J. Sidney Brown (1833-1913) was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio on June 13, 1833. In 1858, he joined his brother, Junius F. Brown, in Atchison, Kansas, where they operated a sawmill. He began freighting between Atchison and Denver, Colorado, in 1861 and the following year began his own mercantile business. The J. S. Brown & Bro. Mercantile Company was incorporated in Denver in 1893 with J. S. Brown as president and J. F. Brown as vice-president. The business expanded to 24 cities throughout Colorado, Wyoming and New Mexico. After the death of J. Sidney Brown in 1913, the company name was changed to the J.S. Brown Mercantile Company. In 1927, it absorbed the Colorado Springs Shield-Metzler Grocery Company. In 1940, the business was absorbed into the Morey Mercantile Company.
From the description of J. S. Brown Mercantile Company records, 1890-1940 bulk 1935-1937. (Denver Public Library). WorldCat record id: 180190698
