Orville Brown, born March 10, 1908, at Sharon, Kansas, was the youngest of five
  children of Clarence and Ellen Brown. They moved to a farm near Hazelton - then called
  Cedar Hills, even though only one cedar tree had survivied the pioneers' saws. He
  attended grade school in a one room school called Hillside, which on Sundays was used
  as a church.
     The family raised large gardens and farmed wheat with horses and mules. They
  harvested the grain with a header barge and a steam powered threshing machine. As the
  youngest, Orville had the job of hauling water to the engine which consumed large
  quantities in the production of power. This was very heavy work and certainly primitive 
  when compared to today's modern machinery.
     He was orphaned at the age of eleven years and lived with his eldest brother, Gaines.
  At the age of 12 he was breking horses to work and ride and was soon riding in Rodeo
  contests throughout the area. He became nationally known in the events of bronco riding
  and steer bulldogging. In 1927 at the Briggs Ranch near Protection, Kansas, he became 
  the first person to bulldog a buffalo from a horse.
     As Orville matured, he grew too heavy for bronco riding and became a blacksmith at
  Wallace, Kansas. While there, a wrestling coach saw his powerful body and encouraged him
  to start training to become a wrestler. He worked at his job plus six miles of running
  everyday and trained in a little sod house in which the coarch had placed a wrestling
  mat.
     By 1932 he had defeated all opponents in the area and was well known throughout the
  midwest, having won the Kansas State Title from Allen Eustace. He travelled east
  wrestling in all the major cities in the US and Canada, including many main events in
  Madison Square Garden. He defeated all the prominent wrestlers of his time including
  Ed :Strangle: Lewis, Everett Marshall, George Zaharias, Ray Steel, "Man Mountain" Dean,
  John Pesek, and Lou Thesz. He defeated Dick Shikat on May 19, 1942, in Louisville, 
  Kentucky, for the World's Heavyweight Championship. He was recognized by the National
  Wrestling Alliance as the undisputed World Heavyweight Champion.
     He successfully defended his title until a near fatal auto accident forced his
  retirement from the ring in 1949. The title was awarded to Lou Thesz. Thus Orville
  retired undefeated. He later became a successful promoter of wrestling matches until
  his retirement in 1964.
     He married Grace Charlotte Springer, October 13, 1927. They have one son, Richard,
  and two grandchildren, Douglas and Dorinda. Orville and Grace presently live in John
  Knox Villiage at Lee's Summit, Missouri.
               
     Source:Chosen Land - Barber County, Kansas,  pg. 116 
     Submitted by: Mrs. Grace C. Brown