Nicholas Brown, III


Gender:
Male
Born:
October 2, 1792
Died:
March 22, 1859
Home Town:
Providence, RI
Later Residences:
Providence, RI
Marriage(s):
Abby Mason Brown (July 5, 1820)
Caroline Clements Brown (November 22, 1831)
Biographical Notes:
Nicholas Brown, III was the son of Nicholas Brown, Jr. and Ann Carter Brown. His father was a state representative who was the founder of Providence Atheneum. His family founded Rhode Island College which became Brown College and was named after the family. While attending the Litchfield Law School in 1811, fellow student Roger S. Baldwin described him as "smart, but lazy, drinks." After completing his law studies Brown became a trustee of Brown College from 1820-1825. He also served as the United States' General Consul in Italy from 1845 to 1853, and was Lt. Governor of Rhode Island from 1856 to 1857. Brown's first marriage was to a Miss Brown (his second cousin). She died before they had any children. He had three sons and three daughters with his second wife, Caroline Clements Brown. Nicholas Brown, III died in Troy, New York in 1859.

Education
Years at LLS:
1811
Other Education:
Graduated from Brown University in 1811.

Profession / Service
Profession:
Political Office
Federal Posts:
U.S. General Consul in Italy (Italy) 1847-1853
State Posts:
Lt. Governor (RI) 1856-1857

Related Objects and Documents
In the Ledger:
help The Citation of Attendance provides primary source documentation of the student’s attendance at the Litchfield Female Academy and/or the Litchfield Law School. If a citation is absent, the student is thought to have attended but currently lacks primary source confirmation.

Records for the schools were sporadic, especially in the formative years of both institutions. If instructors kept comprehensive records for the Litchfield Female Academy or the Litchfield Law School, they do not survive. Researchers and staff have identified students through letters, diaries, family histories and genealogies, and town histories as well as catalogues of students printed in various years. Art and needlework have provided further identification of Female Academy Students, and Litchfield County Bar records document a number of Law School students. The history of both schools and the identification of the students who attended them owe credit to the early 20th century research and documentation efforts of Emily Noyes Vanderpoel and Samuel Fisher, and the late 20th century research and documentation efforts of Lynne Templeton Brickley and the Litchfield Historical Society staff.
CITATION OF ATTENDANCE:
Baldwin, Roger Sherman. Notes on law taken from the lectures of the Honble. Tapping Reeve and James Gould, esquire … at the Litchfield Law School, 1812-1813. Rare Book Collection, Lillian Goldman Law Library, Yale University.

Bond, William Key. Lectures on law by the Honable. Tapping Reeve and James Gould esquire at Litchfield, Connecticut, An. Dom: 1811 & 1812 Henry Francis Du Pont Winterthur Museum Joseph Downs Manuscript Collection No. 65x669.

Catalogue of the Litchfield Law School, Hartford, CT: Press of Case, Tiffany and Company, 1849, 10.

Litchfield County Bar Association Records, 1811, Helga J. Ingraham Memorial Library, Litchfield Historical Society.
Secondary Sources:
Hall, Lu Verne V. and Donald Odell Virdin. New England Family Histories and Genealogies: States of Maine and Rhode Island. Heritage Books, 2000.

Contact Us

Do you have more information for the Ledger?

If you have family papers, objects, or any other details you would like to share, or if you would like to obtain a copy of an image for publication, please contact us at curator@litchfieldhistoricalsociety.org.