George Brown (Rhode Island politician)

George Brown (January 10, 1746 – June 19, 1836) was a Rhode Island politician and judge who served as a justice of the Rhode Island Supreme Court from May 1796 to June 1799,[1] and as the first lieutenant governor of Rhode Island from 1799 to 1800.

For others of the same name, see George Brown.
George Brown
1st Lieutenant Governor of Rhode Island
In office
1799–1800
GovernorArthur Fenner
Preceded bySamuel J. Potter
Succeeded bySamuel J. Potter
Personal details
Born(1746-01-10)January 10, 1746
South Kingstown, Rhode Island
DiedJune 19, 1836(1836-06-19) (aged 90)
Spouse
Hannah Robinson
​
​
(m. 1768; died 1822)​
Children9
Parent(s)Robert Brown
Sarah Franklin Brown

Early life

Brown was born in South Kingstown, Rhode Island,[2] on January 10, 1746. He was the eldest of four sons born to Robert Brown, Esq. and his first wife,[3] Sarah (née Franklin) Brown, who married in 1745.[4][5] His younger brothers were William, John and Franklin Brown.[3]

Some sources indicate Brown's mother, Sarah Franklin was a relative of Benjamin Franklin.[3]

Career

Like his father Robert, George was an attorney at law in Rhode Island.[6] He served as a representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly and in 1796 was elected by the Legislature as the second justice of the state supreme court, holding that office until 1799.[3] From 1799 to 1800, Brown served as the lieutenant governor of Rhode Island under Governor Arthur Fenner.[7] Brown defeated the incumbent lieutenant governor Samuel J. Potter, served his term and was in turn defeated by Potter who succeeded him.[8]

Brown owned a nearly four hundred acre farm in South Kingstown, which "formerly constituted one of the most eligible tracts of the Hazards' Boston Neck estates."[4] The head farmer on his estate was John Perry, father of Robinson Perry, and a cousin of Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.[4]

Personal life

On April 24, 1768, Brown was married to Hannah Robinson (1751–1822) in Narragansett, Rhode Island. Hannah was the daughter of William Robinson and Hannah (née Brown) Robinson and the granddaughter of William Robinson who served as the 28th and 30th Deputy Governor of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. George and Hannah were the parents of nine children together, including:[4]

  • Elizabeth Brown (1769–1855), who married Benjamin Robinson in 1791.[9][10]
  • George Brown (d. 1864), who married Mary Brown (d. 1842).[4]
  • Abby Brown (d. 1852)
  • William Brown (1776–1824), who married Ann Dockray (1779–1845).[4][11]
  • Sarah Brown (1778–1804), who married John J. Watson (1774–1852) in 1798.[4]
  • Ann Brown (1783–1872)
  • Hannah Brown (1785–1872), who married Rowse Babcock (1773–1841) in 1801.[12]
  • John Brown (1792–1833), who married Mary Elizabeth Robinson (1794–1866).[4]

Brown died on June 19, 1836, and was buried in River Bend Cemetery in Westerly, Rhode Island.[3]

References
  1. Manual - the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1891), p. 208-13.
  2. Samuel H. Allen, "Rhode Island Judiciary", in James N. Arnold, ed., The Narragansett Historical Register (1889), Volume 7, p. 62.
  3. Robinson, Caroline Elizabeth Rodman (1919). The Gardiners of Narragansett: Being a Genealogy of the Descendants of George Gardniner. The editor. p. 69. ISBN 9780598995445. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  4. Hazard, Thomas Robinson (1879). Recollections of Olden Times: Rowland Robinson of Narragansett and His Unfortunate Daughter : with Genealogies of the Robinson, Hazard, and Sweet Families of Rhode Island. J.P. Sanborne. p. 136. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  5. South Kingstown, Rhode Island Tax Lists, 1730-1799. Picton Press. 2007. pp. 214–215. ISBN 9780897258272. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  6. Bartlett, John Russell (1862). Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in New England: Printed by Order of the General Assembly. A. C. Greene and brothers, state printers. p. 149. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  7. Rhode Island Manual. E.L. Freeman. 1977. p. 165. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  8. Cutter, William Richard (1914). New England Families, Genealogical and Memorial: A Record of the Achievements of Her People in the Making of Commonwealths and the Founding of a Nation. Lewis historical publishing Company. p. 2064. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  9. "Rhode Island Furniture Archive". rifa.art.yale.edu. Yale University Art Gallery. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  10. Robinson, Caroline Elizabeth (1896). The Hazard Family of Rhode Island, 1635-1894: Being a Genealogy and History of the Descendants of Thomas Hazard ... author. p. 93. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  11. Jones, Charles Henry (1886). Genealogy of the Rodman Family, 1620 to 1886. Allen, Lane & Scott. p. 113. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
  12. The Biographical Cyclopedia of Representative Men of Rhode Island. National Biographical Publishing Company. 1881. p. 181. Retrieved 14 July 2019.
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