The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 11

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868

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RANSTON, COLONEL JOHN, the eldest son of Gov- ernor Samuel Cranston, was born in 1684. In the unfortunate expedition, conceived by Governor Dudley, against Arcadia, the sloop Bathslieba was fitted out by the colony of Rhode Island. She car- ried eight guns and was manned by twenty-six men. When ready for sea she was placed under the command of Captain John Cranston. In 1708 two sloops were sent out by the colony in pursuit of French privateers that were annoying vessels on the coast. One of the vessels was commanded by Captain Cranston. The. privateers, seeing they were pursued, burnt their prizes and made good their escape. In 1710 the command of the Rhode Island forces, in the movement against Port Royal, was given to Lieutenant-Colonel Cranston, that being his rank at the time. He became the leader of the forces against Port Royal. In 1715 he was elected a Deputy. In 1739, in the war with Spain, he was in command of Fort George, with a garrison of fifty-two men, and again in command of the fort in 1744. He died October 15, 1745. Colonel Cranston married Penelope Godfrey, born 1686, and died March 18, 1760. Their children were John, Samuel, Thomas, William, James, Jeremiah, Peleg, Caleb, Mary, Hart, Sarah, and Elizabeth.

B ROWN, HON. NICHOLAS, son of Nicholas and Rhodes (Jenckes) Brown, was born in Providence, April 4, 1769. He graduated at Brown Univer- sity, in the class of 1786. His father died in 1791, and he came into possession of a large estate. Having entered into partnership with the hushand of his only sister, Thomas Poynton Ives, the firm at once em- 7

barked in commercial business on an extensive scale. For over forty years Brown & Ives were among the most enter- prising and sagacious merchants in the country, and their name was honored and their credit unquestioned in almost every quarter of the world where commerce had reached. Mr. Brown, who was a Federalist of the old school, in- terested himself somewhat in politics. For many years he was in the General Assembly, either as a Senator or Rep- resentative. As one of the Rhode Island Electors, he cast the vote of his native State for General Harrison for Pres- ident of the United States. He took a deep and intelli- gent interest in those institutions in Providence which had for their object the welfare of the community in which he lived. He was one of the original founders of the Athe- næum. He gave liberally to several colleges and seats of learning which were founded and fostered by the Baptists, with which denomination he was connected. The insti- tution, however, for which he cherished a regard which never faltered, was the University which bears his name. He was elected one of its trustees in 1791, and for twenty- nine years was the treasurer of its corporation. In 1825 he was chosen a member of the Board of Fellows, and continued in office until his death, in 1841. He com- menced his gifts to the College in 1792, by presenting to the corporation the sum of five hundred dollars, to be used for the purchase of law-books for the library. In the letter which accompanied the donation he says that he makes the gift " under a deep impression of the generous inten- tions of my honored father, deceased, towards the college in this town, as well as from my own personal feelings towards the institution in which I received my education, and from a desire to promote literature in general, and in particular the laws of our country, under the influence whereof not only our property, but our lives and dearest privileges are protected." A few years later, in 1804, he gave to the University five thousand dollars as a founda- tion for the establishment of a professorship of oratory and belles-lettres. This gift, added to others which his kin- dred and himself at different times had bestowed, led the corporation to change the name of Rhode Island College to that of Brown University. At his own expense he erected a college hall, in 1822, to which the corporation, at his suggestion, gave the name of " Hope College," in honor of his sister, Mrs. Hope Ives. He also erected at his own expense, in 1835, another building, which at his request was called, in honor of the first president of the college, " Manning Hall." Towards the erection of Rhode Island Hall and the president's house, in 1840, he contributed ten thousand dollars. When it was proposed to raise the suin of twenty-five thousand dollars towards the library fund, he subscribed ten thousand dollars. It is estimated that the entire sum of his recorded benefactions and be- quests to the University amounts to one hundred and sixty thousand dollars, assigning to the donations of lands and buildings the valuation which was put upon them at the time

