Timothy Brown Sr. (February 24, 1889 – December 31, 1977) was an American lawyer and jurist from Madison, Wisconsin. He was the 18th chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court (1962–1963), and served a total of 14 years on the court. Before joining the court, he was executive legal counsel to governors Walter S. Goodland and Oscar Rennebohm, the latter appointed him to the Supreme Court.^[1]

Biography

Born in Madison, Wisconsin, Brown graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and received his law degree from Harvard Law School. During World War I, Brown served in the United States Navy. Brown practiced law in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and served as executive counsel to the Governor of Wisconsin.^[2] In 1949, he joined the Wisconsin Supreme Court and in 1962 became chief justice of the court, retiring in 1964.^[3][4][5]

He became chief justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court by rule of seniority on May 18, 1962, after the death of Chief Justice Grover L. Broadfoot. At the time he became chief justice, he was already expected to step down at the end of 1963, when his current term expired. This was due to a 1955 amendment to the state constitution, which set 70 as a mandatory retirement age for state judges.^{[6][note 1]}

Personal life and family

On June 29, 1921, Timothy Brown married Margaret Seymour Titchener, at her parents' home in Ithaca, New York. Margaret Titchener was the eldest daughter of psychologist Edward B. Titchener. They met at the University of Wisconsin, while she was working on the staff of the Romance language department, where she earned her Ph.D.^[7] They had one son together, Timothy Jr. Margaret suffered from a long illness in the 1930s and died at age 40 in February 1936.^[8]

Later that year, on July 16, Brown married Louise Coxon, daughter of a prominent Madison family. Louise was a dress designer, and had studied under Bradshaw Crandell.^[9]

Brown, his second wife, and his son all died in the last quarter of 1977. Brown's son, Timothy Jr., followed his mother in the study of Romance languages and taught Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Arizona for 25 years. During World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in the U.S. 3rd Infantry Division. He died in Arizona at age 55 after suffering from a respiratory disease.^[10][11]

Brown's wife, Louise, died on December 5, 1977, at age 71, after 41 years of marriage. At the time of her death, she was celebrated as a civic leader and patron of the arts in Madison.^[12] Timothy Brown died just a few weeks later, in a nursing home in Madison, on December 31, 1977.^[3][13] He left an estate valued at $3 million (about $15 million adjusted for inflation to 2024). He was survived by three granddaughters.^[14]

Notes

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