Rev. Thomas Brown
by
Stefan Bielinski

Thomas Brown was born about 1731. He was son of Thomas Brown of Oxford, England. Educated at St. Albans Hall, he was ordained a deacon by the Bishop of London in 1754. He is said to have removed to America as deputy chaplain of the 60th Regiment of Royal Americans in 1760. He then was made chaplain of the 27th Regiment. In 1762 he would serve in the invasion of Martinique.

Earlier, in August 1761, he had secured a provincial license by the time he married Mertcha (Martina) Hogan at the Albany Anglican church. The wedding was performed by Richard Griffith, chaplain of the 48th Regiment. Their first child was baptized at St. Peter's in June 1762. More children followed but we have not encountered their christenings in Albany churches.

Settling in Albany after military service, he aided and substituted for Rev. John Ogilvie. In 1764, Brown was made rector at St. Peter's. During that period he also served in Schenectady and as a missionary to the Indians. In the latter capacity, he cooperated with Supt. of Indian Affairs, Sir William Johnson while he sought support for his missionary activities. In September 1765, he joined with fellow churchman William Rogers to petition the city council for land on which to build a minister's house.

Brown left Albany in 1768. Over the next decade, he served in several parishes in the Chesapeake region. Thomas Brown died in Maryland in May 1784 at age forty-nine. His family (his widow and seven children) then returned to Albany where Martina would die about 1807.

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notes

the people of colonial Albany Sources: The life of Rev. Thomas Brown is CAP biography number 7460. This profile is derived chiefly from community-based resources and from a sketch appearing in DH vol. III, p.1153. More informal biographical material appeared in Albany Chronicles. A portrait of him in the Albany home of his daughter was noted and will be added to this profile. He is not the more famous and younger Thomas Brown, King's Ranger who served mostly in the South.



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first posted 4/15/03; updated 4/28/16