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they were made. " He lived," says Professor Goddard, " to rejoice in the conviction that what he had done in this instance had not been done in vain. IIc lived to behold the University placed, mainly by his instrumentality, on stable foundations, supplied with means of instruction largely increased ; endowed with impulses which insure her continued progress." In the same strain Professor Gammell remarks : " The monuments of his wise and pious benefac- tions are all around us,-in the University with which his name is associated; in the Butler Hospital for the Insane, and the Providence Athenaeum, to whose founding he so largely contributed ; and in the churches and colleges and institutions of philanthropy over the whole land to which he so often lent his liberal and most timely aid. So long as learning and religion shall have a place in the affections of men, these enduring memorials will proclaim his char- acter and speak his eulogy. Hi sanctissimi testes, hi max- imi laudatores." It was Mr. Brown's bequest of thirty thousand dollars for the founding of a " Retreat'or Asylum for the Insane," that led to the establishment of the Butler Hospital for the Insane in Providence. His gifts to the First Baptist Church, in whose place of worship he was a devout attendant, were frequent and generous. What, at the time, was considered one of the finest organs in the country, was presented to the society by Mr. Brown. He was a decided, outspoken Baptist, and one of the most liberal supporters of the institutions of his denomination, not only in his native State, but in different parts of the country. He was one of the liberal supporters of the American Tract Society from the commencement of its existence, and contributed liberally towards the stereotyping of several of its most important volumes. Thus in his native city and State, and throughout his own country and other countries he made his influence felt. In the winter of 1841 his health began to decline. Through a somewhat pro- tracted illness he exhibited the spirit of a true Christian, and at length passed away to his reward. His death occurred September 27, 1841, in the seventy-third year of his age. Mr. Brown was twice married. His first wife was Anne, daughter of John and Amy (Crawford) Carter, whom he married November 3, 1791. She died June 16, 1798. They had three sons and a daughter, Nicholas, Moses-who died in infancy-John Carter, and Anne Carter-who was the wife of Governor John Brown Francis. Mr. Brown's second wife was Mary Bowen, daughter of Benjamin and Huldah (Crawford) Stelle, whom he married, July 22, 1801. She died, without issue, December 12, 1836.

B ROWN, NICHOLAS, Merchant, the oldest of the " Four Brothers," and second son of James and Hope (Power) Brown, was born in Providence, July 28, 1729. He lost his father when he was but ten years of age, and came under the care of a fond mother, for whom he never ceased to cherish the most

profound respect, combined with the warmest affection. He engaged in mercantile pursuits, having tastes in that direction which he inherited from his father. Ilis plans of business were prompted by sagacity and an intelligent con- ception of the wants of the community, which he aimcd to supply. With diligence and unwearied devotion to his calling, he added largely to the patrimony which he had received from his father. The domestic relations of Mr. Brown were of the happiest character. His first wife, whom he married May 2, 1762, was Rhoda Jenckes, the fifth daughter of Judge Daniel Jenckes. They had ten chil- dren, two only of whom survived their parents,-Hon. Nich- olas Brown, and Mrs. Hope Ives, the wife of Thomas Poyn- ton Ives, Esq. Mrs. Brown died December 16, 1783. The second wife of Mr. Brown was Avis, daughter of Captain Barnabas Binney, of Boston, a lady of superior accom- plishments. Mr. Brown died suddenly, May 29, 1791. He rode out on the morning of the Sabbath on which he died, and was arranging to go to the church where he wor- shipped, when he was stricken down by the disease from which he had been suffering, and in a few hours breathed his last. At his funeral Rev. Dr. Stillman, of Boston, preached the sermon, and thus sketched the character of his deceased friend : " 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 knowl- edge. But religion was his favorite subject. To Chris- tianity 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."

