Monroe County (NY) founder. Along with his brothers Francis and David, he was among the founders of the town of Rome, NY in 1794. In 1810 they purchased holdings just north of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester's village west of the Genesee River which he had named Rochesterville after himself, and founded a small settlement which they named Frankfort. In 1817 Colonel Rochester and Matthew Brown traveled to Albany for the first of several appeals to lobby the state legislature into creating a new county with their new town at its center. Despite opposition from surrounding communities, on Febnruary 23rd 1823 their efforts paid off as state lawmakers officially created Monroe County from parts of neighboring Genesee and Ontario Counties, bisected by the Genesee River and with Rochesterville as its county seat. In 1818 Matthew and Francis became the first people to harness the power of the Genesee River and falls by channeling a quarter mile ditch into the bedrock at the 96' High Falls. This provided a clean water supply to the town and enabled a booming mill industry to grow up around the falls, attracting workers and businessmen alike to the burgeoning new town. Frankfort is now the city of Rochester's High Falls historic preservation district; some of the original mill structures can still be seen and the Brown brothers' name lives on today in Brown Street and Brown Square, adjacent to the current site of Kodak World Headquarters on State Street. Matthew Brown was also variously a brickmaker, a miller and a respected physician, as well as being actively involved in local and state politics. He died of kidney disease aged 85 at his residence on Brown Street. He was interred at Mount Hope on January 2 1852.
Monroe County (NY) founder. Along with his brothers Francis and David, he was among the founders of the town of Rome, NY in 1794. In 1810 they purchased holdings just north of Colonel Nathaniel Rochester's village west of the Genesee River which he had named Rochesterville after himself, and founded a small settlement which they named Frankfort. In 1817 Colonel Rochester and Matthew Brown traveled to Albany for the first of several appeals to lobby the state legislature into creating a new county with their new town at its center. Despite opposition from surrounding communities, on Febnruary 23rd 1823 their efforts paid off as state lawmakers officially created Monroe County from parts of neighboring Genesee and Ontario Counties, bisected by the Genesee River and with Rochesterville as its county seat. In 1818 Matthew and Francis became the first people to harness the power of the Genesee River and falls by channeling a quarter mile ditch into the bedrock at the 96' High Falls. This provided a clean water supply to the town and enabled a booming mill industry to grow up around the falls, attracting workers and businessmen alike to the burgeoning new town. Frankfort is now the city of Rochester's High Falls historic preservation district; some of the original mill structures can still be seen and the Brown brothers' name lives on today in Brown Street and Brown Square, adjacent to the current site of Kodak World Headquarters on State Street. Matthew Brown was also variously a brickmaker, a miller and a respected physician, as well as being actively involved in local and state politics. He died of kidney disease aged 85 at his residence on Brown Street. He was interred at Mount Hope on January 2 1852.
Family Members
Parents
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
