Cleyson Leroy Brown, commonly C. L. Brown,[1] (1872-1935) was a welfare capitalist and benefactor of the community of Abilene, Kansas. A pioneer in Kansas electrification and telephony, Brown consolidated and expanded many early telephone systems, power generation plants, and electrical distribution systems in Kansas and other states.[1] One of his legacy companies, United Telecommunications, merged with Southern Pacific Communications to form Sprint Corporation.[2] Parts of his social legacy endure two miles south of Abilene in the Brown Memorial Home for the Aged and in Camp Brown, the Coronado Area Council scout camp at Abilene.[1] Brown's mill/power dam on Turkey Creek is still a cornerstone of the adjoining Brown Memorial Park.[3]
Early life
editCleyson was born on February 3, 1872 in Brown's Mill, Pennsylvania, the first child of Jacob and Mary Brown.
In 1880, the family moved to Dickinson County, Kansas with a sect of the Church of the Brethren. Jacob Brown created a combined flour mill and saw mill hydraulically powered by a low head dam built across the Smoky Hill River. In 1881, at the age of nine. Cleyson's right elbow was crushed by equipment in the mill, resulting in amputation. With the loss of the arm, C. L. determined "instead of using his hands to make a living he was going to have to use his head."[4][2]
(youth, amputation, and education)
Legacy businesses
editUnited Power and Light (Westar/Evergy)
editAs competing industrial flour mills were established at the railroad center of Abilene 2 miles (3.2 km) north, C. L. attached a generator to his father's water mill in 1898 and began generating electricity for sale to citizens of Abilene, founding the Abilene Electric Light Works,[4] later the Riverside Light, Power, & Gas Company. The Rocky Ford Milling and Power Company (Manhattan) was Browns first acquisition outside of Abilene in 1917, and in 1919 consolidation continued, joining that company with the Marshal County Power & Light Company (Blue Rapids) and the Central Kansas Power Company (Gypsum City), with his Riverside Light, Power, & Gas Company under the name of the United Light and Power System.[5] Eventually acquiring 12 power utilities, Brown joined these with his telephone businesses, incorporating in Delaware as United Telephone & Electric 1925. The efficiencies and profitability of his utilities funded his expansion into other business as well as his charitable works of the 1920s. With C. L. Brown's bankruptcy and death in 1935, United Power and Light went into receivership, and the telephone and power divisions were separated. Energy units in Kansas were acquired by Kansas Power and Light Company (KPL).[6] KPL merged with Kansas Gas and Electric into Westar Energy, which combined with Great Plains Energy and Kansas Power and Light Company in 2018 to form Evergy.[7][8]
United Telephone (Sprint Communications/Embarq)
edit"In 1986, United (then known as United Telecommunications) consolidated with Sprint. United purchased controlling interest in Sprint in 1989, and adopted the Sprint name soon after due to the company having better brand recognition."[4]
United Store Company (Piggly Wiggly)
editRegional Pride has claimed that C. L. Brown, founded or own Piggly Wiggly;(citation TBD) the fact of the matter is that he acquired some of the earliest Piggly Wiggly stores in Kansas and rapidly expanded the number of franchises in the region to about sixty stores.
(some say the chain was the death of him (I have the citations)) (even though Kansas newspapers of the day proudly acclaimed Brown as either founder or owner of Piggly Wiggly, it seems he was neither; he just founded and owned 60 stores out of 1000's)[10][11]
United Insurance (???)
edit(Place holder for my intention to see what became of United Insurance (see historic building in Salina, KS) (The United Building still stands at 7th and Iron. But I find nothing on the insurance company; there may be resources at the building, or at the Brown Foundation.)
Legacy institutions
editEvery man tries to accumulate wealth and it’s all to buy six feet of ground. Others enjoy the fruits of his effort and he never can see how much they enjoy it. But I want to see people enjoy mine while I am still alive.
— C. L. Brown
Brown Memorial Foundation
editBrown Memorial Home
editBrown Memorial Park
editCamp Brown
edit(early Sea Scout troop)
References
edit- ^ a b c Sondra van Meter McCoy (Summer 1982). "Patriarch of Abilene: Cleyson L. Brown and the United Empire, 1898-1935" (PDF). Kansas History. Kansas Historical Society: 107–119. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
... or C. L. Brown, as many people called him, ...
- ^ a b Sean Buckley. "Cleyson Brown, founder of Brown Telephone, the precursor to Sprint". FierceTelecom. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
- ^ "Brown Park Waterfall". Kansas Travel. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
- ^ a b c "C.L. Brown, Kansas Independent Telephony, and a Spirit of Giving". Dickinson County Historical Society. July 5, 2012.
- ^ Arthur Groesback (1920). "The United Light and Power System". The Kansas Engineer. Lawrence, Kansas: Associated Engineering Societies of the University of Kansas: 9-11. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
- ^ "Westar Energy, Inc. Business Information, Profile, and History". Company History. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
Major Acquisitions for KPL: 1930s-40s: KPL's major acquisition during the 1930s was the United Power and Light Corporation. Established in 1898 by Jacob Brown in a grist mill in Abilene, United Power and Light initially used the mill machinery to produce electrical power for the city. Brown's son, C. L. Brown (who founded United Life Insurance Company and was instrumental in laying the groundwork for United Telecom and U.S. Sprint), expanded the operation to include 12 Kansas utilities. This single acquisition brought most of central Kansas under the service of KPL.
- ^ http://www.westarenergy.com/wcm.nsf/content/company%20history
- ^ Lefler, Dion (2018-05-24). "Goodbye Westar Energy and KCP&L, hello Evergy; most Kansans to get new power company". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved 2018-05-24.
- ^ "United Telecommunications, Inc". encyclopedia.com.
The company history extends back to 1892 when Cleysen Brown connected a generator to his father's grist mill, supplying electric power for Abilene, Kansas. In 1898 Brown hung telephone wire on his electric poles and quickly extended the business to other towns. The fledgling company was incorporated in Delaware on September 25, 1925, as the United Telephone & Electric Company. Diversification into other businesses was ended by the Great Depression. With utility operations remaining stable, United acquired several independent telephone companies. Upon Brown's death in 1935, United Telephone & Electric fell into receivership.
- ^ "Efficient Operation for Popular Store System". The Morning Chronicle. Manhattan, Kansas: 3. February 17, 1926.
Piggly Wiggly patrons will be pleased to know that the Piggly Wiggly store located at Emporia and the Piggly Wiggly System for most of Kansas, including 13 stores have been purchased by C. L. Brown, president of the United Companies, leading utilities of Kansas.
- ^ "PIGGLY WIGGLY STORES TO OPEN". The Hutchinson News. Hutchinson, Kansas: 11. July 22, 1927.
Believing In the future of Hutchinson, the United Stores Company which is now operating 41 Piggly Wiggly stores In Kansas will open Piggly Wiggly stores No. 2 and No 8 here tomorrow. The second store Is located in the recently completed building with special architecture at the corner of Thirteenth and Main streets and No. 8 store Is located at 119 So. Main—also with new especially designed equipment.