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Papers of James Brown (1761-1834) (MSS 310)

Rhode Island Historical Society

121 Hope Street
Providence, RI 02906
Tel: 401-273-8107
Fax: 401-751-7930
email: reference@rihs.org

Inventory

Series I.
Contains letters sent and received by James Brown from family and friends. There are descriptions of places James Brown visited, people he dined with, clothes people wore, and family gossip with his sisters. There is an interesting letter from his brother-in-law, John Francis, describing Congress, which was in session in Philadelphia in 1790. Several letters in 1791 describe the death of his uncle, Nicholas Brown, and family responses to the death. There is a letter written by James while on business for his father where he describes the City of Baltimore in good detail. There is also a business letter concerning the rebuilding of the Washington Bridge written in 1807. The following list is an index of all the correspondents.

  • Bethune, Nathaniel - Letter 26
  • Brown, Avis - Letter 10
  • Brown, Benjamin (1763-1773) - Letter 1
  • Dickerson, Charles - Letter 31
  • Dickins, E. - Letter 25
  • Francis, Abigail (Brown) (1766-1821) - Letter 7, 22, 28, 36a
  • Francis, John (1763-1796) - Letter 8, 9, 14, 21
  • Francis, Thomas - Letter 23
  • Francis, Thomas W. - Letter 27, 29
  • Herreshoff, Charles F. (1763-1819) - Letter 42
  • Herreshoff, Julia L. (1811-1901) - Letter 38
  • Herreshoff, Sarah B. (1773-1846) - Letter 2, 3, 6, 11, 13, 18, 30, 40
  • Herreshoff, John B. (1805-1861) - Letter 34a
  • Malbone, Francis (1759-1809) - Letter 24
  • Mason, Amasa - Letter 39
  • Mason, Daniel - Letter 15
  • Otis, Harrison G. (1765-1848) - Letter 17
  • St. Cecilia Society - Letter 20
  • Washington Bridge - Letter 36
  • Watson, Elkanah - Letter 36c
  • Willing, Thomas M. - Letter 16

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 1 Letters 1-10
20 February 1773 - [June] 1791
Box 1, Folder 2 Letters 11-20
3 January 1791- 23 January 1794
Box 1, Folder 3 Letters 21-30
25 February 1794 - 15 January 1802
Box 1, Folder 4 Letters 31-42
16 November 1804 - 1834

Series II. Diaries
Consists of James Brown’s diaries which often describe his travels while on business for his father, John. Of note in his diary of 1801 is a detailed description of the fire which burned much of Providence that year.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 5 Ciphering Book,
c.1775-1780
Box 1, Folder 8 Diary entries, in Almanac of 1788
1787-1789
Box 1, Folder 11 Memorandum and Diary Entries, in the almanac of 1791
1791
Box 1, Folder 12 Memorandum and Diary Entries
1791 -1793
Box 1, Folder 13 Diary entries
1794
Box 1, Folder 15 Diary entries
1799
Box 1, Folder 16 Memorandum and diary entries
1799-1830
Box 1, Folder 17 Diary and Memoranda Book
1800, 1803, 1804, 1831
Box 2, Folder 1 Diary
1801
Box 2, Folder 2 Transcriptions of diary entries, loose diary entry
1801-1803
Box 2, Folder 5 Thermometer readings, meteorological observations and diary entries
1805-1806
Box 2, Folder 8 Diary Entries
1815-1818
Box 2, Folder 11 Diary entries in front of almanac of 1822
1822
Box 2, Folder 16 Diary Entries: James Brown’s tour of Niagara [Falls]
1827
Box 2, Folder 18 Diary Entries, loose folios
1831
Box 2, Folder 19 “Certificate for Industry”, to Abby Mason from H. Swan’s and H. Rose’s School, Medford, undated
Box 2, Folder 20 Diary entry, undated
Box 2, Folder 21 “Account of Chad Brown and his Descendants” copied by Abby Mason, undated.
Box 2, Folder 22 Memorandum and diary entries in the "Massachusetts Register and United States Calandar" of 1813
1813

Series III. ACCOUNTING RECORDS
The account records in this Series document James Brown’s personal expenditures. The Cash Account Book from 1823-1830 has an additional ten pages of genealogical information (mainly birth and death dates) for the ancestors of Chad Brown. There are also several books recording thermometer readings and other meteorological information.

Container Description Date
Box 1, Folder 6 Memorandum Book, in Pocket Almanac of 1783
1783
Box 1, Folder 7 Memorandum Book
1782-1823
Box 1x, Folder 1 Book invoices and catalog, (Item 5b)
1784 Oct 12
Box 1, Folder 9 Memorandum Book
1788-1789
Box 1, Folder 10 Memorandum Book in Almanac of 1797
1789-1799
Box 1, Folder 11 Memorandum and Diary Entries, in the almanac of 1791
1791
Box 1, Folder 12 Memorandum and Diary Entries
1791-1793
Box 1, Folder 14 Memorandum entries for 1798 in Almanac of 1798
1798
Box 1, Folder 17 Diary and Memoranda Book
1800, 1803, 1804, 1831
Box 1x, Folder 3 Meteorological Records
1803-1804, 1819-1820, 1829-1832
Box 1x, Folder 2 Deed, Charles Dickerson to James Brown (Item 31)
1804 Nov 10
Box 2, Folder 3 Memorandum Entries, in Almanac of 1804
1804
Box 2, Folder 4 Memorandum and Daily Account Entries
1805
Box 2, Folder 5 Thermometer readings, meteorological observations and diary entries
1805-1806
Box 2, Folder 6 Account Book 1808, and loose account folios for 1806
1806,1808
Box 2, Folder 7 Cash Account Book
1814-1822
Box 2, Folder 9 Memorandum Book
1819-1834
Box 2, Folder 10 Memorandum Entries in Almanac of 1821
1821
Box 2, Folder 12 Cash Accounts Book and genealogical notes
1823-1830
Box 2, Folder 13 Memorandum Entries, in Almanac of 1824
1824
Box 2, Folder 14 Memorandum Entries in Almanac of 1825
1825
Box 2, Folder 15 Almanac of 1827
1827
Box 2, Folder 17 Memorandum Entries, in Almanac of 1831
1831