Individual Details

2nd wife was Mary Olney (4 Mar 1779); 3rd wife Phebe Lockwood (2 May 1799)

Moses Brown was born in Providence on September 12, 1738. He apprenticed to his Uncle Obadiah in as a clerk in 1751 and joined Nicholas Brown & Co. in 1762. He married his first cousin, Anna Brown (daughter of Obadiah) on January 1, 1764. After the death of his wife, Moses became a Quaker. Moses married Mary Olney after his first wife died and after she also died, he married again to Phoebe Lockwood. After his conversion to the Quaker faith, Moses became an Abolitionist; taking an active part in the Rhode Island antislavery movement, freeing his own slaves and helping other slaves to escape.
Moses was an early participant in the textile industry. He formed a company with his son in law, William Almy, (Almy & Brown) in 1789 for the manufacture of cotton cloth. He became interested in the advanced techniques employed in England by the Arkwright Mills and paid the passage for Samuel Slater to come to America and build one of the new style mills for Almy & Brown. This mill built in Pawtucket, RI was the first water-powered mill in America. Moses also helped to found the Providence Bank in 1791.
In 1770 Moses helped to bring Rhode Island College (Brown University) to Providence. He also worked diligently to establish a Quaker school and in 1819, the "New England Yearly Meeting Boarding School," (renamed Moses Brown School in 1904) was established.

Birth	12 Sep 1738	Providence, Providence County, Rhode Island
Marriage	1 Jan 1764	Anna Brown

Spouse

Anna Brown (1744 - 1779)

Father	James Brown (1698 - 1739)
Mother	Hope Power (1702 - 1792)
Sibling	James Brown (1724 - 1750)
Sibling	Nicholas Brown (1729 - 1791)
Sibling	Mary Brown (1731 - )
Sibling	Joseph Brown (1733 - 1785)
Sibling	John Brown (1736 - )