Moses Brown (1738-1836)

Moses Brown A prominent Providence merchant, revolutionary, reformer and philanthropist, Moses Brown was the youngest of the five brothers born to James Brown II and Hope Power Brown. Just a year old when his father died, Moses was soon apprenticed to his wealthy merchant uncle, Obadiah. Successful as a partner with his brothers in the shipping firm of Nicholas Brown & Company, Moses moved into politics as a deputy in the General Assembly in the 1760s, where he acted as an important ally of Governor Stephen Hopkins.

In 1774, Moses converted to Quakerism and began to push for the reforms that the Quakers held dear, especially abolitionism and the end of the slave trade. Not many in Providence agreed with him at the time, and his most vocal opponent on the issue may have been his brother John. Moses freed his own slaves and also provided other slaves and free blacks with financial and legal assistance. In public life, he led the successful effort in 1774 to ban all future importation of slaves into Rhode Island, he fought for the passage of the state’s gradual manumission act of 1784, and he helped to secure the passage of a statute in 1787 that forbade slaving voyages from Rhode Island ports.

Beginning in the early 1790s, Moses Brown and his business partners provided much of the financing for textile mills throughout southern New England, including Samuel Slater’s Pawtucket mill, the first water-powered spinning mill in the United States, an event often heralded as the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution.

 

                                                                                    Erik Christiansen, PhD, Rhode Island College

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Further biography:

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A prominent Providence merchant, revolutionary, reformer and philanthropist, Moses Brown was the youngest of the famous five Brown brothers born to James Brown II and Hope Power Brown, and descended from Chad Brown, who co-founded Providence with Roger Williams in 1636. Just a year old when his father died, Moses received only a few years of schooling before being adopted and apprenticed to his wealthy merchant uncle, Obadiah. Successful as a partner with his brothers in the shipping firm of Nicholas Brown & Company, Moses moved into politics as a deputy in the General Assembly in the 1760s, where he acted as an important ally of Governor Stephen Hopkins. The Hopkins-Brown faction steered money to the northern half of the colony, and away from Newport, and brought the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University) from Warren to Providence.

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Though not formally educated, Moses Brown’s interest in science and intellectual pursuits had important effects locally and beyond. He, his brother Joseph, and Benjamin West observed the transit of Venus in 1769 as part of a global project to more accurately determine the size of the solar system. More directly profitable to the citizens of Providence, Brown, after being inoculated in a New Jersey clinic, advocated for widespread inoculations in New England and served as Providence’s pest house supervisor for a number of years.

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In 1774, following the death of his wife Anna, Moses converted from the Baptist faith of the Brown family to Quakerism. His second wife, Mary Olney, and his third wife, Phebe Lockwood, were both devout Quakers. After his conversion, Moses took a leading role in Quaker organizations and began to push for the reforms that the Quakers held dear, especially abolitionism and the end of the slave trade. Not many in Providence agreed with him at the time, and his most vocal opponent on the issue may have been his brother John. Moses freed his own slaves and also began to provide other slaves and free blacks with financial and legal assistance. His son Obadiah taught literacy to African Americans in Providence. In public life, Moses led the successful effort in 1774 to ban all future importation of slaves into Rhode Island, he fought for the passage of the state’s gradual manumission act of 1784, and he helped to secure the passage of a statute in 1787 that forbade slaving voyages from Rhode Island ports. During the ratification debates in 1789, Brown initially opposed the new U.S. Constitution because of its failure to abolish slavery and his opposition contributed greatly to the initial ratification defeat in Rhode Island. When he then changed his mind and advocated ratification, because the document at least allowed for the possibility of an abolition amendment and for banning the slave trade after January 1, 1808, he persuaded many other Quakers to support it too, and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution on May 29, 1790.

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Beginning in the early 1790s, Moses Brown and his business partners provided much of the financing for the rapid construction of textile mills throughout southern New England. Through the firm of Almy, Brown, and Slater, Moses was instrumental in the development of Samuel Slater’s Pawtucket mill, the first water-powered spinning mill in the United States, an event often heralded as the beginning of the American Industrial Revolution. Brown continued to be involved in business ventures through the end of his life but increasingly turned the daily operations over to others.

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Brown devoted his later years to philanthropy and education, working in particular to secure a Friend’s School for Quakers in Providence, now called the Moses Brown School. He also helped to establish and build the Rhode Island Bible Society, the Rhode Island Peace Society, the Rhode Island Agricultural Society, the Providence Athenaeum, and the Rhode Island Historical Society. He was involved in efforts to curb the drunkenness and prostitution that increasingly seemed part of the local economy. He circulated a petition in 1817, signed by Reverend Stephen Gano, a long time minister of the First Baptist Church, and other wealthy and middle class members of the community, to rid the city of such vices.

Born as a subject of the British King George II, Moses Brown lived to receive a visit from U.S. President Andrew Jackson and Vice President Martin Van Buren before his death in Providence on September 6, 1836, a week before his ninety-eighth birthday. His body lies in the North Burial Ground’s Quaker cemetery, which he had established through the sale of several acres of his land.

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Erik Christiansen, PhD

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Further Reading

Conley, Patrick. Rhode Island’s Founders: From Settlement to Statehood. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2010.

James, Sydney V. and Gail Fowler Mohanty. "Brown, Moses." http://www.anb.org/articles/01/01-00107.html. American National Biography Online Feb. 2000. American National Biography Online

Rappleye, Charles. Sons of Providence: The Brown Brothers, the Slave Trade, and the American Revolution. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.

Thompson, Mack. Moses Brown: Reluctant Reformer. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, 1962.

The Moses Brown Papers are held by the Rhode Island Historical Society Library