Samuel Brown letter (RLC.Ms.570)

Biographical note

Samuel Brown (1753 or 1754-1825) was born in Newport, Rhode Island, in either 1753 or 1754. He remained in Newport until the British occupation of Newport in 1776, which led him to flee to Boston, Massachusetts. He lived and worked as a merchant in Boston until his death in 1825.

Throughout his career, Brown was involved in privateering and the slave trade in America. He provided investment capital and insurance to other merchants and was a close associate of William Vernon (1719-1806), a Newport merchant also active in the slave trade. Brown was a shareholder in the Columbia and Lady Washington expeditions (1788-1790), a private trade venture which opened the lucrative trade route to China.