Daniel Russell Brown (March 28, 1848 – February 28, 1919) was an American politician and the 43rd

Governor of Rhode Island The governor of Rhode Island is the head of government of the U.S. state of Rhode Island and serves as commander-in-chief of the state's Army National Guard and Air National Guard. The current governor is Dan McKee, a member of the Democrati ...

Early life

D. Russell Brown was born in

Bolton, Connecticut Bolton ( ) is a small rural New England town, town in Tolland County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,858 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Bolton was incorporated in October 1720 and is governed by town meeting, w ...

, United States, on March 28, 1848. He was son of Arba Harrison Brown and Harriet M. (Dart) Brown. He went to public schools and worked his way up to head salesman at a hardware store in

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

, then moved to

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

, where he became partner in a mill supply store. He married Isabel Barrows October 14, 1874. They had three children, Milton Barrows Brown, Isabel Russell Brown (later Brunschwig), and Hope Caroline Brown (later Chapin). Hope was honeymooning on the British ocean liner RMS ''Carpathia'' in April 1912, when this vessel took on the survivors of the RMS ''Titanic''.

Political career

Brown was a Presidential Elector for Rhode Island in 1888. He was a member of the Providence City Council for four years before he ran for governor. He won the first election by popular vote, was then reelected by the General Assembly the next year, when no candidate reached the required majority, and won the popular vote again in his third gubernatorial election. He held the governor's office from May 31, 1892, to May 29, 1895. In his last term, he played a key role in the adoption of a constitutional amendment that permitted election by a plurality rather than a majority vote. He was suggested as vice presidential candidate at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

of 1896, having the support of

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

, but was not selected. He was an active member of the

Freemasons Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...

. In 1891, he became a member of the Rhode Island Society of the

Sons of the American Revolution The Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), formally the National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution (NSSAR), is a federally chartered patriotic organization. The National Society, a nonprofit corporation headquartered in Louisvi ...

. He died on February 28, 1919, and was buried at

Swan Point Cemetery Swan Point Cemetery is a historic rural cemetery located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Established in 1846 on a 60-acre (0.24 km2) plot of land, it has approximately 40,000 interments. History The cemetery was first organize ...

in Providence.

Notes

Sources

* Sobel, Robert and John Raimo. ''Biographical Directory of the Governors of the United States, 1789-1978''. Greenwood Press, 1988. {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Daniel Russell 1848 births 1919 deaths Republican Party governors of Rhode Island Burials at Swan Point Cemetery Providence City Council members 19th-century Rhode Island politicians People from Bolton, Connecticut