BROWN, JOSEPH, Merchant, third son of James and Hope (Power) Brown, and second of the " Four Brothers," was born in Providence, December 3, 1733. He early became interested in mercantile and manufacturing pursuits, and acquired a com- petency, and thus was able to gratify other marked tastes besides those which led him to pursue the vocation of a merchant. He was fond of the natural sciences, and experimented, especially in electricity. It is said that at his death he left an electrical apparatus of his own construction, equal, if not superior, to any then existing in the country. He was also an adept in the mechanic arts. So respectable were his attainments in scientific knowledge, that in 1770, Rhode Island College conferred upon him the honorary degree of Master of Arts, and in 1784 called him to the chair of Natural Philosophy, in

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which department he gave instruction for several years without drawing any salary. He was warmly interested in the prosperity of the College, contributing to its funds, and acting as a trustee from 1769 to the close of his life. In the erection of the noble edifice of the First Baptist Church in Providence, of which he was the principal ar- chitect, he took the deepest interest, and left everywhere upon it the marks of his own good taste and architectural skill. As an evidence of the reputation which he had acquired, we find that the General Assembly, in which he was a Representative, appointed him and Hon. Ezek. Hop- kins a committee to visit different sections of the State and fix upon the localities upon which forts should be erected. In his domestic relations Mr. Brown was happy. His wife was Elizabeth, daughter of Nicholas Power, Esq. He built, in 1774, what was at the time one of the most elegant mansions in Providence, the building 70 South Main Street, now occupied by the Providence Bank. Mary Brown, the oldest of his children, was married in 1799 to the Rev. Dr. Gano, pastor of the First Baptist Church in Providence. The last living representative of the family of Mr. Brown was the late Mrs. Eliza B. Rogers, wife of Joseph Rogers, Esq. His son Obadiah Brown never married. He died February 14, 1815. Eliza Brown, the third child, became the wife of Richard Ward, a mer- chant of New York. She died, leaving no children, in 1845. The youngest child, Joseph, died at the age of six- teen, in 1771. By the decease of Mrs. E. B. Rogers, this branch of the family ceased to exist. Mr. Brown's name is associated with the transit of Venus, which he observed June 3, 1769, the observations having been taken on the hill where, subsequently, what is now known as Transit Street was laid out. Professor Benjamin West, at the time Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in Rhode Island College, had responded to the desire expressed by Mr. Brown to aid him in any way in his power, by asking him to get certain instruments needed to obtain the best possible view of the expected transit. Costly appara- tus, designed to facilitate the observation, was imported from London at Mr. Brown's expense, and was used with great skill and success at the required time. Professor West says : " Mr. Brown's expense in this laudable under- taking was little less than £100 sterling, besides near a month's time of himself and servants in making the neces- sary previous experiments and preparations." Mr. Brown died December 3, 1785

B BROWN, JOHN, Merchant, fourth son of James and Hope (Power) Brown, and the third of the " Four Brothers," was born in Providence, January 27, 1736. He was a fitting representative of the com- mercial activity and enterprise which have added so much to the prosperity of the town in which the eminent merchants who bore his name were born. This " brother "

holds a pre-eminent place in his family for mercantile sagacity and the ability to lay out and mature large plans, the execution of which was followed by the most gratifying success. He is said to have been the first merchant in Rhode Island who embarked in the China and East India trade. Like his brothers, he was interested in all good and charitable enterprises. He was also a firm patriot. At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War he was in the prime of life. That his professions of attachment to his country were more than mere words, appears from the fol- lowing facts : " Finding the army destitute, in 1775, of every munition of war, particularly of powder, Mr. Brown directed the captains of his vessels, on their return voyage, to freight with that article; and when the army at Boston had not four rounds to a man, most fortunately one of Mr. Brown's vessels brought in a ton and a half of powder, and it was immediately forwarded, under the charge of one of his apprentices-Mr. Elkanah Watson-to Cambridge, attended by six or eight recruits to guard it." It appears from the colonial records of Hon. J. R. Bartlett that, including a period of four years (1776-79), the name of John Brown appears in connection with important commit- tees and various public services no less than twenty-six times. Subsequently he threw the full weight of his in- fluence, and against a strong opposing force, in inducing his fellow-citizens to adopt the Constitution of the United States. In 1784 he represented Rhode Island in Congress, and was appointed one of the commissioners for the erection of the Federal buildings. He was re-elected in 1785, and in 1799 was again chosen a member of Congress. His death took place September 20, 1803. Some interesting facts have been preserved in the life and experience of Mr. Brown, to which we may briefly allude. He was eminently a " man of affairs," and ready whenever there was a call for it to lay his own hand to any work that was to be done. Dissatisfied with the condition in which Main Street, then the leading street of the town, had too long been suffered to be, he caused it to be paved, and, although a wealthy merchant, his ships plying between Providence and almost all quarters of the civilized world, he might be seen superin- tending the work himself, watehing its progress from day to day and carefully noting what was done and what needed to be done. To build what was for the time his stately mansion, on Main Street, he imported his brick and freestone from England, in 1786. In that house, it is said, was given on a certain occasion the greatest private dinner that had ever been given in Rhode Island. The festivity was in honor of General Nathanael Greene. Mr. Brown was Treasurer of Rhode Island College from 1775 to 1796, and his commencement dinners, at which so many distinguished gentlemen, friends of the College and others, were enter- tained, long lived in the memories of those who were his guests. The part he took in what is known as the " Gaspee affair," is familiar to all who are acquainted with Rhode Island history. A brief account of the affair may properly

