Background
Moses Brown was born on October 2, 1742 and was the youngest of thirteen children of Joseph, Jr. , and Abigail (Pearson) Brown, of Newbury, Massachussets.
manufacturer merchant philanthropist commerce
Moses Brown was born on October 2, 1742 and was the youngest of thirteen children of Joseph, Jr. , and Abigail (Pearson) Brown, of Newbury, Massachussets.
As a mere boy Moses Brown was apprenticed to a chaise-maker, and, on reaching manhood, started in business himself as a carriage manufacturer. Eventually he turned to commerce, developing a large foreign and domestic trade, especially in sugar and molasses with the West Indies. He increased his investments until he was the owner of several wharves, warehouses, and distilleries, as well as of extensive real estate in Newburyport and vicinity.
At the time in the early nineteenth century when a project for a Calvinistic theological institution in New England was being discussed as a means of counteracting the strongly Unitarian influence of Harvard College, Moses Brown, encouraged by his wife and persuaded by his pastor, Dr. Samuel Spring, gave, in 1808, $10, 000 to the "Associate Foundation" of Andover Theological Seminary, the other donors being William Bartlet of Newburyport, and John Norris of Salem.
When the Seminary was opened, Brown contributed $1, 000 to start a library, and in 1819, after a period of prosperity in mercantile affairs, turned over an additional sum of $25, 000 to establish a professorship of ecclesiastical history.
In 1843, Brown's granddaughter, Sarah (Bannister) Hale, who had inherited much of his property, completed the family benefactions to the Seminary by providing a dwelling house on Andover Hill for the Brown professor. In his will Moses Brown left to the inhabitants of Newburyport the sum of $6, 000, to be kept at interest until it reached $15, 000, when the capital was to be used "as a fund for the use and support of a grammar school in said town forever. "
He was equally remarkable for his modesty, and he never told others of his charities.
Moses Brown was a thin wiry person, of vigorous constitution and energetic manner. Through force of character and the rectitude of his life he won the respect of his neighbors and associates.
Quotes from others about the person
It was said of him at his funeral, "He pursued business as though the gains therefrom were not for his use alone, and he distributed them as a trust for the good of others. "
In 1772 Brown married Mary Hall, of Newburyport, who died, without issue, in 1778. Eight years later he took a second wife, Mary White of Haverhill, who had a large amount of property. She died, August II, 1821. When Brown died, in Newburyport, he was survived by one daughter, Mrs. William B. Bannister, and no one of his direct descendants is living today.
In 1843, Brown's granddaughter, Sarah (Bannister) Hale, who had inherited much of his property, completed the family benefactions to the Seminary by providing a dwelling house on Andover Hill for the Brown professor.