Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Brown, Jacob, 1775-1828

Military officer; born in Bucks county, Pa., May 9, 1775, of Quaker parentage. He taught school at Crosswicks. N. J., for three years, and passed two

Medal presented to General Brown by Congress.

years in surveying lands in Ohio. In 1798 he opened a select school in the city of New York, and studied law. Some of his newspaper essays attracted the notice of

General Brown's monument.

Gen. Alexander Hamilton, to whom he became secretary while that officer was acting general-in-chief of the army raised to fight the French. On leaving that service he went to northern New York, purchased lands on the banks of the Black River, not many miles from Sackett's Harbor, and founded the flourishing settlement of Brownsville, where he erected the first building within 30 miles of Lake Ontario. There he became county judge; colonel of the militia in 1809; brigadier-general in 1810; and, in 1812, received the appointment of commander of the frontier from Oswego to Lake St. Francis, a line 200 miles in extent. He performed excellent service on that frontier and that of the Niagara during the War of 1812-15, receiving two severe wounds in battle. For his services he received the thanks of Congress and a gold medal. At the close of the war, General Brown was retained in command of the northern division of the army, and was made general-in-chief of the army of the United States, March 10, 1821. He died in Washington, D. C., Feb. 24, 1828. General Brown's remains were interred in the congressional burying-ground, and over them is a truncated column of white marble upon an inscribed pedestal. See freedom of A City.