Page:The Biographical Dictionary of America, vol. 01.djvu/468

BROWN.BROWN. the American society of water -color artists. Wiien the art of daguerreotrping was introduced he accepted an engagement from :\Iatthe\v Brady, a noted Washington photographer. He excelled in the art of ix>sing his subjects, and specimens of his work were sent to the London exposition of 1851. and won the gold medal. He founded at the National academy tlxe Ruskin life class, where the students worked exclusively with the brush instead of the j>encil. In ISfil he studied in Paris with Thomas Couture, who liighly commended his ability as an artist in water-color. He re- turned to New York after the war, and was for a time a wood-engraver for tlie Bible society, for Hari>er & Brothers, and for Frank Leslie. He died in Bellevue hospital, N. Y., in February, 1893.

BROWN, Jason Brevoort, representative, was Iwrn in Dillsburough. Ind., Feb. 26, 1839. He was admitted to the bar in 1860, and to prac- tice in the supreme court of the United States in 1866. In 1862 he was elected to the Indiana house of representatives and re-elected in 1864. He was elected to the state senate in 1870 and again in 1880. and in 1888 a representative to the 51st congress. He served three terms, 1889- '9.") and died at Seymour. Ind., March 10, 1898.

BROWN, John, colonist, was born in England in 1630; eldest sou of Chad and Elizabeth Brown. He settled in Rhode Island with his parents in 1638, where he became i^rominent in town affairs. He served frequently as a juryman, was com- missioner on union of towns in 1654, and freeman in 1665. In 1659 he was appointed surveyor of highways, served on various committees, and was moderator, member of the town council with Roger Williams and Thomas Harris, and deputy in legislature. He died about 1706.

BROWN, John, merchant, was born in Provi- dence. R. I., Jan. 27, 1736; third son of James and Hope (Power) Brown, and third of the " four brothers." He gained a large fortune, from which he contributed liberally to the cause of independence. The Hope Furnace in Cranston, built and owned by the "four brothers," was one of the chief manufacturing places for Con- tinental cannon. In June, 1772, when the British sloop-of-war Gaspee was destroyed, he was one of the foremost in the attacking party. The stjry is thus told by Bancroft: "On the ninth of June the Providence packet was returning to Providence, and Dudingston of the Gaspee gave chase. The tide being at flood the packet ven- tured near shore; the Gaspee confidently fol- lowed, and, drawing more water, ran aground on Namquit Point. The following night a party of men in six or seven boats, led by John and Joseph Brown of Providence, and Simeon Potter of Bristol, boarded the stranded schooner, after a scuffle in which Dudingston was wovinded,

took and landed its crew, and then set it on fire." Brown, for his hand in the affair, was bound and taken to Boston, but his brother Moses finally succeeded in liberating liim, and by the utmost vigilance he escaped further imprisonment. He rendered great service to the colonists by giving orders to his captains to return with their ves- sels loaded with powder, and he was thus enabled to meet the pressing needs of the Con- tinental army at Cambridge. In 1782 he with- drew from the firm of the " four brothers," and settled at India Point, where he entered upon the then almost untried venture of opening direct trade with the East Indies and China. In 1767 he was chosen a member of the committee in the first unsuccessful attempt to establish pub- lic schools in Rhode Island. His interest in edu- cational matters was also shown by his liberal contributions to the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation, and on 3Iay 14, 1770, he laid the cornerstone of its first building, after- wards the University hall. For twenty years he acted as treasurer of this institution. He was also an influential member of the Baptist church, giving liberally of his wealth for its support. He was repeatedly elected to the general assembly, and in 1799 he was sent as a representative to the 6th Congress, serving two years. He died Sept. 20, 1803.

BROWN, John, soldier, was born at Sandis- field. Mass., Oct. 19, 1744. After his graduation from Yale he studied the law, and practised first at Johnstown, N. Y., where he was king's attor- ney, and later at Pittsfield, Mass. In 1774 he was a member of the Massachusetts provincial congress, and in 1775 he was sent to Canada to make observations and reports as to the attitude of the people there. He received the ai)ix)int- ment of major in the provincial army in July, 1775, and in the fall of that year aided in the capture of Fort Chambly. He served in the Quebec campaign under Col. Ethan Allen, and assisted in the surprise and capture of Ticonde- roga, marching out the prisoners, and personally conveying the report of the expedition to Con- gress. In 1770 he was commissioned lieutenant- colonel, and the following year commanded the forces tliat attacked Ticonderoga and other posts near Lake George and Lake Champlain. He suc- ceeded in capturing all the British outposts between the north end of Lake George and Fort Ticonderoga. Mount Hope, Mount Defiance, the French lines, and many supplies and boats were .seized, together with two hundred and ninety- three Britisli prisoners. He also set free about one hundred Americans. Not long afterwards he re.signed from the army because of his intense hatred for Arnold, and three years previous to the treachery of the latter Brown denounced