Obadiah Brown, I

On 15 Jun 1737, he married his first cousin, Mary Harris [1718-1805], daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris. Obadiah Brown I was born in Providence. His father was Elder James Brown, a pastor of the First Baptist Church; his mother was Mary Harris. Upon reaching adulthood, Obadiah joined his older brother James Brown Jr. [1697-1739] in the mercantile trade, which included traffic in cocoa, rum, molasses and slaves. His initial role was as master of his brother's vessels in the West Indies trade. In 1736, family's sloop "Mary" became the first known Providence slave ship. However, this venture did not produce adequate profit, and the Browns had no further direct involvement in the slave trade for over twenty years. After the death of James at sea in 1739, Obadiah retired from the sea himself, but continued to run the business. During the 1750s, he became the first Providence merchant to trade directly with England, bypassing the traditional mercantile cities of Boston and Newport. He also opened a spermaceti candle factory as early as 1751. He also helped to raise James' young children, later forming a partnership with James' four surviving sons as Obadiah Brown & Co. This firm made another attempt at the slave trade in 1759, when their slave ship Wheel of Fortune was captured by French privateers. Obadiah died in Glocester, R.I. in 1762, probably at the home of his daughter Phebe Fenner.

           On 15 Jun 1737, he married his first cousin, Mary Harris [1718-1805], daughter of Toleration and Sarah Harris. They had eight children. All four of the sons died in early childhood. The four daughters all lived into adulthood and married into prominent familes: Phebe married John Fenner [brother of Gov. Arthur Fenner], Sarah married Lt. Gov. Jabez Bowen, Anna married her first cousin Moses Brown and Mary married Thomas Arnold Esq. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~Father of: Phebe Brown Fenner [1738-1825] James Brown [1740-1742] Sarah Brown Bowen [1742-1800] Anna Brown Brown [1744-1773] Nathan Brown [1747-1750] Unnamed Son [1750-1750] James Brown [1752-1753] Mary Brown Arnold [1753]* Reference: [https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/19089538/obadiah-brown Find A Grave Memorial] - [https://www.geni.com/projects/SmartCopy/18783 SmartCopy]: ''Mar 24 2020, 4:22:07 UTC''