Dr. Solomon Drowne (also known as Solomon Drown) (March 11, 1753 – February 5, 1834) was a prominent American physician, academic and surgeon during the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

and in the history of the fledgling

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Early life

Drowne was born in

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 ...

in 1753. His father (also named Solomon, as was his father) was a merchant and was heavily involved in the civic affairs of the town. The Drowne family was also active in the First Baptist Church in America. Drowne's great-uncle Shem Drowne made the famous grasshopper weather vane atop of

Faneuil Hall Faneuil Hall ( or ; previously ) is a marketplace and meeting hall near the waterfront and Government Center, Boston, Massachusetts, Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Opened in 1742, it was the site of several speeches ...

in Boston. In 1772, Drown witnessed the burning of a British ship in an event known as the Gaspée Affair. The following year, he graduated from the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (the original name for

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

) and received medical degrees from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...

and the College of Philadelphia (now the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. One of nine colonial colleges, it was chartered in 1755 through the efforts of f ...

American Revolutionary War

From 1776 to 1780, during the Revolutionary War, Drowne served as a surgeon in different hospitals and with different regiments throughout the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

. On July 3, 1776, he narrowly escaped being captured by the British while gathering medical supplies in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. While stationed and treating soldiers at

Rhode Island Rhode Island ( ) is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Connecticut to its west; Massachusetts to its north and east; and the Atlantic Ocean to its south via Rhode Island Sound and Block Is ...

, he gained the favor of

Marquis de Lafayette Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette, Marquis de La Fayette (; 6 September 1757 – 20 May 1834), known in the United States as Lafayette (), was a French military officer and politician who volunteered to join the Conti ...

, the

Comte de Rochambeau Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1 July 1725 – 10 May 1807) was a French Royal Army officer who played a critical role in the Franco-American victory at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 during the American Revolutionary War. ...

, the

Comte d'Estaing Jean Baptiste Charles Henri Hector, Count of Estaing (24 November 1729 – 28 April 1794) was a French military officer and writer. He began his service as a soldier in the War of the Austrian Succession, briefly spending time as a prisoner of wa ...

and other French military officers supporting the American cause. In autumn 1780, he became surgeon on board the

privateer A privateer is a private person or vessel which engages in commerce raiding under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign o ...

sloop ''Hope'' owned by Joseph Nightingale and John Innis Clarke, keeping a diary that was later published. Drowne was discharged from the 1st Rhode Island Regiment on June 15, 1783, receiving a Badge of Merit for six years' faithful service.

After the war

In 1783, Drowne was elected to the

(then still known as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ) board of fellows. He traveled to Europe, touring various medical facilities and schools and meeting

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Returning home, he practiced medicine in Providence, Rhode Island until 1788, when he settled in

Marietta, Ohio Marietta is a city in Washington County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in Appalachian Ohio, southeastern Ohio at the confluence of the Muskingum River, Muskingum and Ohio Rivers, northeast of Parkersburg, West Virginia ...

with other war veterans. He was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1790. As his health declined, Drowne moved from Marietta to Morgantown, Virginia (now West Virginia), Union, Pennsylvania and back to Rhode Island in 1801.

Later life

Drowne was a close friend of

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Theodore Foster, whom he had met at college. In 1801 Drowne returned to Rhode Island and bought a farm next to Senator Foster in

Foster, Rhode Island Foster is a town in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. The population was 4,469 at the 2020 census. History Foster was originally settled in the 17th century by British colonists as a farming community. In the year 1662, Will ...

naming his farm Mt. Hygeia after the Greek goddess of health. Drowne used the farm for botanical research and named his driveway the "

Appian Way The Appian Way (Latin and Italian language, Italian: Via Appia) is one of the earliest and strategically most important Roman roads of the ancient Roman Republic, republic. It connected Rome to Brindisi, in southeast Italy. Its importance is in ...

". (As near as can be determined, Drown's home was built around 1806 as determined by Anselyn Lynch researching for the National Register of Historic Places - the house is on the Register). The first honorary Doctor of Medicine degree from Brown Medical School was conferred upon Solomon Drowne in 1804. In 1811, Drowne was appointed Professor of

Botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

Materia Medica ''Materia medica'' ( lit.: 'medical material/substance') is a Latin term from the history of pharmacy for the body of collected knowledge about the therapeutic properties of any substance used for healing (i.e., medications). The term derives f ...

in the medical department at Rhode Island College (now Brown University Medical School). He laid out the college's first botanical garden, became one of the original members of the Rhode Island Medical Society and one of the founders of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. With his son William Drowne, he co-wrote ''The Farmer's Guide'', a thorough guide on

husbandry Animal husbandry is the branch of agriculture concerned with animals that are raised for meat, fibre, milk, or other products. It includes day-to-day care, management, production, nutrition, selective breeding, and the raising of livestock. ...

and gardening, in 1824. Drowne's papers are now a part of Brown University's collection.

Quotes

The phrase "the whole Fraternity of Noise", describing the growing street noise in Philadelphia's downtown, is often misattributed to

, but actually originates in a letter from Drowne to his brother William while Solomon was in Philadelphia in 1774.Gillingham, H. E., & Drowne, S. (1924). Dr. Solomon Drowne. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography, 48(3), 227–250.

References

External links

Solomon Drowne
on Encyclopedia Brunoniana.

from Drowne's journal on board the ''Hope''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Drowne, Solomon 1753 births 1834 deaths American military doctors People from Providence, Rhode Island Physicians in the American Revolution People from colonial Rhode Island People of Rhode Island in the American Revolution Brown University alumni Brown University faculty Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania alumni Geisel School of Medicine alumni Physicians from Rhode Island