“B” is for Brown, Edgar Allan (1888-1975)

“B” is for Brown, Edgar Allan (1888-1975). Legislator. Brown was born in Aiken County. He represented Barnwell County in the South Carolina House of Representatives (1920-1926) and served as speaker (1925-1926). In 1928 he was elected to the S. C. Senate where he remained until his retirement in 1972--serving as president pro tempore from 1942 to 1972. In September 1954 the South Carolina Democratic Party’s executive committee selected Brown as the party's candidate for a U.S. Senate seat. In response Strom Thurmond announced a write-candidacy and defeated Brown in his third attempt to be elected to the U.S. Senate. Edgar Allan Brown was a fiscal conservative and politically was one of the most powerful men in state government through his position as president pro tempore of the Senate and chair of the Senate Finance Committee.