Born in Athelstan (now Hichinbrooke), Huntingdon County, Quebec of Scots-Irish parents, Brown was educated at McGill University where he received an Honours B.A. Degree in 1899 and at The Presbyterian College, Montreal, where he graduated in 1902 with a B.D. degree, the Silver Medal, a $60.00 Theological Scholarship, and a prize ($10.00 in books) in public speaking. He also won other scholarships and prizes during his time at Presbyterian College. During his summers, he went into the newly opened lumbering camps of Northern Ontario, serving first as a student missionary, was ordained on 30 September 1902 as an Ordained Missionary to "Canada Atlantic Lumber Camps", from "Rainy Lake to Whitney" under the North Bay Presbytery. He remained in this post until July 1903, when he moved west to work amongst miners in the West Kootenay area of British Columbia at Salmo, New Denver and Silverton, all in proximity of Nelson.