Difference between revisions of "Brown, Burton & Davis, Architects"

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Principals:

William R. Brown (1846-1918)[a]

Matthew H. Burton (1869-1947)[b}

David D. Davis (c. 1866-c. 1925)[c]

Brown, Burton & Davis was a busy but short-lived architectural partnership based in Cincinnati, Ohio. The partners had numerous commissions between 1899 and 1901, designing large churches from Pennsylvania to Kansas. Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church in downtown Lincoln is their single known Nebraska project.[1][2]

Lineage of Principals' Associations

1898, 1902-1907: Burton & Davis, architects, Cincinnati.

1899-1901: Brown, Burton & Davis, architects, Cincinnati.[III][oo]

Other Associations

1900-1901: employed Michael Heister, architect, residing in Bellevue, Kentucky.[I][o]

1900-1901: Lincoln architect A. W. Woods supervised construction of St. Paul M. E. Church, Lincoln.[2]

St. Paul M. E. Church, 1900.(Michael Heister)

Known Nebraska Work

Saint Paul Methodist Episcopal (now United Methodist) Church (1900-1901), South 12th & M Streets, Lincoln, Nebraska.[1][2]

Similar Church Projects

Brown, Burton & Davis designed approximately a dozen churches during their brief partnership, located in at least five states. Several followed a similar design to St. Paul Methodist in Lincoln.

Central M. E. Church (1899), Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.[BBD1]

St. Paul's Methodist Church (1900), southwest corner of Ashland Blvd & Harrison St., Chicago, Illinois.[BBD2]

Dwight M. E. Church (1901), West Mazon Street, Dwight, Illinois.[BBD3][]

A Chicago paper noted in November, 1901, that "Plans for several new churches have just been completed by W. R. Brown." These included Salem Evangelical Church at Lincoln St. and Washburne Ave. in Chicago, Gary Memorial (Congregational) Church in Wheaton, Illinois, First Presbyterian in Mattoon, Illinois, and First Baptist in Charleston, West Virginia.[WBR List]

First Baptist Church (1902), Topeka, Kansas.[WRB 2]

Notes

a. William Raper Brown (1846-1918) served in an Ohio regiment in the Civil War. He studied architecture at the University of Indiana and then at Cornell University from 1871-1874.[3]

IV, in Village of Ridgefield Park. Overpark Township, NJ, with wife Flora P.C., both b. Ohio, both b. 1846

b. re Matthew H. Burton

c. re David D. Davis

d. re Michael Heister

oo. A Cincinnati newspaper noted on October 9, 1901, that "...Matthew H. Burton has severed his connection with the firm of Brown, Burton & Davis, architects...Mr. Burton withdrew from the firm on September 1 last, and as yet has not decided whether he will embark in business as an architect by himself or not. David D. Davis, his former partner...stated that the matter of continuing the firm as Brown & Davis had not as yet been settled."[III] Brown & Davis were listed in Cincinnati directories as partners from 1902 to 1907.

References

1. "New Church Edifice. St. Paul Methodist Official Board Takes Action...Experienced Church Builders Are Employed," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (February 10, 1900), 1 (with perspective sketch).

2. "A Worthy New Building. Present Home of St. Paul's Congregation. One of Largest in the West," (Lincoln) Nebraska State Journal (November 18, 1901), 3 (with sketch of floor plan).

3. Cornell Alumni Directory, XIII:12 (Cornell University: Ithaca, NY, 1922), 41.

BBD1. "Proposed New Central M. E. Church," Wilkes-Barre (Pennsylvania) Times (June 6, 1899), 7 (illustrated with perspective rendering).

BBD2. "Two Congregations Unite," The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (June 11, 1900), 12 (Illustrated with perspective rendering).

WRB2. "The Exercises of Laying The Corner Stone of the New Methodist Church, At Dwight, Ill.," Dwight (Illinois) Star and Herald (August 17, 1901), 8 (with well-rendered perspective).

III. "It will be news..." (announcement that Burton had "...severed his connection with the firm of Brown, Burton & Davis, architects..."), Cincinnati (Ohio) Enquirer (October 9, 1901), 5.

WRB list. "Plans for several new churches...," The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (November 12, 1901), 9; illustrated in same newspaper (November 17, 1901), 28.

WRB3. "W. R. Brown is preparing plans for a new church...at Topeka, Kan...." The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) (July 18, 1902), 10.

IV. Ancestry.com. New Jersey, U.S., State Census, 1915, s.v. "William R. Brown," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2017.

V. Ancestry.com. U.S., Find a Grave® Index, 1600s-Current, s.v. "William R. Brown," [database on-line]. Lehi, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2012.

Page Citation

E. F. Zimmer & D. Murphy, “Brown, Burton & Davis, Architects,” in David Murphy, Edward F. Zimmer, and Lynn Meyer, comps. Place Makers of Nebraska: The Architects. Lincoln: Nebraska State Historical Society, April 30, 2025. http://www.e-nebraskahistory.org/index.php?title=Place_Makers_of_Nebraska:_The_Architects Accessed, June 21, 2025.

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