John Brown Francis was a governor and United States Senator from Rhode Island. He is noted for serving as the 13th Governor of Rhode Island, 1833 - 1838.
Background
John Brown Francis was born on May 31, 1791 and was the son of John and Abby (Brown) Francis, and a great-grandson of Tench Francis. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but shortly thereafter his father established his residence in Providence, Rohd Island. There the elder Francis soon died and the son went to live with his grandfather, John Brown, a prominent Providence merchant.
Education
Young Francis prepared for college at the university grammar school, then entered Brown University, from which he graduated in 1808.
Career
After the graduation from Brown University, John Francis spent some time in the office of the Providence firm of Brown & Ives, and afterwards entered the Law School at Litchfield, Connecticut. Upon the death of his grandfather he inherited the estate of the latter and to its management he devoted some years.
In 1821 he made his home at Spring Green, Warwick, R. the country seat of the Browns. Francis represented Warwick in the Rhode Island General Assembly as a member of the House of Representatives from 1825 to 1829 and as senator from 1831 to 1832.
In January 1831 he was nominated for governor by the National Republican party. He declined the nomination, but was given such a strong endorsement by the National Republican press that when brought forward for governor, nearly two years later, by the AntiMasons and Democrats, the mouths of the National Republicans were stopped. He retired from the governorship in 1838.
On the outbreak of the Dorr Rebellion in 1842 he was appointed by Governor King one of three commissioners to proceed to Washington to solicit President Tyler’s aid in maintaining the state constitutional officers in authority. In the same year he was elected to the state Senate as a representative of the Law and Order party, opposed to Thomas Wilson Dorr. Two years later, upon the resignation of William Sprague, United States senator from Rhode Island, Francis was made his successor.
His term expired in March 1845, whereupon he was returned to the Rhode Island Senate, to which body he was reelected annually until 1856.
He died at Warwick.
Achievements
Politics
Eelected as a Whig, Francis served as the 13th Governor of Rhode Island until 1838. After his final term, he was elected as a Law and Order candidate to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Sprague, serving (1844-45).
Views
Francis was greatly interested in education in Rhode Island and exerted upon it a strong influence.
Membership
John Francis was a life member of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry and a member of the Rhode Island Historical Society.
Personality
Francis was a man of genial temperament and was highly esteemed.
Connections
Francis's first wife was a cousin, Anne Carter Brown, only daughter of Nicholas Brown. She died in 1828 and on May 22, 1832, he married Elizabeth Willing Francis Harrison, who was also a cousin, the daughter of Thomas Willing Francis of Philadelphia.