Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/430

402 On 13 March, 1865. he was made brigadier-general by brevet for faithful and meritorious services during the war. On 8 June, 1880, he was appointed paymaster-general, with the rank of brigadier- general, and on 6 Feb., 1882, retired from service.— His nephew, Thompson S., civil engineer, b. in Brownville, N. Y., in 1807; d. in Naples, Italy, 30 Jan., 1855, was graduated at the U. S. military academy in 1825, and was assistant professor of mathematics there for a few months, then served in the construction of Fort Adams, R. I., and from 1828 till 1833 as aide to his uncle, and afterward in the construction of fortifications, light-houses, harbors, and roads. On 31 Oct., 1836. he resigned his commission, and was chief engineer of the Buffalo and Erie railroad in 1836-'8, of the western division of the New York and Erie railroad in 1838-'42, and of the whole road from 1842 till 1849. He then went to Russia as consulting engineer of the St. Petersburg and Moscow railroad.

BROWN, James, publisher, b. in Acton, Mass., 19 May, 1800; d. 10 March, 1855. His entrance into active life was as a servant in the family of Prof. Hedge, of Cambridge, by whom he was instructed in the classics and in mathematics. He was next employed by William Hillard as a shopboy, and in due course of time became a member of the publishing firm of Hillard, Gray &amp; Co. That firm being dissolved in consequence of the death of one of the partners, he joined that of Charles C. Little &amp; Co., afterward Little &amp; Brown, and remained in connection with it until his death. The specialty of the firm to which Mr. Brown belonged was the publication of law-books and the importation of foreign editions in the general trade. In each of those departments his literary knowledge and refined taste were notable, and materially aided in improving the style of book-making in the United States. A life of Mr. Brown, by George S. Hillard, was published in Boston in 1855.

BROWN, James Cauldwell, clergyman, b. in St. Clairsville, Ohio, 5 Oct., 1815 ; d. in Paducah, Ky., 14 July, 1862. He was graduated at Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa., in 1835, after which he spent two years at the Western Theological Seminary in Alleghany, Pa., and then studied at the theological seminary in Columbia, S. C. He was licensed to preach by the presbytery of Harmony, S. C., and in 1839 went to Indiana to engage in missionary work along the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Settling in Valparaiso, Ind., he preached there for twenty-one years, and built up the largest Presbyterian church in northern Indiana. Nearly all the churches of his denomination within a circuit of thirty miles were organized by him. In 1860 he became general agent of the Theological Seminary of the Northwest in Chicago, where he initiated measures that resulted in the establishment of a Presbyterian Seminary. During the winter of 1861 he preached in South Bend, Ind., and while there was elected chaplain of the 48th Indiana volunteers. He served with his regiment from May, 1862, till shortly before his death, which resulted from disease contracted in camp.

BROWN, John, soldier, b. in Sandisfield, Mass., 19 Oct., 1744; d. in Stone Arabia, N. Y., 19 Oct., 1780. Ilis parents early settled in Rutland, Vt. He was graduated at Yale in 1771, and studied law with Oliver Arnold in Providence. After being admitted to the bar he began practice at Caghnawaga (now Johnstown), N. Y., where he was appointed king's attorney. In 1773 he removed to Pittsfield, Mass., and became an active patriot. He was sent to Canada to excite the people to revolt in 1774, and again in 1775. His pretence was the purchase of horses ; but the Canadians remarked that he was a singular jockey, for the horses never suited him. In 1775 he was a delegate to the provincial congress, and was among those from Massachusetts who were associated with Ethan Allen in the capture of Fort Ticonderoga and intrusted with the conveying away of the prisoners. During July of 1775 he accompanied Allen on his expedition to Canada, and on 24 Sept. captured Fort Chambly. As he failed to co- operate with Allen at the engagement before Montreal, the latter was captured and Brown severely censured. He was present at the attack of Quebec on 31 Dec, 1775, when Gen. Montgomery fell, and successfully accomplished the firing of St. John's gate. Congress, on 1 Aug., 1776, voted him a commission as lieutenant-colonel, with rank and pay in the continental army from November, 1775. During the early part of 1777 he was actively engaged in the fighting along the shores of Lake George, and on 18 Sept., 1777, he surprised the outposts of Fort Ticonderoga, liberating 100 American prisoners and capturing 293 of the British forces, together with a large quantity of supplies. He then joined the main army under Gen. Gates, to whom during the following month Gen. Burgoyne surrendered his army. Soon after this event Col. Brown retired from the service on account of his detestation of Benedict Arnold, whom he charged with having levied contributions on the Canadians for his own private use and benefit. He said that Arnold would prove a traitor, as he had already sold many lives for money. Subsequently he was employed occasionally in the Massachusetts service, and was a member of the state legislature in 1778. In the autumn of 1780 he marched up the valley of the Mohawk for the relief of Gen. Schuyler, but was led into an ambuscade of Canadians, tories, and Indians at Stone Arabia, in Palatine, where he was killed with forty-five of his men.

BROWN, John, senator, b, in Staunton, Va., 12 Sept., 1757: d. in Frankfort, Ky., 29 Aug., 1837. He was a student at Princeton when the revolutionary army retreated through New Jersey, and at once enlisted, serving until the close of the war, after which he continued his education at Washington College, Lexington, Va., and then taught school while studying law. In 1782 he was admitted to the bar and began practice at Frankfort, Ky. He was elected a member of the legislature of Virginia from the district of Kentucky, and was also a delegate from the same district to the continental congress in 1787-'8. Later he was elected to congress from this section of Virginia, serving from 4 March, 1789, till 5 Nov., 1792, when he became the first U. S. senator from Kentucky, serving from 5 Nov., 1792, till 3 March, 1805. Senator Brown took a prominent part in the Indian warfare of his time, in the admission of Kentucky into the union, and in securing for the west the navigation of the Mississippi. He was the first member of congress from the Mississippi valley, and the last survivor of the continental congress.—His brother, James, senator, b. near Staunton, Va., 11 Sept., 1766; d. in Philadelphia, Pa., 7 April, 1835. He received a classical education at Washington College, Lexington, Va., studied law, was admitted to the bar, and began practice in Frankfort, Ky. In 1791 he commanded a company of sharp-shooters in an expedition against the Indians, and in 1792 became secretary to Gov. Isaac Shelby, of Kentucky. Soon after the cession of Louisiana he removed to New Orleans, and for a time assisted Edward Livingston in compiling the