Moses Brown

Moses Brown (September 23, 1738 – September 6, 1836) was an American abolitionist and industrialist from New England who funded the design and construction of some of the first factories for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution, including the Slater Mill which was the first modern factory in America.

Early life
Moses Brown was born in Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on September 23, 1738, the son of James Brown II and Hope Power Brown. 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, in which at least 109 Africans died. 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. Obadiah died in 1762, and Moses served as executor of his estate. Shares in the farming and shipping business were divided among Moses and his brothers Nicholas, Joseph, and John, and the business was renamed 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 Plantations with Roger Williams.

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. Brown 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 of the Quakers.

American Revolution
John Brown was arrested in the Gaspee affair which helped to trigger the American Revolutionary War. Moses and Joseph Brown delivered a proposal to the English in Boston that Rhode Island's preparations to resist royal authority would be stopped if John Brown was released.

Later life
In 1779, Brown married his second wife Mary Olney, a fellow Quaker. They were married for 18 years and had no children.

In 1788, Brown returned briefly to the business world, embarking on a textile venture in partnership with his cousin Smith Brown and his future son-in-law William Almy. Brown became interested in recent British attempts to use water power in their textile mills, and he hired English immigrant Samuel Slater to help build a similar mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In 1793, the factory became the first water-powered spinning mill in America, a seminal event generally considered the birth of the American Industrial Revolution. Moses' son Obadiah Brown soon replaced Smith Brown as a partner, and Samuel Slater was taken in as well to create the firm of Almy, Brown & Slater. Brown soon withdrew from active involvement in the firm but remained a partner.

Brown then moved on to a variety of new activities. He played a role in Rhode Island's ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1790. He also became interested in agricultural experiments on his Providence farm, and helped found the Rhode Island Agricultural Society in 1800. He served on the first board of directors of the Providence Bank, and was treasurer of the Central Bridge Company. During the yellow fever epidemic of 1797, he was a strong advocate of sanitation practices. He later introduced smallpox vaccination to Rhode Island.

Brown's second wife Mary died in 1798, and he married widow Phebe (Waterman) Lockwood in 1799. Phebe died in 1809, and Brown remained unmarried for the last 27 years of his life.

Brown was a pacifist, and he was inspired by the War of 1812 to work on behalf of peace; he was instrumental in founding the Rhode Island Peace Society in 1818. He promoted the Quaker position that Quakers should resist war taxes.

Brown played an important role in collecting documents relating to colonial Rhode Island, many of them inherited through his own family. He collected biographical information about his contemporary and fellow abolitionist who was known as the Public Universal Friend. He was a founding member of the Rhode Island Historical Society, served as its chairman, and had most of his papers left there after his death. Brown was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815.

Brown died from gastroenteritis in Providence on September 6, 1836. He left few family members, having outlived three wives, all three of his children, and three of his four stepchildren. At his death, his only descendants were his granddaughter Anna (Almy) Jenkins (1790–1849) and her children. He also left much of his estate to the children of his stepdaughter Sarah (Lockwood) Harris (1773–1832) and to the Society of Friends. His son Obadiah had married but left no children. Brown is buried in the Quaker section of the North Burial Ground at 5 Branch Avenue, Providence, RI.

Abolitionist activity
Moses broke with his brothers and refused to continue any involvement in the slave trade. He began a long crusade against slavery after becoming a Quaker, and he became Rhode Island's leading opponent of the slave trade. He freed the last of his own slaves in 1773. He solidified his opposition to slavery during the Revolutionary War, in the company of ministers and teachers from the college in Providence which had closed temporarily because British troops were billeted in its campus. Brown renewed his efforts against the slave trade after the war ended. He unsuccessfully petitioned the General Assembly in 1783, wrote frequently in the local press, and helped distribute antislavery pamphlets throughout New England. He was instrumental in the 1787 passage of a law banning the participation of Rhode Islanders in the slave trade. In 1789, he helped found the Providence Society for Abolishing the Slave Trade with Quaker and non-Quaker associates to help enforce recently passed anti-slave trade legislation. He later helped pass a law in Congress to forbid foreign slave ships from being equipped in American ports.

In contrast, his brother John was one of the state's leading slave traders and the first person prosecuted under the federal laws prohibiting slave importation.

Moses Brown School


Brown played a significant role in the revival of the New England Yearly Meeting School. It had existed intermittently in the 1770s and 1780s, but died out through lack of interest. In 1814, Brown presented the Yearly Meeting School with 43 acres of land in Providence, and worked diligently toward the creation of a school on this land. He provided important financial assistance, and also donated his impressive book collection to the school library. His son Obadiah joined him as a major supporter of this effort until his untimely death in 1822. Moses Brown served as the school's treasurer until shortly before his own death in 1836 at the age of 98. The school was renamed in his honor in 1913 as the Moses Brown School, and remains a leading preparatory school in the U.S.