Moses Brown was an American manufacturer and philanthropist. He is famous for designing and construction of some of the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution, including Slater Mill. He was also one of the co-founders of Brown University.
Background
Moses Brown was born on September 12/23, 1738 in Providence, Rhode Island, the youngest of the four distinguished sons of James and Hope (Power) Brown, the others being Nicholas, John, and Joseph. James Brown died in 1739, leaving his boys to be brought up by their mother, a woman "of rare force of mind and character. "
Education
Moses took a formal school education.
Career
At thirteen, Moses Brown left school and went to live with his uncle, Obadiah Brown, part of whose fortune he inherited. In 1763 he was admitted to the firm of Nicholas Brown & Company, established by his brothers, but retired in 1773.
Having made some experiments with a jenny and spinning frame which operated by hand, in the manner of Arkwright's famous invention, Moses Brown induced Samuel Slater, one of Arkwright's men, to come to America, writing him (December 12, 1789), "Come and work our machines, and have the credit as well as advantage of perfecting the first water mill in America. " Slater evaded the stringent British laws and came to Rhode Island, where, under Brown's patronage, he built from memory, without plans or drawings, a frame of twenty-four spindles and put it into sucessful operation. The venture was prosperous from the beginning, and added to Brown's already large estate.
In 1770 Moses Brown took the leading step toward moving Rhode Island College (founded at Warren, Rhode Island, in 1764) to Providence, where it was later, because of the benefactions of his family, renamed Brown University; and in 1771 he gave $1, 000 to its endowment.
In 1780 when subscriptions were solicited for a Friends' School, he contributed £115 and, when it was opened at Portsmouth, Rhode Island, in 1784 under Isaac Lawton as principal, he became its treasurer. Owing to lack of funds, the school was discontinued four years later, but it was reopened in 1819 in Providence, its property having accumulated in Brown's hands to $9, 300. Brown provided regularly for the school from that time on, and gave it in his will the sum of $15, 000, with some land and his library. It is to-day known as the Moses Brown School.
Achievements
Religion
Moses Brown gradually retired from the family business and began his involvement with Quaker meetings.
Views
After the Revolutionary War, Moses Brown became convinced that America needed to create economic independence from England and Europe by developing domestic industries and manufacturing. He was also interested in developing methods to employ Quakers and reduce any economic dependence on the slave trade the Quakers may have had. With his son-in-law William Almy and his cousin Smith Brown, Moses decided to invest in the textile industry which was just beginning in nearby Massachusetts.
He adhered to and promoted the orthodox Quaker position that Quakers should resist war taxes.
Membership
Moses Brown was a member of the Rhode Island Abolition Society, of the Rhode Island Bible Society, and of the Rhode Island Peace Society.
Personality
Brown was a man of sound judgment, unblemished integrity, and liberal spirit. Although during his life he was troubled with attacks of vertigo, Brown was able, by living quietly, to keep his health, and all his senses were alert up to the time of his death near the close of his ninety-eighth year.
Interests
Although he was retiring by nature, he had many interests and left behind him an enormous private correspondence.
Connections
In 1764 Moses Brown married his cousin, Anna Brown, by whom he had three children, --Sarah, Obadiah, and a daughter who did not survive infancy. Mrs. Brown's death in 1773 was a crushing blow to her husband, temporarily turning his mind away from worldly matters.
In 1779 he married Mary Olney, who died in 1798, and a year later he took a third wife, Phoebe Lockwood, who died in 1808.