# Nicholas Brown Jr. > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicholas_Brown_Jr. > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Nicholas_Brown_Jr..md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Brown_Jr. > Source revision: 1344337677 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{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](/source/Chester_Harding_(painter)), 1836 | birth_date = April 4, 1769 | birth_place = [Providence](/source/Providence%2C_Rhode_Island), [Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations](/source/Colony_of_Rhode_Island_and_Providence_Plantations) | death_date = {{death date and age|1841|9|27|1769|4|4}} | death_place = Providence, [Rhode Island](/source/Rhode_Island), U.S. | resting_place = [North Burial Ground](/source/North_Burial_Ground)
Providence, Rhode Island | occupation = [Legislator](/source/Legislator){{citation needed|date=May 2024}}
[Philanthropist](/source/Philanthropist) | spouse = | children = [Nicholas Brown III](/source/Nicholas_Brown_III)
[John Carter Brown II](/source/John_Carter_Brown_II) | alma_mater = [Brown University](/source/Brown_University) (1786) | signature = | parents = [Nicholas Brown](/source/Nicholas_Brown_Sr.)
Rhoda Jenckes }} '''Nicholas Brown Jr.''' (April 4, 1769 – September 27, 1841) was an American businessman and philanthropist from [Providence, Rhode Island](/source/Providence%2C_Rhode_Island), and the namesake of [Brown University](/source/Brown_University). ==Early life== [[File:Mr._Brown,_Deceased.jpg|thumb|left|upright|A portrait of Nicholas Brown Jr. posthumous painted by [Thomas Sully](/source/Thomas_Sully) in 1847]] Brown was the son of Rhoda Jenckes (1741–1783) and [Nicholas Brown Sr.](/source/Nicholas_Brown_Sr.) (1729–1791), a merchant and co-founder of [Brown University](/source/Brown_University) (which was then called College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations). He was the nephew of [John Brown](/source/John_Brown_(Rhode_Island_politician)) (1736–1803) and [Moses Brown](/source/Moses_Brown) (1738–1836) and a descendant of English colonist and Baptist minister [Chad Brown](/source/Chad_Brown_(minister)) (c. 1600–1650), who co-founded [Providence](/source/Providence%2C_Rhode_Island). His maternal grandfather was [Daniel Jenckes](/source/Joseph_Smith_House) (1701–1774), a judge from a prominent family.{{cite web|url={{NRHP url|id=78000009}}|title=NRHP nomination for Joseph Smith House|publisher=National Park Service|accessdate=2014-11-12}} ==Career== Both Nicholas Brown Jr. and his father were members of and large donors to the [First Baptist Church in America](/source/First_Baptist_Church_in_America). Brown Jr. graduated from the [College of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations](/source/Brown_University) in 1786. After the death of his father, he created the company of [Brown & Ives](/source/Brown_%26_Ives) with his future brother-in-law [Thomas Poynton Ives](/source/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](/source/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](/source/Providence_Athenaeum) and was active in various Baptist and literary causes. He was elected a member of the [American Antiquarian Society](/source/American_Antiquarian_Society) in 1813.[http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlist American Antiquarian Society Members Directory] ==Personal life== He was married twice; in 1791 to Ann Carter (1770–1798), daughter of [John Carter](/source/John_Carter_(printer)) (1745–1814), a prominent printer in Providence, and in 1801, to Mary Bowen Stelle (d. December, 1836), daughter of Benjamin Stelle, Esq.{{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}}{{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}} His children were:{{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](/source/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}} * [Nicholas Brown III](/source/Nicholas_Brown_III) (1792–1859), who married his 2nd cousin, Abby Mason (1800–1822), daughter of [James Brown Mason](/source/James_Brown_Mason) (1775–1819), in 1820. After her death, he married Caroline Matilda Cements (1809–1879) in 1831. * Moses Brown (1793–1794), who died as an infant * Anne Carter Brown (1794–1828), who married [John Brown Francis](/source/John_Brown_Francis) (1791–1864), the grandson of her father's uncle, [John Brown](/source/John_Brown_(Rhode_Island_politician)), in 1822.{{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](/source/Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congress)|accessdate=10 February 2017}} * [John Carter Brown II](/source/John_Carter_Brown) (1797–1874), who married Sophia Augusta Brown (1825–1909),{{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](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=1 March 1909}}{{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](/source/The_New_York_Times)|date=March 4, 1909|language=en}} daughter of Patrick Brown and Harriot Theyer, and a descendant of minister [Roger Williams](/source/Roger_Williams) (1603–1683). {{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](/source/North_Burial_Ground) in Providence.{{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}} He left a $30,000 bequest to found a mental hospital, which eventually became [Butler Hospital](/source/Butler_Hospital).{{Cite web|url=https://today.brown.edu/articles/2009/12/name-letter|title=Brown University Authentication for Web-Based Services}}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 ==See also== {{Portal|United States|Rhode Island|Biography}} *[Nightingale-Brown House](/source/Nightingale-Brown_House) ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==External links== {{Commons category}} * [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 --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Nicholas Brown Jr.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Brown_Jr.) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Brown_Jr.?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.