Hope Power

Family/Spouse: Capt. James Brown, II. James (son of Baptist Minister James Brown and Mary Tew Harris) was born in 1698; died in 1739 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Nicholas Brown, Sr. (July 26, 1729 - May 29, 1791) was a Providence, Rhode Island merchant, civic leader and co-signer of the charter of the College of Rhode Island in 1763. In 1771, Nicholas Brown, Sr. was instrumental in convincing Baptist authorities to locate a permanent home for the College in his hometown of Providence. In 1804, the College was renamed Brown University following a gift made by Brown's son Nicholas Brown, Jr.
Nicholas, Sr. was apprenticed to his uncle Obadiah Brown (1712-1762) from the age of 16. Just before his 21st birthday, his older brother James (1724-1750) died at sea. Nicholas took his role as head of the family very seriously, delaying his marriage to Rhoda Jenckes (1741-1783) until he was 33 years old. Following the death of his uncle Obadiah, the family business conglomerate that included maritime trade along the Eastern Seaboard, with the Caribbean and with England; a rum distillery; spermaceti candle manufacturing; an iron foundry (the Hope Furnace); and a network of shops, was renamed Nicholas Brown & Co. Until 1771, Nicholas, Sr. worked in partnership with his three younger brothers Joseph (1733-1785), John (1736-1803), and Moses (1738-1836), who were known in Rhode Island annals as the "Four Brothers." Thereafter, the brothers continued to collaborate on ventures but were not longer partners.

Nicholas, Sr. served in the Rhode Island Legislature and became a civic leader, funding or fundraising for the paving of Providence streets, a library, a market house, the College of Rhode Island's first building, the First Baptist Church, a fire engine and other civic improvements. During the Revolution, he speculated in war bonds, supplied the Continental Army with gunpowder and foodstuffs, transformed the Hope Furnace into cannon works, and funded several privateering ventures. During the post-war "critical period," Nicholas, Sr. was a leader of the Federalist faction in Rhode Island that opposed paper money and supported ratifying the U.S. Constitution.[2]

Shortly after taking over the family business, Nicholas, Sr. ordered a nine-and-a half foot mahoganny desk-and-bookcase crafted by the John Goddard workshop of the Newport, Rhode Island. It was sold for his descendant, Nicholas Brown VI by Christie's Auctioneers on June 3rd, 1989 for $12,100,000, the highest price ever paid for a piece of decorative art at that date, to fund the restoration of the Nightingale-Brown House, which today is the John Nicholas Brown Center for Public Humanities and Cultural Heritage at Brown University.

Following Rhoda Brown's death in 1783, Nicholas, Sr. remarried Avis Binney (1749-1807). He fathered ten children with Rhoda and one with Avis, of which only two survived: a son Nicholas Brown, Jr. (1769-1841) and a daughter, Hope (1773-1855) who married Thomas Poynton Ives (1769-1835).

(wikipedia)

Died:
When Nicholas, Sr. died in 1791, the Rev. Dr. Stillman of Boston gave a eulogy:
He was the affectionate husband, the tender father, the compassionate master, the dutiful son, the loving brother, and the steady, faithful friend. He took much pains, by reading and by conversation, to inform his mind, and had acquired much general knowledge. But religion was his favorite subject. To Christianity in general, as founded on a fulness of evidence, and to its peculiar doctrines, he was firmly attached. * * * He was a Baptist from principle, and a lover of good men of all denominations. Blessed with opulence, he was ready to distribute to public and private uses. In his death the college in this place, this church and society, the town of Providence, and the general interests of religion, learning, and liberality have lost a friend indeed.
(wikipedia)

Nicholas married Rhoda Jenckes in 1762 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. Rhoda (daughter of Daniel Jenckes and Joanna Scott) was born on 13 Nov 1741; died on 6 Dec 1783 in Providence Co, Rhode Island; was buried in North Burial Ground, Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nicholas married Avis Binney after 1783 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. Avis was born in 1749; died in 1807. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Joseph Brown (December 3, 1733 ? December 3, 1785) was an early American industrialist and astronomer, and professor at Brown University.
Brown was born in Providence, Rhode Island, one of the four surviving sons (known in Providence annals as the ?Four Brothers?) of James Brown II (1698 ? 1739), a merchant, and Hope Power Brown. Like his father, Joseph Brown engaged in business, and in manufacturing, and acquired sufficient wealth to permit him to follow his natural taste for science. He was greatly interested in the science of electricity, and his knowledge of that subject was remarkable for the time. He left an electric machine of his own construction, an outstanding example of this sort of apparatus for that time.

