JOHN W. BROWN, vice-president of The Miami Light, Heat and Power Company, vice-president of The French Oil Mill Machinery Company and identified with numerous other successful enterprises of Miami County, is one of the most prominent business men of Piqua and is owner and proprietor of the largest general store between Dayton and Toledo, which has been recently completed at Piqua.

For the building of his immense business house, Mr. Brown secured the best site in Piqua and has given the city the finest structure of its kind in this section of Ohio. Its dimensions are 40 by 156 feet, with four stories and basement and fine stone front. The entire basement is devoted to household goods and the stock is complete. The first floor is devoted to the display and sale of dress goods, silks, trimmings, laces, embroidery, linens, ginghams, underwear and hosiery, fine goods collected from the best mills in the country. The second floor's display includes millinery, muslin underwear, ladies' waists, silk and mercerized petticoats and ladies', children's and misses' cloaks and suits. On the third floor are found carpets, draperies and floor coverings, while the fourth floor is devoted to mattings, oil cloths, linoleums, trunks and suitcases. The business is to be incorporated under the style of The John Brown Company, a closed corporation, with a capital stock of $100,000. Mr. Brown is a director in the Piqua National Bank, the Piqua Savings Bank, the French Oil Mill Machinery Company, the Piqua Handle Company, the Piqua Furniture Company and the Miami Light, Heat and Power Company. In the developing of large enterprises, Mr. Brown has shown remarkable business acumen, and his influence is very largely felt in the concentration of capital and the encouragement to trade, throughout city and county. In 1888 Mr. Brown was married to Miss Nettie E. Brooks, of Piqua. They are members of St. James Episcopal Church, in which he is a vestryman. He belongs to the Piqua Business Men's Association and to the Piqua Club.