Dr. Ellen E. Brown

Photograph from The Delaware County Advocate, August 1940

PHYSICIAN, WOMAN, FRIEND

The essence of her personality is revealed in the fact Dr. Ellen E. Brown retired from medical practice only when she reached the fine old age of ninety-one. It is significant because it reveals how deep and rich was her interest in life and how much of herself she gave gladly and unstintingly to life. A strong believer in moderation, Dr. Brown was yet compassionate of those less strong; grieving against social evil and unjustice, she was ever champion of the downtrodden.

Dr. Brown, though beloved and well-known for over fifty years to Chesterites, was not native to these parts. Born in Peru, Massachusetts, October 5, 1848, Ellen E. Brown came of Scotch-English parentage, whose forbears numbered among Massachusetts' early settlers. In living to 92 she kept faith with family tradition, for her predecessors were exceptional for their longevity. Following private school education in Massachusetts and Philadelphia, Dr. Brown "read medicine" with her physician-surgeon brother-in-law, Dr. William Richards, before entering Women's Medical College in 1881.

Prior to setting up general practice in Chester in 1885, Dr. Brown practiced medicine on Staten Island and in her home State.
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It is a tribute to her qualities both as physician and friend that many women in and around Chester are named "Ellen" in honor of the calm, comforting doctor who helped them into the world. 

From The Delaware County Advocate - August, 1940

[Obituary]