He devoted considerable study to mechanics and was proficient in astronomy. His attention having been directed to the arrangements in course of preparation for the proper observation of the transit of Venus in 1769, he sent to England for suitable instruments, and subsequently an account of the observations made in Providence was published by Benjamin West, later professor of natural philosophy at Rhode Island College (now Brown University). Brown was a warm friend of the Rhode Island College, and was one of its trustees from 1769 until 1785. In 1770 he received the honorary degree of A.M. from the College, and from 1784 until his death held the chair of natural philosophy, giving his services to the institution without compensation. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1781.[1]

Joseph Brown was a member of the First Baptist Church in America. He died December 3, 1785 in Providence.
(wikipedia)

Notes:

The Rhode Island merchant slave-trader.
John Brown I (January 27, 1736 - September 20, 1803) was an American merchant, slave trader, and statesman from Providence, Rhode Island. Together with his brothers Nicholas, Joseph and Moses, John was instrumental in founding Brown University (then known as the College of Rhode Island) and moving it to their family's former land in Providence.[1][2][3][4] John Brown laid the cornerstone of the university's oldest building in 1770, and he served as its treasurer for 21 years (1775 - 1796).[2][4] Brown was one of the founders of Providence Bank and became its first president in 1791.[1][2] He was active in the American Revolution, notably as an instigator of the 1772 Gaspee Affair, and he served in both state and national government. At the same time, he was a powerful defender of slave trading, clashing aggressively?in newspapers, courts and politics?with his brother Moses, who had become an abolitionist.[1][4] John Brown's home in Providence is now a museum and National Historic Landmark.[2]

Brown went on to own a successful farming and shipping business with his brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and Moses Brown. He was active in the slave trade and China trade and invested heavily in privateers during the 1760s through 1780s.

Brown was a leader in the Sons of Liberty and was one of the instigators of the burning of the Gaspee in 1772. This was one of the first violent acts of defiance to the authority of the British Crown which eventually led up to the American Revolution.

In 1775, during the American Revolution, John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, the USS Providence (previously, the Katy). Brown was named as a delegate for Rhode Island to the Continental Congress in 1784-1785 but did not attend.

Controversy
John Brown was also an active slavetrader. On March 22, 1794, Congress passed the Slave Trade Act of 1794, which prohibited the making, loading, outfitting, equipping, or dispatching of any ship to be used in the trade of slaves.[7] Subsequently, on August 5, 1797, John Brown was tried in federal court as the first American to be tried under the 1794 law. Brown was convicted and was forced to forfeit his ship Hope.[8] [8]


Brown's involvement in the Triangular Trade in African slaves and financial contribution to the early years of Brown University's development are addressed in the official Response of Brown University to the Report of the Steering Committee on Slavery and Justice.[9]

Business interests
Brown's business interests were varied. In addition to the slave trade he was involved in shipbuilding and real estate speculation. He was also a partner (along with his brother Moses Brown and Rhode Island Governor Stephen Hopkins) in the Hope Furnace (located in Hope Village on the border of towns of Scituate and Coventry, RI) which made cannons during the American Revolution and through the War of 1812.

In 1791 Brown founded of the Providence Bank - the first bank in Rhode Island, and organizer of the Providence South Bridge Company.[10] After various acquisitions over the next 160 years Providence Bank evolved into FleetBoston Financial which, in turn, was absorbed by Bank of America in 2004. Providence Bank is one of the oldest "branches" in Bank of America's "family tree" and is, at least arguably, still a "living" corporate entity.

The original Providence Bank building still stands at 50 South Main Street in Providence and is the corporate office of the Brown & Ives Land Company which is another business which can trace its roots to John Brown

American revolution[edit]

John Brown played a leading role in the Gaspée Affair of 1772 that increased hostilities between the thirteen colonies and the British Empire and helped catalyze events leading up to the American Revolutionary War.[11] He was an active Federalist and pushed against Rhode Island's anti-federalist, "Country Party" in getting Rhode Island to become part of federal union.

Providence, the first warship to sail for America?s Continental Navy, was built in 1768 by John Brown. It was purchased by the colony of Rhode Island after British men-of-war began attacking Rhode Island?s shipping lanes. The General Assembly ordered its committee of safety to fit out two ships to defend the lanes, one of which became the Providence. The ship ? at one time under the command of John Paul Jones, considered the father of the American Navy ? went on to participate in 60 battles and to capture 40 British ships before it was dismantled in 1779 to prevent it from falling into the hands of the British.

Political activity

Brown was elected to the United States House of Representatives in 1798 and served one two year term from March 4, 1799 to March 4, 1801. The carriage he travelled to Washington in is referred to as "John Brown's chariot" and is preserved at the John Brown House in Providence.

Death and burial

John Brown died at Providence, Rhode Island on September 20, 1803, and is buried in the Brown family plot in the North Burial Ground in Providence.

