Henry Wing Brown was born in Granville, Washington County, New York on March 26, 1841. He was the son of Josiah H. and Mariah Clark Brown who had five children Jane, Josiah B., Henry W., James, and McClintock. Josiah H. Brown was a physician, minister, and a trained shoemaker. In 1851 Josiah would die suddenly leaving Maria alone with the five children. Jane was fourteen years of age and Josiah B. was twelve when their father died.
In 1856 Mariah left New York with her three children Henry, James and McClintock traveling west with her brother-in-law Benjamin D. Brown. The family would settle in Barry, Pike County, Illinois. On July 3, 1860, Maria married Burton Gray who was twelve years younger than her.
As Henry became a young man, he hired himself out as a farm laborer until the beginning of the American Civil War. On August 27, 1861, Henry enlisted in Company I of the 28th Illinois Infantry at age twenty for three years of service.
The 28th Illinois was heavily engaged at the Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee on April 6 – 7, 1862 suffering 239 men killed, wounded, or missing. It participated in the Siege of Corinth, Mississippi, and the Siege of Vicksburg and the second battle of Jackson, Mississippi where the regiment took part in a charge upon the enemy that was not ordered or approved by General William T. Sherman. The regiment went into the attack with 128 men, losing seventy-three killed, wounded and sixteen taken prisoner. On January 4, 1864, the regiment enlisted as veterans and were granted a thirty-day furlough home. Henry W. Brown was discharged from the 28th on August 26, 1864, after his term of service had expired. He returned home to Barry where he spent the next decades working as a farm laborer. On April 17, 1890, Henry filed for a Civil War Veteran Pension which was granted. In April of 1897 Henry was admitted to the Soldiers and Sailors Home in Quincy, Illinois. Records indicate that he must have been released because he was admitted again in November 1901.
In 1864 when the men of the 28th were home on a veterans furlough the local women of Barry presented the men with a handmade national flag. The flag survived the war and was brought home only to be seen on special occasions like Remembrance Day, later called Memorial Day, parades and celebrations. It may have draped the caskets of the veterans as they were honored by the John McTucker Grand Army of the Republic Post #154 during their funeral.
As the ranks thinned Henry found himself caretaker of the flag. It was used to cover his casket when he died on May 2, 1917. Through the care of many people this flag and its story can be seen today at the Barry Museum located in Barry, Illinois.