State Web Site

Higher Office(s) Served: Senator

FRED H. BROWN, the sixty-eighth governor of New Hampshire, was born in Ossipee, New Hampshire on April 12, 1879. His education was attained at Dow Academy, at Dartmouth College, and at Boston University, where he earned a law degree in 1906. For a short time, he played professional baseball with the Boston Braves. Brown then established his legal career, serving as the city solicitor for Somersworth from 1910 to 1914. He first entered politics in 1912, serving as a member of the State Constitutional Convention, as well as serving as a presidential elector. From 1914 to 1922 he was the mayor of Somersworth; and from 1914 to 1922 he served as the U.S. district attorney. Brown next secured the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and was elected governor by a popular vote in 1922. During his tenure, the state mental hospital was improved; and the state deficit was eliminated. After running unsuccessfully for reelection, Brown served as the State Public Service Commissioner, a post he held from 1925 to 1932. He also served as a member of the U.S. Senate from 1933 to 1939; was the comptroller general of the U.S. from 1939 to 1940; and served as a member of the U.S. Tariff Commission from 1940 to 1941. Governor Fred H. Brown passed away on February 3, 1955, and was buried in the Ossipee Cemetery in Ossipee, New Hampshire.

Sources:

Biographical History of the U.S. Congress

New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources

Sobel, Robert, and John Raimo, eds. Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978, Vol. 3, Westport, Conn.; Meckler Books, 1978. 4 vols.