Drowne family papers (Ms.Drowne)

Biographical/Historical note

Solomon Drowne (sometimes called Solomon Drowne, Junior) was born in Providence in 1753, the third of that name in one of the founding families of the colony of Rhode Island. He attended the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University) and graduated with the Class of 1773. He went on to enroll for the study of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but his studies were interrupted when he decided to enlist as a surgeon in the Continental Army in 1776. After four years as a military surgeon, including service to the French forces stationed at Newport and on a Rhode Island privateer, Drowne resumed his medical studies. He also travelled widely in Europe, attending medical lectures in England, Holland, Belgium and France, and visiting hospitals. He returned briefly to Providence in 1785 to set up a medical practice, but was soon called to Ohio where he joined other veterans of the Revolutionary War in founding the town of Marietta. After four years in Ohio, the restless Drowne moved on to live in Pennsylvania and West Virginia before returning permanently to Rhode Island in 1801.

On his return, Drowne settled in Foster, where he built an elegant house with a botanical garden that he named Mount Hygeia, after the ancient Greek goddess of health. In 1811 he was elected Professor of Materia Medica and Botany at Brown University. He also served the University as a Fellow from 1783 until his death in 1834, and was for several years the Secretary of Corporation of Brown University. He was also a founding member of the Rhode Island Medical Society and the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry.

Drowne married Elizabeth Russell (1759-1844) at Holliston, Massachusetts, in November 1777. The Drownes had five daughters and three sons. One of the girls, Eliza Russell Drowne (1781-1865) -- sometimes referred as Elizabeth -- did some of the drawings that illustrated her father's botanical work. Solomon Drowne died at their home in Foster in 1834.

Although the Drowne papers include documents both prior to and after the life of Dr. Solomon Drowne, his personal papers are considered the heart of the collection. The family name is sometimes spelled "Drown" but more often "Drowne". Other members of the family represented in the collection include Solomon Drowne's parents, siblings, children and grandchildren. These include:

• Christopher Rhodes Drowne (b. 1830)
• Eliza Russell Drowne (1781-1865)
• Elizabeth Russell Drowne (1759-1844)
• Esther Frances Goldsmith Drowne
• George Leonard Drowne
• Georgianna Drowne (b. 1848)
• Henry Bernardin Drowne (1799-1873)
• Henry Russell Drowne (b. 1860)
• Henry Thayer Drowne (1822-1897)
• Julia Ann Stafford Drowne (1802-1888)
• Luther Washburne Drowne (1850-1890)
• Maude C. Drowne
• Sarah Drowne (1750-1834)
• Sarah Drowne (1790-1846)
• Sarah Rhodes Arnold Drowne (1832-1906)
• Samuel Drowne (1721-1770)
• Samuel Drowne (1752-1829)
• Shem Drowne (1683-1774)
• Solomon Drowne (1706-1780)
• Solomon Horace Drowne (1796-1848)
• Sophia Drowne
• Susan Leonard Drowne
• Thomas Russell Drowne (b. 1888)
• Thomas Stafford Drowne (1823-1897)
• William Drowne (1755-1786)
• William Drowne (1793-1874)