Guide to the Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) Papers, 1719-1776

(bulk 1740-1762)

Rhode Island Historical Society
121 Hope Street
Providence, RI 02906
Tel: 401-273-8107
Fax: 401-751-7930
Email: reference@rihs.org

Published in 2009

Collection Overview

Title:	Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) Papers
Date range:	1719-1776, (bulk 1740-1762)
Creator:	Rhode Island Historical Society
Extent:	5 linear feet
Abstract:	Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) was born in Providence. His father was Elder James Brown (1666-1716), a pastor on the First Baptist Church; his mother was Mary (Harris) Brown. Upon reaching adulthood, Obadiah joined his older brother James Brown II (1698-1739) in the mercantile trade, which included traffic in cocoa, rum, molasses and slaves.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	Rhode Island Historical Society
Collection number:	MSS 315

Scope & content

These papers are almost exclusively records pertaining to Obadiah Brown's many business ventures. A large portion actually relate to partnerships between Brown and his nephews, under the name of Obadiah Brown & Co., or Obadiah & Nicholas Brown. There are very few personal papers in this collection.

The first portion of the collection consists of loose papers, dated from 1733 to 1762, with the bulk coming after 1752. Most of these papers are loose receipts, invoices and other financial memoranda. There are also some business letters, listed at the end of this finding aid. Almost half of the loose papers are from 1758, and relate to trading at Monte Cristi in today's Dominican Republic.

The second portion of the collection consists of bound volumes: ledgers, account books and day books of Obadiah Brown, alone or in partnership. Other noteworthy volumes are two outgoing letter books, and a ship's log kept aboard the sloop Mary en route from Surinam to Rhode Island in 1735.

There is very little directly relating to the slave trade in this collection, as Brown was only involved in two voyages to Africa. There is nothing relating to the 1736 voyage of the Mary, and only a few incidental accounts relating to the fitting out of the Wheel of Fortune in 1758. See "Ledger No. 5", page 122. Of course, Brown was very much involved in the related trade with the West Indies, and with operating a rum distillery as well.

Access Points

Subject Names

• Angell, Samuel (b.1707)
• Brown, James (1698-1739)
• Coddington, William
• DeBlois, Gilbert
• Lopez, Aaron (1731-1782)
• Lopez, Moses
• Page, Ambrose
• Potter, Simeon (1717-1806)
• Robinson, Thomas
• Thurston, Peleg
• Vernon, Samuel
• Wheaton, John

Subject Organizations

• Mary (sloop)
• Obadiah Brown & Company

Subject Topics

• Candlemaking - Rhode Island
• Distilleries - Rhode Island
• Insurance, Marine
• Log books - 1735
• Merchants - Rhode Island - Providence
• Rum industry - Rhode Island - Providence
• Slave-trade - Rhode Island - Providence
• Spermaceti - Rhode Island - Providence

Geographical Names

• Providence, R.I. - Commerce
• West Indies - Commerce
• United States - History - French and Indian War, 1755-1763

Subject Topics

• Rhode Island/Local Interest
• Business
• Maritime

Arrangement

• Series 1: Loose papers.
• Series 2: Volumes.

Historical note

Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) was born in Providence. His father was Elder James Brown (1666-1716), a pastor on the First Baptist Church; his mother was Mary (Harris) Brown. Upon reaching adulthood, Obadiah joined his older brother James Brown II (1698-1739) in the mercantile trade, which included traffic in cocoa, rum, molasses and slaves. His initial role was as master of his brother's vessels in the West Indies trade. In 1736, he shipped out to the African coast as the supercargo of the family's sloop Mary, which thus became the first known Providence slave ship. However, this trip does not seem to have been very profitable, and the Browns apparently had no further direct involvement in the slave trade for over twenty years. After the death of James in 1739, Obadiah retired from the sea himself, but continued the business. During the 1750s, he became the first Providence merchant to trade directly with England, bypassing the traditional mercantile cities of Boston and Newport. He also opened a spermaceti candle factory as early as 1751. He also helped to raise James' young children, later forming a partnership with James' four surviving sons as Obadiah Brown & Co. This firm made another attempt at the slave trade in 1759, when their slave ship Wheel of Fortune was captured by French privateers. Obadiah died in Glocester, R.I. in 1762, probably at the home of his daughter Phebe Fenner.

In 1737, he married his first cousin, Mary Harris (1718-1805), daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris. They had eight children. All four of the sons died in early childhood. The four daughters were Phebe (b.1738), Sarah (1742-1800), Anna (1744-1773) and Mary (b.1753). Phebe married John Fenner of Glocester, R.I., brother of Gov. Arthur Fenner. Sarah married Lt. Gov. Jabez Bowen (1739-1815). Anna married her first cousin Moses Brown (1738-1836). Mary married Thomas Arnold (1751-1826). March 22, 1698- Birth of Captain James Browne son of Elder James Browne (1666-1732) and Mary (Harris) Browne (1671-1736)

January 4, 1702- Birth of Hope (Power) Browne (1702-1792), daughter of Nicholas and Mercy (Tillinghast) Power

October 2, 1712- Birth of Obadiah Brown, brother of Captain James Browne

December 21, 1722- Marriage of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

February 12, 1724- Birth of James Browne, eldest son of Captain James Browne (1698-1739) and Hope (Power) Browne (1702-1792)

July 28, 1729- Birth of Nicholas Brown, second son of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

1731- Birth of Mary (Brown) Vanderlight, the only daughter of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne.

