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
