Josiah Brown

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Josiah Brown
BornJuly 10, 1816
Smithfield, Rhode Island
DiedJuly 30, 1875
Fall River, Massachusetts
OccupationArchitect
First Baptist Church, Fall River, Massachusetts, 1850

Josiah Brown (1816–1875) was an American architect and civil and mill engineer of Fall River, Massachusetts. Among his major surviving projects are the Union Mill No. 1 (1859) and Border City Mill No. 2 (1873), both in Fall River.

Life and career[edit]

Josiah Brown was born July 10, 1816, in Smithfield, Rhode Island, to Parley and Lucy (Southwick) Brown.[1] Parley Brown was a methodist minister and was later a resident of East Douglas.

Brown received some education from his father, but he was mostly self-taught. He was a resident of Fall River by 1847,[a] and was noted as an "Architect" in the first Fall River directory of 1853. In some of his early mill projects, Brown was assisted by the prominent machinist and mill superintendent William C. Davol.[3] Brown was also the first employer of William C. Davol Jr.,[4] who would later establish the Davol Mills.[b] From 1870 to 1875 William T. Henry, a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was in his office. Brown died July 30, 1875,[5] at which point Henry succeeded to his practice.[6]

The cause of death was Bright's disease.[7]

In addition to his architectural and mill engineering work, Brown was involved in the Hoosac Tunnel project, serving as Chief Assistant Engineer under Thomas Doane, Chief Engineer from 1863 to 1867.[8] He was also involved financially in several of his manufacturing projects. He was both organizer and initial president of the Montaup Mills, incorporated in 1871, and a director of the Robeson Mills, incorporated in 1866.[9] At the time of his death, he was also a director of the Davol Mills,[10] though it is not known if he was the architect.

He was the designer of several works listed on the United States National Register of Historic Places.[11][12]

Works[edit]

Year Building Address City State Notes Image Reference
1850 First Baptist Church 228 N Main St Fall River Massachusetts Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11] [13]
1855 Plan of Oak Grove Cemetery 765 Prospect St Fall River Massachusetts Designed on the model of Mount Auburn Cemetery, the archetypical garden cemetery. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11] [14]
1857 Plan of Evergreen Cemetery 49 West St East Douglas Massachusetts [15]
1858 House for Josiah Brown 521 N Main St Fall River Massachusetts The architect's own home. [16]
1859 Union Mill No. 1 289 Pleasant St Fall River Massachusetts Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11] [17][9]
1866 Robeson Mill No. 1 350 Rodman St Fall River Massachusetts Demolished in 2001. [9]
1872 Border City Mill No. 1 1 West St Fall River Massachusetts Burned in 1877. [9]
1872 Montaup Mill 1089 Dwelly St Fall River Massachusetts Brown was the organizer and first president of the Montaup company. Later Osborn Mill No. 2. Burned in 1940. [9]
1873 Border City Mill No. 2 2 Weaver St Fall River Massachusetts Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[11] [18]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ This noted in the context of Brown's subscription to the American Art-Union.[2]
  2. ^ The Davol Mills as well as Davol's house have both been listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Genealogy of the Descendants of Lawrence and Cassandra Southwick of Salem, Mass. (Salem, MA: J. H. Choate & Company, 1881): 260.
  2. ^ Transactions of the American Art-Union, for the Year 1847 (New York: G. F. Nesbitt, 1848):
  3. ^ Sylvia Chace Lintner, "Mill Architecture in Fall River: 1865-1880," New England Quarterly 21, no. 2 (June 1948): 185-203.
  4. ^ "Davol, William C.," Our County and its People: A Descriptive and Biographical History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, ed. Alanson Borden (Boston: Boston History Company, 1899): 70-71.
  5. ^ "Josiah Brown", https://www.findagrave.com, Find A Grave, August 20, 2014.
  6. ^ "Henry, William T.," Our County and its People: A Descriptive and Biographical History of Bristol County, Massachusetts, ed. Alanson Borden (Boston: Boston History Company, 1899): 110-111.
  7. ^ "Obituary," Boston Daily Advertiser, July 31, 1875, 1.
  8. ^ F. W. Bird, The Hoosac Tunnel: Its Condition and Prospects (Boston: Wright & Potter, 1865)
  9. ^ a b c d e Frederick M. Peck and Henry H. Earl, Fall River and its Industries: an Historical and Statistical Record of Village, Town, and City (New York: Atlantic Publishing and Engraving Company, 1877)
  10. ^ "In Memoriam," Fall River (MA) Daily Evening News, July 31, 1875, 2.
  11. ^ a b c d e "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  12. ^ Fall River MRA
  13. ^ First Baptist Church NRHP Registration Form (1983)
  14. ^ Oak Grove Cemetery NRHP Registration Form (1983)
  15. ^ "News Items," Congregationalist (Boston), December 4, 1857, 3.
  16. ^ "FLR.1606", mhc-macris.net, Massachusetts Historical Commission, n.d.
  17. ^ Union Mills NRHP Registration Form (1983)
  18. ^ Border City Mill No. 2 NRHP Registration Form (1990)
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