{{Short description|American businessman and philanthropist}} {{Infobox person | name = Nicholas Brown Jr. | image = Nicholas Brown Jr by Chester Harding 1836.jpg | caption = Nicholas Brown Jr., painted by Chester Harding, 1836 | birth_date = April 4, 1769 | birth_place = Providence, Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations | death_date = {{death date and age|1841|9|27|1769|4|4}} | death_place = Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. | resting_place = North Burial Ground<br>Providence, Rhode Island | occupation = Legislator{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}<br />Philanthropist | spouse = | children = Nicholas Brown III<br>John Carter Brown II | alma_mater = Brown University (1786) | signature = | parents = Nicholas Brown<br>Rhoda Jenckes }}
'''Nicholas Brown Jr.''' (April 4, 1769 – September 27, 1841) was an American businessman and philanthropist from Providence, Rhode Island, and the namesake of Brown University.
==Early life== [[File:Mr._Brown,_Deceased.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A portrait of Nicholas Brown Jr. posthumous painted by Thomas Sully in 1847]] Brown was the son of Rhoda Jenckes (1741–1783) and Nicholas Brown Sr. (1729–1791), a merchant and co-founder of Brown University (which was then called College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations). He was the nephew of John Brown (1736–1803) and Moses Brown (1738–1836) and a descendant of English colonist and Baptist minister Chad Brown (c. 1600–1650), who co-founded Providence. His maternal grandfather was Daniel Jenckes (1701–1774), a judge from a prominent family.<ref name=NRHP>{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=78000009}}|title=NRHP nomination for Joseph Smith House|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2014-11-12}}</ref>
==Career== Both Nicholas Brown Jr. and his father were members of and large donors to the First Baptist Church in America. Brown Jr. graduated from the College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1786. After the death of his father, he created the company of Brown & Ives with his future brother-in-law Thomas Poynton Ives, and served in the state legislature as a Federalist.
After inheriting his father's estate in 1791, Brown became such a great benefactor to the school that it was renamed Brown University in 1804 when he donated $5,000 to the college. His total gifts to it were over $150,000. He also co-founded the Providence Athenaeum and was active in various Baptist and literary causes. He was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1813.<ref>[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlist American Antiquarian Society Members Directory]</ref>
==Personal life== He was married twice; in 1791 to Ann Carter (1770–1798), daughter of John Carter (1745–1814), a prominent printer in Providence, and in 1801, to Mary Bowen Stelle (d. December, 1836), daughter of Benjamin Stelle, Esq.<ref name="JCBRIHHofF">{{cite web|title=John Carter Brown, Inducted 2012|url=http://www.riheritagehalloffame.org/inductees_detail.cfm?iid=672|website=www.riheritagehalloffame.org|publisher=Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame|accessdate=9 February 2017|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=John Carter, Inducted 2000|url=http://www.riheritagehalloffame.org/inductees_detail.cfm?iid=428|website=www.riheritagehalloffame.org|publisher=Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame|accessdate=10 February 2017|language=en}}</ref>
His children were:<ref name="RIHS1918">{{cite book|last1=Isham|first1=Norman M.|title=Collections of the Rhode Island Historical Society Vol. XI|date=January 1918|publisher=Rhode Island Historical Society|edition=No. 1.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q49IAAAAYAAJ&q=John+Brown+Francis+%28May+31%2C+1791+%E2%80%93+August+9%2C+1864%29&pg=PA109|accessdate=10 February 2017|language=en}}</ref>
* Nicholas Brown III (1792–1859), who married his 2nd cousin, Abby Mason (1800–1822), daughter of James Brown Mason (1775–1819), in 1820. After her death, he married Caroline Matilda Cements (1809–1879) in 1831.<ref name="RIHS1918"/> * Moses Brown (1793–1794), who died as an infant<ref name="RIHS1918"/> * Anne Carter Brown (1794–1828), who married John Brown Francis (1791–1864), the grandson of her father's uncle, John Brown, in 1822.<ref name="JBFbioguide">{{cite web|title=FRANCIS, John Brown - Biographical Information|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000336|website=bioguide.congress.gov|publisher=Biographical Directory of the United States Congress|accessdate=10 February 2017}}</ref> * John Carter Brown II (1797–1874), who married Sophia Augusta Brown (1825–1909),<ref name="MrsJCBObit1909">{{cite news|last1=Times|first1=Special To The New York|title=Mrs. John Carter Brown.|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=9E0CE5DE1E3AE733A25752C0A9659C946897D6CF&legacy=true|accessdate=9 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=1 March 1909}}</ref><ref name="MrsJCBestate1909">{{cite news|title=$30,000,000 TO MRS. SHERMAN; Reported Bulk of Mrs. John Carter Brown's Estate Goes to Daughter.|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1909/03/04/101868581.html?pageNumber=1|accessdate=9 February 2017|work=The New York Times|date=March 4, 1909|language=en}}</ref> daughter of Patrick Brown and Harriot Theyer, and a descendant of minister Roger Williams (1603–1683).<ref name="RIHS1918"/> {{multiple image | image1 = Grave of Nicholas Brown II.jpg | caption1 = Brown's grave at North Burial Ground | image2 = Providence Journal 1841-10-04 2 Nicholas Brown.png | caption2 = Write up by the Providence Journal following Nicholas Browns death }} After his death September 27, 1841, Brown was interred in North Burial Ground in Providence.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rogak|first=Lisa|title=Stones and Bones of New England: A Guide to Unusual, Historic, and Otherwise Notable Cemeteries|date=2004|publisher=Globe Pequot|page=159|isbn=9780762730001|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GN9s5DkJxbIC&q=north+burial+ground+notable+burials&pg=PA159}}</ref> He left a $30,000 bequest to found a mental hospital, which eventually became Butler Hospital.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://today.brown.edu/articles/2009/12/name-letter|title=Brown University Authentication for Web-Based Services}}</ref><ref>The History of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations: Biographical, Volume 6, by the American Historical Society, Inc., 1920. Pages 188 - 191 http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~rigenweb/article3.html</ref>
==See also== {{Portal|United States|Rhode Island|Biography}} *Nightingale-Brown House
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Commons category}} <!-- for current and future use if material is uploaded --> * [https://www.brown.edu/Administration/News_Bureau/Databases/Encyclopedia/search.php?serial=B0410 Encyclopedia Brunoniana - Brown Family]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Nicholas Jr.}} Category:1769 births Category:1841 deaths Category:Brown University alumni Category:Brown University people Category:University and college founders Category:Rhode Island Federalists Category:Philanthropists from Rhode Island Category:Businesspeople from Providence, Rhode Island Category:19th-century American businesspeople Category:Baptists from Rhode Island Nicholas Brown Jr. Category:Burials at North Burying Ground (Providence) Category:People from colonial Rhode Island