Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1900, volume 1).djvu/436

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BROWN
BROWN

service of the confederate states at the beginning of the civil war, and was successively promoted to colonel, brigadier-general, and major-general. Lett nearly penniless by the war, he found employment as a railroad surveyor at a small salary, but proved so efficient a manager that he was made president of the Nashville railroad. After constructing several small lines in Tennessee, he entered the service of the Texas Pacific railroad and had charge of it during its extension westward to the Rio Grande and eastward to New Orleans. Later he was appointed receiver of the entire property. He was president of the constitutional convention of Tennessee, and was twice governor of the state—in 1870 and 1875. He travelled extensively in Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.—His brother, Neil S., d. in Feb., 1886, was governor of Tennessee in 1847 and 1840, and was U. S. minister to Russia under Taylor's administration.


BROWN, John George, artist, b. in Durham, England, 11 Nov., 1831. He studied in Newcastle- on-Tyne and in the royal Scottish academy, where he received a medal in the antique class in 1853. During the same year he came to the United States and studied in the National Academy of Design in New York. He has received medals in Boston and in San Francisco. In 1863 he was chosen a member of the National Academy, and in 1866 was among the original members of the Water-Color Society, serving during several years as its vice-president. He was actively interested in the "Artists' Fund," and filled a similar place in that organization. Mr. Brown has made a specialty of American subjects. Among his best-known works are "His First Cigar," "Curling in Central Park" (1876); "The Passing Show" (1877); "The Dress Parade"; "The Three (Scape) Graces"; "The 'Longshoreman's Noon " (1880); "A Merry Air and a Sad Heart" (1880); "The Thrilling Moment" (1881); "The Old Folks at Home" (1882); and "A Jolly Lot" (1885).


BROWN, John Henry Hobart, P. E. bishop, b. in New York city. 1 Jan., 1831; d. in Fond du Lac, Wis., 3 May, 1888. He was graduated at the general theological seminary, New York, in 1854, and was ordained priest, 1 Dec, 1855. He became assistant minister in Grace church, Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1854, and soon afterward rector of a new church organized by him in that city. In 1856 he assumed the rectorship of the church of the Evangelists, New York, and in 1863 that of St. John's church, Cohoes, N. Y. He was secretary of the convention of Albany in 1868, and archdeacon of the Albany convocation in 1870. He was chosen to be the first bishop of the diocese of Fond du Lac, Wis., and was consecrated in Cohoes, 15 Dec, 1875. Bishop Brown published a number of sermons, addresses, etc.


BROWN, John Newton, clergyman, b. in New London, Conn., 29 June, 1803 ; d. in Germantown, Pa., 15 May, 1868. He was graduated at the Hamilton Literary and Theological Institution (now Madison University), Hamilton, N. Y., in 1823. For a year he preached in Buffalo, N. Y., and then became pastor of the 1st Baptist church in Providence, R. I., after which he had charge of churches in Maiden, Mass., and in Exeter, N. H. In 1833 he removed to Boston, where he edited the "Encyclopaedia of Religious Knowledge " (Brattleboro, 1835), which was republished in England. From 1838 till 1845 he was professor of theology and ecclesiastical history in the New Hampton Theological Institution, N. II. ; but the failure of his health compelled him to go south. He was pastor of a church in Lexington, Va., from 1845 till 1849, and was subsequently editorial secretary of the American Baptist Publication Society and editor of the "Christian Chronicle" and the "National Baptist." The remainder of his life was spent in the service of this society, for which he edited the works of Bunyan and Fuller and Fleetwood's "Life of Christ." The Baptist articles of faith called the " New Hampshire Confession " were prepared by him and revised in 1852. One of his best efforts was a translation of the "Dies Irae," and he published "Emily and other Poems " (1840).


BROWN, John Porter, oriental scholar, b. in Chillicothe, Ohio, 17 Aug., 1814; d. in Constantinople, Turkey, 28 April, 1872. After serving for some years in the navy as a midshipman, in 1832 he accompanied his uncle, David Porter, to Constantinople, where the latter has been sent as first American minister to the porte. He applied himself at once to the study of the oriental languages and literature, and with such success that for many years he was regarded as one of the most accomplished orientalists in Turkey. In 1833 he was appointed assistant dragoman, and three years later was promoted to be first dragoman. From 1858 till his death he was secretary of legation. During his forty years of service he represented the United States nine times as charge d'affaires. He was acting in that capacity when the Hungarian patriot, Martin Koszta, after giving notice of his intended citizenship to the American consul, was seized by the Austrian authorities at Smyrna and sent on board of one of their frigates. Koszta appealed to the American legation for protection, and Mr. Brown's simple instructions to Capt. Ingraham, of the U. S. corvette "Dale," were, "Take him." On receipt of this order the Austrian captain was given three hours to deliver up the prisoner, and meanwhile the American vessel prepared for action. Half an hour before the time expired Koszta was handed over to the French consul, who delivered him to Capt. Ingraham. The day following, two Austrian line-of-battle ships entered the bay; but the American corvette had sailed. For his conduct on this occasion Mr. Brown received a service of plate from his American admirers. He was a frequent contributor to American newspapers and magazines, and wrote "Dervishes, or Oriental Spiritualism" (Philadelphia, 1868), and also translated Ahmed Ben Hemden's "Turkish Evening Entertainments" (New York, 1850), and Constantine's "Ancient and Modern Constantinople" (1868).


BROWN, Joseph Emerson, statesman, b. in Pickens co., S. C, 15 April. 1821 ; d. in Atlanta, Ga., 30 Nov., 1894. He removed with his father to Georgia, and, after being educated at Calhoun academy, S. C., taught school at Canton, Ga., studied law, and was admitted to the bar in August, 1845. He was graduated at Yale law-school in 1846, and began practice at Canton, Ga., was elected to the state senate in 1849, chosen a presidential elector on the Pierce ticket in 1852, and in 1855 became judge of the superior courts of the Blue Ridge circuit. He was elected governor by the democrats in 1857, and was re-elected by increased majorities in 1859, 1861, and 1863. Pie was an active secessionist, seizing Forts Pulaski and Jackson, near Savannah, on 3 Jan., 1861, sixteen days before his state seceded, and taking possession of the U. S. arsenal at Augusta, five days after the passage of the ordinance. During the war he was a vigorous supporter of the confederate government, but disputed with Mr. Davis the constitutionality of the conscription measures. During Sherman's invasion he put into the field an army of 10,000 men.