Edgar A. Brown

Edgar Allan Brown (July 11, 1888 – June 26, 1975) was a long time Democratic legislator of South Carolina from Barnwell County who served South Carolina from 1922-1972. He was a principal member of the so-called "Barnwell Ring".

Brown was born near Shiloh Springs in Aiken County to Augustus Abraham Brown and Elizabeth Howard Brown. He, accompanied by his oldest sibling, Minnie, attended the China Springs School close to Edgefield Road. He was also educated at The Graniteville Academy which was maintained by the Graniteville Company. Edgar decided to drop out of the academy in 1904 and to instead apply himself to the business course of study at Osborne's in Augusta, Georgia. From 1905 to 1906 he served as a court reporter and from 1906 to 1907 he was a law clerk and head stenographer for the Henderson firm in Aiken while also studying law. In 1908, Brown was appointed the official court stenographer of the 2nd Judicial Circuit after competitive examination and relocated to Barnwell to serve Judge Aldrich who had need of his services. Brown passed the state bar examination in June 1910 and was admitted to practice law the same year.

Having established himself as an attorney, Brown continued to court and spark Miss Annie Love Sitgreaves a teacher, originally from Laurens, whom he had met in Aiken- and he and James F. Byrnes, whom Brown had replaced as Court Stenographer when Jimmy ran for Solicitor, became so close that Brown asked Jimmy to be the best man at his wedding.

At the age of 26 in 1914, Brown became the chairman of the Democratic executive committee of Barnwell County and also served as a member of the state Democratic executive committee. In 1921, Brown was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives and he became the speaker of the body in 1925. From 1922 to 1926, Brown was the chairman of the state Democratic Party. Brown resigned his speakership in 1926 to challenge Senator Ellison D. Smith in the Democratic primary election, but fell short by 5,000 votes in the runoff election.

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