Early Life
Born in Providence, Rhode Island on January 27, 1736 to James Brown II and Hope Power, 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. John Brown sold the United States Navy its first ship, the USS Providence (previously, the Katy), during the American Revolution in 1775. Brown was named as a delegate for Rhode Island to the Continental Congress in 1784-1785 but did not attend.
Read more about this topic: John Brown (Rhode Island)
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or life:
“No two men see the world exactly alike, and different temperaments will apply in different ways a principle that they both acknowledge. The same man will, indeed, often see and judge the same things differently on different occasions: early convictions must give way to more mature ones. Nevertheless, may not the opinions that a man holds and expresses withstand all trials, if he only remains true to himself and others?”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)
“One cannot be a good historian of the outward, visible world without giving some thought to the hidden, private life of ordinary people; and on the other hand one cannot be a good historian of this inner life without taking into account outward events where these are relevant. They are two orders of fact which reflect each other, which are always linked and which sometimes provoke each other.”
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