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be introduced in a sketch of the life of one who took so prominent a part in that brilliant exploit. For this account we are indebted to Dr. R. A. Guild, who compiled the facts from various writers. In March, 1772, the Gaspee, a British armed schooner, first appeared in the waters of Narragansett Bay, having been dispatched thither by the Commissioners of Customs at Boston to prevent infractions of the revenue laws. Her appearance disquieted the people, and her interference with the free navigation of the bay irritated them. Thereupon a spirited correspondence ensued between Deputy Governor Sessions and Governor Wanton on the one part, and Lieutenant Duddingston and Admiral Montague on the other. On the 9th of June, 1792, Captain Lindsey left Newport for Providence in his packet, the Hannah. The Gaspee, as usual, gave chase, but ran aground on Namquit, since called Gaspee Point, below Pawtuxet, and the Hannah escaped. Arriving at Providence about sunset, Captain Lindsey at once communi- cated the fact of the grounding of the Gaspee to Mr. Brown, who thought this a good opportunity to put an end to the vexations caused by her presence. He immediately ordered the preparation of eight of the largest long-boats in the harbor, to be placed under the general command of Captain Abraham Whipple, afterwards Commodore, who was one of his most trusty shipmasters. Information of the enemy's situation was proclaimed by beat of drum, a man named Daniel Pearce passing along Main Street and inviting such of the inhabitants as were willing to engage in a perilous enterprise for the destruction of the Gaspee, to meet at the house of James Sabine, known in later times as the Governor Arnold house, northeast corner of South Main and Planet streets. The boats left Providence between ten and eleven o'clock, filled with sixty-four well- armed men, and between one and two in the morning they reached the Gaspee. Two shots were exchanged, one of which wounded Lieutenant Duddingston in the groin. This was the first British blood shed in the War of Independence. The schooner was now boarded without mueh opposition, and the crew and officers were compelled to leave without their effects, when she was set on fire and blown up. Mr. Brown was the last man to leave the deck, being determined that no one should carry from the vessel anything which might lead to the identification and detection of the parties. By so doing he narrowly escaped with his life, in con- sequence of the falling timbers and spars. A reward of one thousand pounds was offered for the arrest and con- viction of the two leaders of the affair, but they were not to be found, although it was well known in Providenee who they were. It was a brave exploit, performed under the im- pulse of excited feeling. On subsequent reflection Mr.Brown regretted the part he took in the affair, although he never regretted the result. Mr. Brown died February 27, 1828. His wife was Sarah, daughter of Daniel Smith, of Provi- dence. They had six children: James, died December 12, 1834; Benjamin, died July 7, 1774; Abigail, died in

