Ernest Spargur Brown (September 25, 1903July 23, 1965) served briefly as a

United States senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...

from

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...

in 1954. Born in

Alturas, California Alturas ( Spanish for "Heights"; Achumawi: ''Kasalektawi'') is the only incorporated city in Modoc County, California of which it is also the county seat. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, the city had a population ...

, Brown moved with his family to

Reno, Nevada Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada–California border. It is the county seat and most populous city of Washoe County, Nevada, Washoe County. Sitting in the High Eastern Sierra foothills, ...

, in 1906, where he later attended the public schools. He graduated from the

University of Nevada at Reno The University of Nevada, Reno (Nevada, the University of Nevada, or UNR) is a public land-grant research university in Reno, Nevada, United States. It is the state's flagship public university and primary land grant institution. It was founded ...

in 1927 with the

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree he had completed in 1926. Brown studied law at night while still in college, gained

admission to the bar An admission to practice law is acquired when a lawyer receives a license to practice law. In jurisdictions with two types of lawyer, as with barristers and solicitors, barristers must gain admission to the bar whereas for solicitors there are dist ...

in 1927, then commenced a legal practice in Reno. He served in the Nevada State Assembly in 1933. From 1935 to February 1942, Brown was the

district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represen ...

Washoe County Washoe County () is a county in the U.S. state of Nevada. As of the 2020 census, the population was 486,492, making it Nevada's second-most populous county. Its county seat is Reno. Washoe County is included in the Reno, NV Metropolitan Statis ...

. A longtime member of the military reserves, he resigned from office in 1942 to enter active service in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

as a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. He advanced through the ranks to

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

during the war, and he was discharged in 1945. Brown returned to his Reno home to resume the practice of law. On October 1, 1954, Nevada Governor

Charles H. Russell Charles Hinton Russell (December 27, 1903 – September 13, 1989) was an American politician who served as the List of Governors of Nevada, 20th Governor of Nevada. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party. Bio ...

, a college classmate of Brown's, appointed Brown to the U.S. Senate as a Republican to fill the vacancy caused by the death of veteran Senator

Pat McCarran Patrick Anthony McCarran (August 8, 1876 – September 28, 1954) was an American farmer, attorney, judge, and Democratic politician who represented Nevada in the United States Senate from 1933 until 1954. McCarran was born in Reno, Nevada, att ...

. Democrat Alan Bible defeated him in a special election to keep his Senate seat in November 1954. Bible assumed the seat on December 1, 1954, and Brown once again resumed the practice of law. Brown died in Reno in 1965, and was interred in the

Masonic Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

section of Mountain View Cemetery.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ernest 1903 births 1965 deaths District attorneys in Nevada Republican Party members of the Nevada Assembly Military personnel from Nevada Nevada lawyers People from Alturas, California Politicians from Reno, Nevada Republican Party United States senators from Nevada United States Army colonels University of Nevada, Reno alumni 20th-century American lawyers Military personnel from California American anti-communists 20th-century United States senators 20th-century members of the Nevada Legislature