ANDERSON — Madison County Historical Society Inc. honored Pendleton resident Jay Brown with its 2021 Elwood H. Phillips Award on Monday, Nov. 22, at Anderson First United Methodist Church.
“Jay has been involved in the preservation of history since he was a young man beginning with helping out the historical museum next door to his grandmother’s home in Salem, Indiana,” Deb Weston, vice president of the historical society, said in a release.
Weston pointed to Brown’s efforts to help move and restore an 1830s-era log cabin to a site in Falls Park and the rebuilding of the Conestoga wagon that pioneer John Rogers used when he came to the Pendleton area in 1818. Both preservation efforts, which took place in the past several years, were covered in The Times-Post.
“In addition, Jay purchased the two-story homestead built by John Rogers in 1837 and restored it as his Brown family home,” Weston wrote. “Jay’s significant contributions to the preservation of Madison County history most deservedly allows him to join the previous 38 winners of this award.”
Madison County Historian Stephen Jackson said a three-person committee including himself recommended Brown for this year’s award, and that the historical society’s 15-person board of trustees unanimously accep-ted the recommendation.
“I’ve observed Jay Brown, I observed the things that he’s done … and thought it was time we recognize him,” Jackson said.
There have been other recipients from south Madison County of what is the historical society’s sole award, presented once a year, for contributions to historical preservation efforts, he said.
Past recipients include Bob Post of Pendleton, who has helped with projects “all over the county,” and Pendleton Historical Museum, for the quality of its installations.
