Josiah Brown

Josiah Brown (1816–1875) was an 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.

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

Life and career

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,[lower-alpha 1] 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.[lower-alpha 2] 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
YearBuildingAddressCityStateNotesImageReference
1850First Baptist Church228 N Main StFall RiverMassachusettsListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11][13]
1855Plan of Oak Grove Cemetery765 Prospect StFall RiverMassachusettsDesigned on the model of Mount Auburn Cemetery, the archetypical garden cemetery. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11][14]
1857Plan of Evergreen Cemetery49 West StEast DouglasMassachusetts[15]
1858House for Josiah Brown521 N Main StFall RiverMassachusettsThe architect's own home.[16]
1859Union Mill No. 1289 Pleasant StFall RiverMassachusettsListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.[11][17][9]
1866Robeson Mill No. 1350 Rodman StFall RiverMassachusettsDemolished in 2001.[9]
1872Border City Mill No. 11 West StFall RiverMassachusettsBurned in 1877.[9]
1872Montaup Mill1089 Dwelly StFall RiverMassachusettsBrown was the organizer and first president of the Montaup company. Later Osborn Mill No. 2. Burned in 1940.[9]
1873Border City Mill No. 22 Weaver StFall RiverMassachusettsListed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[11][18]

Notes
  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
  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. 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. "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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