(wikipedia)

John married Sarah Smith, (dau of who?) about 1760 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. Sarah was born in 1738; died in 1825 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Moses Brown (September 23, 1738 ? September 6, 1836) was a co-founder of Brown University and a New England abolitionist and industrialist, who funded the design and construction of some of the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution, including Slater Mill.
Brown was the son of James Brown II and Hope Power Brown and grew up in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the grandson of Baptist minister James Brown (1666?1732), and his father was a prosperous merchant. The family firm was active in distilling rum, owned an iron furnace, and took part in a wide variety of merchant activities including sponsoring the ill-fated and notorious voyage of the slave ship Sally in 1764.[1] Moses Brown's father died in 1739, and Moses was raised in the family of his uncle Obadiah Brown, who was primarily responsible for running the firm?s spermaceti works. Following Obadiah's death in 1762, Moses served as executor of his estate. Shares in the farming and shipping business were divided between Moses and his three brothers, Nicholas, Joseph, and John, and the business was renamed as Nicholas Brown & Co. The brothers were co-founders of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, later renamed Brown University after Nicholas's son. The family was active in the Baptist community of Providence and were descendants of Chad Brown (c. 1600 ? 1650), a Baptist minister who co-founded Providence with Roger Williams. Moses had a sister, Mary.

Brown's brother-in-law and business partner, Jabez Bowen was a notable Rhode Island political figure. Moses Brown eventually differentiated himself from his family by converting to Quakerism.

Moses Brown married his cousin Anna Brown (daughter of his uncle Obadiah) in 1764. They had two surviving children: Sarah (1764?1794, married William Almy) and Obadiah (1771?1822), as well as a daughter who died young. Moses also served as a deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1764 to 1771, and he served on a committee to oppose the Stamp Act in 1765. In 1769, he participated in efforts to move the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to Providence from Warren, Rhode Island. The four Brown brothers donated family land passed down from Chad Brown for the new campus.

Brown?s wife Anna died in 1773. He gradually retired from the family business and began his involvement with Quaker meetings. The following year, under the influence of his children's tutor, Job Scott, he formally became a member of the Society of Friends.
(wikipedia)

Family/Spouse: Anna Brown. Anna (daughter of Obadiah Brown, I and Mary Harris) was born in 1744; died in 1773. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Both Nicholas Brown, Jr. and his father were members of and large donors to the First Baptist Church in America. Nicholas Brown, Jr. graduated from the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1786. Brown created the company of Brown & Ives and served in the state legislature as a Federalist.

After inheriting his father's estate in 1791, Brown became such a great benefactor to the school that it was renamed Brown University for him in 1804 when he donated $5,000 to the college. His total gifts to the college totaled over $150,000. Brown also co-founded the Providence Athenaeum and was active in various Baptist and literary causes. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813
wikipedia

Family/Spouse: Ann Carter. Ann was born in 1770; died in 1798. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Thomas Poynton Ives. Thomas was born on 9 Apr 1769 in Providence, Providence Co, Rhode Island; died on 30 Apr 1835 in Providence, Providence Co, Rhode Island; was buried in North Burial Ground, Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: John Francis. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Charles Frederick Herreshoff. Charles was born in 1773; died in 1846. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Alice married Rep./Dr. James Brown Mason on 16 Jul 1800 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. James (son of John Mason and Rose Anna Brown) was born in 1775 in Thompson, Windham Co, Connecticut; died on 31 Aug 1819 in Providence Co, Rhode Island; was buried in North Burial Ground, Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nicholas married Abby Mason, (2nd cousin to spouse) in 1820 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Nicholas married Caroline Matilda Clements in 1831. Caroline was born in 1809; died in 1879. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Senator/Governor John Brown Francis. John (son of John Francis and Abigail Brown) was born on 31 May 1791 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died on 9 Aug 1864 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

John Brown Francis was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on May 31, 1791, son of John Francis and Abigail Brown.[3] Francis' grandfather, John Brown, was a U.S. Representative from Rhode Island and a member of the family for whom Brown University was named.[4][5][6][7]

He attended the common schools of Providence, Rhode Island and graduated from Brown University in 1808.[1

career
He engaged in mercantile pursuits, attended the Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar but never practiced. Francis was a member of the Rhode Island House of Representatives from 1821 to 1829 and a member of the board of trustees of Brown University from 1828 to 1857. He was a member of the Rhode Island Senate in 1831 and 1842, and was the 13th Governor of Rhode Island from 1833 to 1838.[1]

From 1841 to 1854, Francis was chancellor of Brown University; he was elected as a member of the Law and Order Party to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Sprague and served from January 25, 1844, to March 4, 1845. He was not a candidate for reelection; while in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-eighth Congress).[1]

Francis was a member of the Rhode Island Senate from 1845 to 1856, and then retired from public life and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death at "Spring Green," Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1864; interment was in North Burial Ground, Providence.[1]
wikipedia

Family/Spouse: Anne Carter Brown. Anne (daughter of Brown U namesake Nicholas Brown, Jr. and Ann Carter) was born in 1794; died in 1828. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: George B. Ruggles, (1st husband). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Levi C. Eaton, (2nd husband). [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Abby married Nicholas Brown, III in 1820 in Providence Co, Rhode Island. Nicholas (son of Brown U namesake Nicholas Brown, Jr. and Ann Carter) was born in 1792; died in 1859. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: William Grosvenor. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]