1733- Obadiah Brown begins his mercantile career

Dec. 3, 1733- Birth of Joseph Brown, third son of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

January 27, 1736- Birth of John Brown, fourth son of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

June 5, 1737- Marriage of Obadiah Brown and his first cousin, Mary (Harris) Brown (1718-1805)

September 12, 1738- Birth of Moses Brown, youngest son of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

April 27, 1739-Death of Captain James Browne (b.1698)

1750- Nicholas Brown (b. 1729) reaches his majority; his elder brother James dies at sea

1751- Moses Brown begins to clerk for his uncle, Obadiah Brown

1754- Nicholas and John Brown begin business activities together

September 30, 1759 Joseph Brown marries cousin Elizabeth Power (1736-1806), daughter of Nicholas and Anne (Tillinghast) Power.

1760- Moses Brown and Obadiah Brown enter into partnership.

November 27, 1760 John Brown marries Sarah Smith (1738-1825), daughter of Daniel and Dorcas (Harris) Smith

May 2, 1762- Nicholas Brown weds Rhode Jenckes (1741-1783), daughter of Daniel and Joanna (Scott) Jenckes of Providence

June 17, 1762- Death of Obadiah Brown (b.1712)

August 1762- Formation of Nicholas Brown and Company

1763- United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers, Plan of Union

January 1, 1764- Marriage of Moses Brown and his first cousin Anna Brown (1744-1773), daughter of Obadiah and Mary (Harris) Brown

1765- Formation of Hope Furnace

July 30, 1767- Hope Brown, daughter of Nicholas (b.1729) and Rhoda (Jenckes) Brown, drowns two days before her fourth birthday

1767/1768- George Benson clerks for Nicholas Brown and Company

June 1768- United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers incorporates

April 4, 1769- Birth of Nicholas Brown (1769-1841), son of Nicholas (b.1729) and Rhoda (Jenckes) Brown

1772- John Brown withdraws from maritime activities of Nicholas Brown and Company

February 5, 1773- Death of Anna (Brown) Brown, wife of Moses Brown

1774- Moses and Joseph Brown withdraw from maritime activities of Nicholas Brown and Company

1775- George Benson a commission agent in Newport, RI

1776-1782- Nicholas and John Brown supply Continental Congress; Hope Furnace manufactures cannon

1782- Thomas Poynton Ives becomes a clerk for Nicholas Brown (b.1729)

1783- Nicholas Brown (b. 1729) enters into partnership with former clerk George Benson

December 16, 1783- Death of Rhoda (Jenckes) Brown, wife of Nicholas Brown (b.1729)

January 8, 1785- Death of Joanna Brown, daughter of Nicholas and Rhoda (Jenckes) Brown

September 9, 1785- Nicholas Brown weds second wife Avis Binney, daughter of Captain Barnabus Binney of Boston

December 3, 1785- Death of Joseph Brown (b.1733)

May 29, 1791- Death of Nicholas Brown (b.1729)

June 8, 1792- Death of Hope (Power) Browne, widow of Captain James Browne

May 26, 1795- Death of Mary (Brown) Vanderlight, daughter of Captain James Browne and Hope (Power) Browne

September 20, 1803- Death of John Brown (b. 1736)

August 16, 1807- Death of Avis (Binney) Brown, widow of Nicholas

September 6, 1836- Death of Moses Brown (b.1738)

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except where microfilm is available.
Use of the materials:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Preferred citation:	Obadiah Brown I (1712-1762) Papers , MSS 315, Rhode Island Historical Society.
Contact information:	Rhode Island Historical Society 121 Hope Street Providence, RI 02906 Tel: 401-273-8107 Fax: 401-751-7930 Email: reference@rihs.org

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The provenance of this collection is unknown. The bulk may have arrived as part of the Moses Brown Papers, as Moses Brown was his nephew, protégé and a major heir of his estate.
Processing information:	Processed by Pam Narbeth, 1995. One item, a day book kept by Nicholas Brown & Company for the period 1762- 1789, has been transferred to the Nicholas Brown Collection, MSS 314.The John Nicholas Brown Center for the Study of American Civilization at Brown University, in partnership with the John Carter Brown Library at Brown University and the Rhode Island Historical Society, conducted a two year collaborative project starting in1995 to arrange, describe and catalog records relating to the Brown family of Providence, Rhode Island. The Brown Family Papers Project was made possible by a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Rick Stattler.
Encoding:	Finding aid encoded by Mark Chepkwony 2009 June 25
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)

Additional Information

Bibliography:

Buckley, Abby Isabel. The Chad Brown Memorial, Consisting of Genealogical Memoirs of a Portion of the Descendants of Chad and Elizabeth Browne, 1638 - 1888. New York: 1888. The Chad Brown Workbook; A Continuing Family Genealogy of the Descendants of Chad Brown. 2nd edition. Providence: Rhode Island Historical Society, 1987. Hedges, James B. The Browns of Providence Plantations: Colonial Years. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press, 1952. Rogers, L.E., ed. The Biographical Cyclopedia of the Representative Men of Rhode Island. Providence: National Biographical Publishing Co., 1881.

Inventory

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