Brown University Treasurer Receipts (MS-1D-R1)

Administrative History

A Treasurer of Brown University was appointed in 1764. The first treasurer, John Tillinghast, served until 1767, and was followed by Job Bennett from 1767 to 1775. John Brown, one of the four Brown brothers, became treasurer in 1775, and managed the financial affairs of the university for 21 years, contributing generously from his own funds. When he resigned in 1796, he still retained his place on the Board of Trustees. Resigning that office a few days before his death in 1803, because of his lameness which "will continue to render me a useless member of the Corporation," he urged the Corporation in his letter of resignation to find the means to establish a Professorship of English Oratory. John Brown was succeeded by his nephew, Nicholas Brown 1786, who held the office for 29 years, from 1796 to 1825. He was to be the one to establish the Professorship of Oratory and Belles Letters in 1804 with his contribution of $5000. His election as Fellow in 1825 made the office of Treasurer vacant, and his nephew Moses Brown Ives 1812 was elected to fill his place. Ives died in 1857, and was succeeded by his brother, Robert Hale Ives 1816. Marshall Woods, who was named treasurer in 1866, unlike his predecessors of the last ninety years, was not a member of the Brown family, although he did marry Ann Brown Francis, whose mother was the daughter of former treasurer Nicholas Brown and whose father was the grandson of former treasurer John Brown. The remaining treasurers have been Arnold Buffum Chace 1866 from 1882 to 1900; Cornelius S. Sweetland 1866 from 1900 to 1923; Frank W. Matteson 1892 from 1923 to 1933, Edwin Aylsworth Burlingame ’14, acting treasurer from 1933 to 1934; Harold C. Field 1894 from 1934 to 1949; George Burton Hibbert from 1949 to 1950; Gordon L. Parker '18 from 1950 to 1965; Patrick J. James '32 from 1965 to 1970; Joseph W. Ress '26 from 1970 to 1979; Andrew M. Hunt '51 from 1979 to 1988; and Marie J. Langlois '64 since 1988.