Down on the farm

CORDESVILLE -- As U.S. Rep. Henry Brown wrestled over the Christmas holiday with whether he wanted to seek a sixth term, his farm weighed heavily on his mind.

This is where Brown and his wife, Billye, can awake, make coffee and rock on the porch while watching the sun break over 10 acres of man-made fish ponds, scattered cypress trees and the distant woods.

This is where Brown can climb onto one of his two tractors and cut the grass or head into his forest to thin out the underbrush, often catching glimpses of turkeys and deer.

And it is here where the 74-year-old "Republican Workhorse" can take his grandchildren fishing for bream or simply toss pellets in the water and watch the catfish roil.

On Monday, Brown announced he would not run again, citing several reasons. While the job had lost some appeal, particularly in a Democratic-controlled Congress, Brown also realized he will be 75 at the end of this term and that there are other things he would like to do in life.

"I didn't want to come back like Mendel Rivers or Floyd Spence," he said, referring to two veteran Palmetto State congressmen who died in office.

Farm livin'

Brown's passion for his farm is no act designed to attract the rural vote.

He seldom has invited in outsiders, particularly reporters. Instead, he considers the farm his "inner sanctum," a refuge from the bustle of politics.

Around his Charleston congressional office, Brown refers to it as "his gym," said his local communications director Sharon Axson. As Christmas presents, his staff has given him a wood chipper and an industrial strength weed trimmer.

Brown let his guard down a bit last week and instead of getting into his suit, simply donned a blue shirt -- one embossed with a sunglasses-wearing alligator and the words "Always an Adventure, Berkeley County South Carolina" -- to show some of the things he was looking forward to doing more often.

Before the tour, he talks about a black T-shirt his sister recently bought him from a Cracker Barrel restaurant. It reads, "Farm Livin' is the Life for Me."

As he drives along the dirt road toward his cottage, Brown makes sure to point out a yellow caution sign that reads, "Slow -- Grandparents at Play."

"I love the trees. I love the land," he says. "The environmentalists don't give me much of a shake... but I've got 1,500 acres of trees growing that are helping the environment."

The burn and the ad

While Brown's farm is his refuge, it also led to one of his biggest political headaches.

In 2004, he was conducting a controlled burn that got out of control and spread to part of the neighboring Francis Marion National Forest.

The fire -- and Brown's subsequent efforts to get his fine reduced -- were reported at the time, but the whole affair was rekindled in a dramatic way during his 2008 re-election bid as Democrat Linda Ketner trumpeted the incident on a widely aired television ad.

Brown defeated Ketner by a 52-48 margin, but all is not forgotten.

"They really resonated, those ads," he said, adding that controlled burning is a crucial part of farming loblolly pines. Driving by hundreds of his acres, he pointed out areas that he burned last year or plans to burn this year.

"If you owned something, would it make sense for you to set it afire if you couldn't put it out?" he said. "I don't think so."

But now that he's free of re-election concerns, Brown seems freer to make light of it all.

In the spacious shed near his cottage, he said that he has a bulldozer, two tractors and a pickup truck that was one year too old to exchange in the cash for clunkers program. He also has an old fire truck.

"I had all the staff from Washington down here last year," he said, "and we took a spin on the fire truck."

What the future holds

At this point, Brown has few plans aside from finishing the final year of his term -- one that he hopes will bring new success toward building Interstate 73 to Myrtle Beach.

After that, he expects to stay busy tending his forest.

He would like to create an oak allee to give his property a more formal entrance, even though the place has an informal feel, from the paddle boat resting near the front porch to the oyster table not far from the back.

Even his wood frame cottage began its life as a car sales office until Brown had it hauled from Remount Road to his property here. He added porches and a few other rooms.

While he might want a more formal entrance, everything else around the farm matches the informality of his political approach, one that focused on constituent service more than speech-making.

Brown says he hasn't decided what to do with the roughly $700,000 he has in his campaign war chest. The law allows him to return it to the donors, or give it to the Republican Party or to nonprofit groups. He can't keep it.

He's also fuzzy about what political role, if any, he envisions playing from here on out.

"It's difficult to foresee that far in the future," he said. "I don't know that I'll run for office again, but I certainly have a great love for this country."

"It's all been a transition," he said. "We've been connecting these dots over there. Now there's not another dot."

And the man who has lived the past decade in the public eye representing South Carolina's most crowded congressional district can begin spending more time in a place where very few people will see him.

"Once you get there and you lock the gate, you're remote. It's isolated," he said. "That's what makes it nice."

Reach Robert Behre at rbehre@postandcourier.com or 937-5771.