. Faxon she soon became familiar with the details of legislative routine. The universal courtesy shown her, and the assistance accorded bj' the members of the General Court, are impor- tant factors in her legislative successes; and to-day there is not a person on Beacon Hill whose advice in coimection with temperance legislation is so much sought as the woman upon whose shoulders has fallen the mantle of the renowned Hemy H. Faxon, and no one, it may be atlded, enjoys greater confidence. P'or the past six years Miss Brown has been Mr. Faxon's sole representative at the State House, where she passes a great deal of time during the legislative sessions, looking after the different bills affecting the liquor question, the Sunday laws, ami other subjects in which Mr. Faxon has always taken a great interest. Miss Brown enjoys the distinction of being the only woman in New England who is registered as legislative agent and counsel. The authority thus conferred entitles her to the privileges of conducting hearings before the various committees and of cross-examining wit- nesses. In LS96 she conducted one of the most important hearings ever held at the State House, when the bill authorizing the payment to the State of the entire sum received as fees from liquor licenses was being considered.
The temperance forces all over the Commonwealth owe her a debt of gratitude for the efficient manner in which she has labored for the protection of the restrictive features of the laws regulating the sale of intoxicating liquors. Her able efforts which accomplished the defeat of the "abutters'" law every year and the famous semi-colon law are well known. Some of the most important statutes of a prohibitive character that have been passed owing chiefly to her work and influence are those which compel the closing of the saloons on all legal holidays, the so-called Faxon Express Law, and several others restricting the sale of liquor by druggists. All of these laws she personally fonnulated and fought for until their passage was secured.
The correspondence of the Faxon Political Temperance Bureau, of which Miss Brown is now the sok' manager, is almost unlimited, and covers more phases of the reform than that of any other temperance society. She is in constant communication with municipal officers and citizens interested in the enforcement of the laws, and is always found willing and ready in furnishing information and helping to solve their local problems. It is no exaggeration to say that she has the necessary authorities at her finger tips, and her advice proves to be of inestimable value in such cases.
In Miss Brown the temperance interests have a careful and wide-awake guardian and the liquor forces as uncompromising and unrelenting a foe as Mr. Faxon himself ever proved to be.
Miss Brown is one of the directors of the Massachusetts Total Abstinence Society, serving upon all of its important committees. The position of clerk of the corporation, which she held for many years, she resigned in 1901.