Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/461

BROWN.BROWN. BROWN, Chad or Chadd, colonist, was born in England. The date of his birth is not known. He came to America in July, 1638, on board the " good ship Martin," landing in Boston with his wife and one child, a son. One of the first public acts he performed was to witness to an unwrit- ten will made by a feUow voyager, who died on the passage. He soon became involved in the so- called "anabaptist heresy." Roger Williams, who evidently was his friend, had been sent out- side of the Massachusetts Bay colony after repeated " laborings with, " and as Mr. Brown, with clear convictions, could not hide his faith, he was also ordered to leave the colony. This was probably in the autumn of 1638, as it was in that year that the " initial deed " to the planta- tion acquired by purchase from the Indians was executed by Roger Williams and twelve associ- ates. Williams was leader and minister of the colony, but his views seem to have grown erratic ; and he finally seceded, and Mr. Brown was elected his successor. In order to qualify for the office, he went to England, was ordained elder in 1642, and on his return assumed the duties of pastor. He thus became the first elder in the first Baptist church in America. His work was by no means perfunctory, for besides acting as minister he served in various public capacities. He was one of a committee ap- pointed to make peace with Massachusetts, and as a land surveyor assisted largely in compiling a list of original divisions or grants of land. This list, bearing date 1660, has been carefully pre- served in the office of the city clerk of Provi- dence, R. I. During his pastorate a controversy arose, concerning the " laying on of hands" which gave birth to the " Five Principle Baptists. " Dur- ing King Philip's war the plantation records were destroyed, and historians have had no means of arriving at the exact date of his death. He was buried in his home lot. He left five sons, all of whom took an important part in public life, and helped in many ways to forward the prosperity of the Providence plantations, and the deeds of their descendants in Rhode Island are a large part of its history. In 1792 an appropriation was made by the town of Providence to remove his remains to the North burying-ground and erect a simple tombstone over the grave, on which is inscribed: "Exiled from Massachusetts for Con- science Sake. He was a good citizen ; a faithful friend ; a devout minister ; in aU things blame- less." He died probably in 1665.

BROWN, Charles Brockden, novelist, was born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jan. 17, 1771. He was descended from Quakers, who came to America with Penn. His delicate and precocious child- hood was passed in study, mainly under the tutelage of Robert Proud, the historian. At the

age of sixteen his education was considered com- ])leted, and he began to write essays and poems, invented a species of shorthand, and studied un- ceasingly. He determined to make the law his profession, and began to read it in the office of a Mr. Wilcox. For recreation he joined the Belles lettres club, of which he soon became the ac- knowledged leader, and began to write for the Columbus Magazine, the result of which was that he determined to abandon the law, and become the pioneer of what was then a new and untried field in America, namely, the pursuit of literature as a profession. His desire for the society of men of congenial tastes led him to New York, and in 1797 he published his first work. In 1798 he wrote a series of articles for the Weekly Magazine, under the title, " The Man at Home," and began to write the novels which laid the basis of his fame. He made several abortive attempts to establish a magazine, and in 1803 a more fortu- nate one, which resulted in the establishment at Philadelphia of the Literary Magazine and American Register, which had an existence of some five or six years. The American Register, a semi-annual publication, was originated in 1803, and published by him until his death. Mr. Brown did not confine himself to the production of fiction, but employed his pen on political sub- jects, translations, memoirs, etc., and he left un- finished at his death a geographical work of large scope, and a work entitled, " Rome during the Age of the Antonines. " A sequential list of his works is as follows: *' Alcuin " (a dialogue, 1797) ; " Wieland, or The Transformation " (1798; reprinted in London, 1811) ; " Ormund, or The Secret Witness" (1799); "Arthur Mervyn " (1799-'80); "Jane Talbot" (1801); "Edgar Himtley, or the Memoirs of a Sleep- Walker " (1801) ; " Clara .Howard " (1801) ; "An Address to Congress on the Utility and Justice of Restric- tions on Foreign Commerce," a translation of Vohiey's "Travels in the U. S." (1804). Bio- graphies of him have been written by WilUam Dunlap, William H. Prescott and others. Most of his novels were reprinted in London soon after they appeared in America; a second edition of the whole series was issued in Boston, 1827; and a third edition in Philadelphia, in 1857. Always of a feeble constitution, he fell an easy prey to consumption, and died Feb. 22, 1810.

BROWN, D. Russell, governor of Rhode Island, was born at Bolton, Conn., March 28, 1848. son of Arba Harrison and Harriet MariUa (Dart) Brown. He received an academical education, and was for some time engaged as clerk in busi ness at Rockville and later at Hartford, Conn. In 1870 he settled in Providence, forming the firm of Butler, Brown & Co. From 1880 to 1884 he served as a member of the common council. lu