Winfield Scott Brown was born around 1851 in Indiana to Corkin and Amy Brown. His father was a farmer and retail merchant who owned $12,000 of real estate and $9,000 of personal property by 1870. He grew up and attended school in Brown, Indiana, and by 1870, he was working as a freight and ticket agent. He married Bettie Burch on January 4, 1877, and their daughter May was born around 1878. They lived in Brown, and he operated a sawmill. He died in 1892.