infancy ; Abby, wife of John Francis, married January I, 1788; Sarah, wife of Charles F. Herreshoff, and Alice, wife of James Brown Mason. The part which Mr. Brown took in the building of the meeting-house of the First Baptist Church makes it proper to allude to the circum- stanees which led to the erection of this venerable and time-honored place of worship. The meeting-house in which the church had been worshipping for many years was very small-thirty-five by forty feet in dimensions. It was built in 1726, and stood on the corner of North Main and Smith streets. From the deseription we have of it, it must have been a structure of which the religious congregation accustomed to frequent it could not have been very proud. We are told that " at high tide the water flowed nearly up to the west end of the building. There were no pews. From the front door, opening on Main Street, an aisle ex- tended to the pulpit, which was raised three or four steps from the floor. On each side of the aisle benches extended north and south to the walls of the house, and there were benches in the gallery, which was entered by narrow stairs from a door on the south side of the house. The church did not approve of singing, and never practiced it in public worship. The house could not contain a large congrega- tion, nor did the number present seem to require a larger house, as they were not crowded, though many of them rode in from the neighboring towns on horseback, with women behind them riding on pillions." The popular preaching of President Manning so crowded the small house that it could no longer contain the people who came to listen to the eloquent preaeher. It was therefore decided to erect a new church. Among the resolutions passed at a meeting of the society, held April 25, 1774, was the fol- lowing: "That Mr. John Brown be the committee-man for carrying on the building of the new meeting-house for said society." The choice of Mr. Brown to fill this important position is the best proof of the high regard in which he was held in the society. In accordance with the customs of the times, recourse was had to a lottery to raise a portion of the necessary funds. The sum thus to be secured was two thousand pounds lawful money, or not far from seven thousand dollars. On Monday, August 29, 1774, the new meeting-house was " raised " in the presence of a large erowd. The day seems to have been of a gen- eral suspension of business throughout the town. The house was opened for public worship Sunday, May 28, 1775, on which occasion Fresident Manning preached a dedica- tion discourse from Gen. xxviii : 17: " And he was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place ! This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven." The raising of the steeple, which occupied nearly four days, was completed June 6. The house is modelled after the church known as St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, in London, in the neighborhood of Charing Cross and Trafalgar Square, a view of which may be seen in Knight's Illustrated London, vol. v, p. 195. The total height of the steeple

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is one hundred and ninety-six feet. The house is eighty feet square. Upon the bell that was placed in the tower was this inscription :

For freedom of conscience the town was first planted ;

Persuasion, not force, was used by the people ; The church was the eldest, and has not recanted,

Enjoying, and granting, bell, temple and steeple.

The whole cost of the edifice with the lot, was some- what over twenty-five thousand dollars, a very large sum for the times in which it was erected.

ROWN, MOSES, a distinguished member of the So- ciety of Friends, the youngest son of James and Hope (Power) Brown, was born in Providence September 23, 1738. He was the youngest of the " Four Brothers" whose names occupy so promi- nent a position in the earlier annals of Providence. He left school when he was but thirteen years of age. His father died when he was a mere lad, and he was placed in the family of his paternal uncle, Obadiah Brown, who supplied, so far as it was possible, the love and tender care of a father. He married Anna Brown, the daughter of his uncle, in 1764, and a portion of the large estate of his wife's father, came, by will, into his possession. In 1764 he formed a partnership with his three brothers for the transaction of commercial business. He remained in the firm but ten years, and then, in consequence of feeble health, and because the excitements and cares of business were not congenial to his tastes, he retired to the seclusion of his pleasant home, in what was then the suburbs of the town of Providence. He did not entirely withdraw from the discharge of his duties as a citizen. He represented his native town in the General Assembly of the colony from May, 1764, to October, 1771, where he was an influ- ential member of the House. " Though decided in his views on political questions, he abstained habitually and conscientiously from partisan strife; but he never ne- glected to exercise the right of suffrage when any grave public interest or any commanding principle of right seemed to be involved in the issue." He was deeply inter- ested in the foundation of Rhode Island College, and in 1764, heartily co-operated with the gentlemen who led off in the enterprise. Governor Hopkins and Moses Brown were largely instrumental in the final establishment of the University at Providence, rather than at Newport, Kent, or Warren; and Moses Brown and his brother John gave to the University the land on which University Hall stands, it being the home lot of their ancestor, Chad Brown, the first Baptist elder in Rhode Island. With a far-seeing sa- gacity he anticipated the results which might be expected to follow from the introduction of domestic manufactures into the colony, and he encouraged Mr. Samuel Slater, the " Father of Manufactures," in his attempts to advance the

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The Biographical cyclopedia of representative men of Rhode Island, Part 11

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co. Number of Pages: 868

Author: National biographical publishing co., pub
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Providence, National biographical publishing co.
Number of Pages: 868