Person:John Brown (110)

BIOGRAPHY: The Chad Browne Memorial Consisting of Genealogical Memoirs Of a Portion of the Descedants of Chad and Elizabeth Browne Compiled by a Descendant Printed for the Family Edition of Three Hundred Illustrated Copies, of which this Book is No. 209 1888 - Page 10 John Brown (Chad 1), b. 1630, d. about 1706, m. Mary, daughter of Rev. Obadiah and Catherine Holmes of Newport, R.I. He resided in Providence at the North End, in the house afterwards occupied by his son, Elder James, near the junction of North Main and Randall Streets. We learn from the town records that he frequently served as Juryman, was commissioner of union of towns in 1654, and Freeman in 1665. Like his father he was a surveyor as well as Baptist Elder, and in 1659 was appointed Surveyor of Highways. He served on various committees, was moderator, member of the Town Council, deputy in legislature, assistant, and took the oath of allegiance, May 31, 1666. In 1661 the town allowed a way that had been laid out across his land and other lots to be fenced under certain restrictions. It was afterwards laid out as Camp Street. In 1672, after the death of his mother, he sold the home lot of his father to his brother James of Newport, who re-sold it the same day to Daniel Abbot. The burial place of his parents, twenty feet square with free egress, was reserved. Nearly on hundred years later, his great grandsons, John and Moses Brown, repurchased a part of the this land, and presented it to the College of Rhode Island, at the time of its removal from Warren to Providence. On the 14th of May, 1770, the corner-stone of University Hall, the first and for many years the only building, was laid by John Brown. In 1804, the name of the institution was changed to Brown University. In 1701 he and Pardon Tillinghast, elders of the church, ordained James Clarke as pastor of the Second Baptist Church in Newport.

1. ↑ Browne, William B,, Writer Role: compiler. Genealogy of the Jenks Family in America, Second Publisher: Heritage Quest, Second Address: North Salt Lake, Utah. (Rumford Press, Concord, New Hampshire, 1952)
   page 13.
2. ↑ Johnson, Rossiter. Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Second Title: Biographies of Notable Americans 1904, Second Publisher: Ancest. (The Biographical Society, Boston, 1904)
   BROWN, John, colonist, was born in England in 1630; eldest son of Chad and Elizabeth Brown. He settled in Rhode Island with his parents in 1638, where he became prominent in town affairs. He served frequently as a juryman, was commissioner on union of towns in 1654, and freeman in 1665. In 1659 he was appointed surveyor of highways, served on various committees, and was moderator, member of the town council with Roger Williams and Thomas Harris, and deputy in legislature. He died about 1706.
3. ↑ Browne, William Bradford. The New England Historical and Genealogical Register: Chad Browne of Providence, R.I., and Four Generations of His Descendants, Volume: vol.. (New England Historic Genealogical Society, January, 1926)
   page 76.