Solomon Drowne (sometimes called Solomon Drowne, Junior) was born in Providence in 1753, the third of that name in one of the founding families of the colony of Rhode Island. He attended the College of Rhode Island (now Brown University) and graduated with the Class of 1773. He went on to enroll for the study of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, but his studies were interrupted when he decided to enlist as a surgeon in the Continental Army in 1776. After four years as a military surgeon, including service to the French forces stationed at Newport and on a Rhode Island privateer, Drowne resumed his medical studies. He also travelled widely in Europe, attending medical lectures in England, Holland, Belgium and France, and visiting hospitals. He returned briefly to Providence in 1785 to set up a medical practice, but was soon called to Ohio where he joined other veterans of the Revolutionary War in founding the town of Marietta. After four years in Ohio, the restless Drowne moved on to live in Pennsylvania and West Virginia before returning permanently to Rhode Island in 1801.
On his return, Drowne settled in Foster, where he built an elegant house with a botanical garden that he named Mount Hygeia, after the ancient Greek goddess of health. In 1811 he was elected Professor of Materia Medica and Botany at Brown University. He also served the University as a Fellow from 1783 until his death in 1834, and was for several years the Secretary of Corporation of Brown University. He was also a founding member of the Rhode Island Medical Society and the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry.
Drowne married Elizabeth Russell (1759-1844) at Holliston, Massachusetts, in November 1777. The Drownes had five daughters and three sons. One of the girls, Eliza Russell Drowne (1781-1865) -- sometimes referred as Elizabeth -- did some of the drawings that illustrated her father's botanical work. Solomon Drowne died at their home in Foster in 1834.
Although the Drowne papers include documents both prior to and after the life of Dr. Solomon Drowne, his personal papers are considered the heart of the collection. The family name is sometimes spelled "Drown" but more often "Drowne". Other members of the family represented in the collection include Solomon Drowne's parents, siblings, children and grandchildren. These include:
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On recto of Victor Gifford Audubon, October 4, 1835.
On verso of Lucy Bakewell Audubon, October 4, 1835.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
In Latin.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On verso of Solomon Drown, February 13, 1792, autograph letter signed to Honora Freeman.
On conjugate leaf of Solomon Drown, July 3, 1792, autograph letter signed to Sarah Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
with Henry Bernadin Drowne, Dec 4 1842, autograph letter signed to Henry T. Drowne.
Sunday evening.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
with positive and negative photostats.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
with Sarah Drown, Nov. 21, 1793, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Miss Graves, autograph note to Solomon? or William? Drown.
with Sarah Drown, June 13, 1775, autograph letter signed to Elizabeth (Russell) Drown.
On verso of Elizabeth (Russell) Drown, March 7, 1778, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Solomon Drown, September 26, 1778, autograph letter signed to B. Binney.
On conjugate leaf of John Thomas, December 11, 1778, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf of Barnabas Binney, December, 19, 178-, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Theodore Foster, August 28, 1784, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On verso of John Greene, ca. January 27, 1791, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Elizabeth (Russell) Drown, April 26, 1793, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of H Ross, February 18, 1796, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Thomas Griffiths, March 4, 1798, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of James Thacher, July 6, 1812, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Solomon Drown, Miscellaneous Manuscripts, Brown University, Botanical Garden, Subscription Papers.
On conjugate leaf of William Allen, July 16, 1818, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of William Allen, July 16, 1818, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf of Samuel L. Mitchell, August 13, 1818, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf of Williams Thayer, October 31, 1820, autograph letter signed to Henry Drown.
On verso of Abner Morse, July 11, 1821, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of W. D. Peck, April 25, 1822, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf of Reuben Potter Jr., May 17, 1822, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of George W. Corlis, August 8, 1822, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown?.
with James Thacher, July 1, 1828, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
with J. P. Gilpin, August 6, 1829, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Benjamin Adams, July 19, 1830, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf Benjamin Adams, August 13, 1830, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
with Silas Clarke, April 7, 1832, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
On verso of Miss Graves, autograph note to Solomon or William Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
with Sarah Drown, October 18, 1774, autograph letter signed to Solomon Drown.
with positive and negative photostats and 2 copies in another hand.
Filed with oversize manuscripts.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On verso of Solomon Horace Drown, January 24, 1848, autograph letter signed to Henry T. Drowne.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
with this is a fragment of a reply.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On verso of Solomon Drown, July 21, 1797, autograph draft signed to Theodore Foster.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
Notes by Solomon Drown.
On verso of Brown University--Botanical Garden--Sketches.
Includes translation.
Third Duke of Roxburgh.
Includes translation.
On verso of Drown, Solomon 1788 Mar 7 autograph draft signed to Elizabeth (Russell) Drown.
President of the United States
Tipped to Morris, Jacob 1795 May 26 autograph letter signed to Charles R. & George Webster.
Letter of Transmittal included.
On conjugate leaf of Drown, Solomon 1786 Apr 10 autograph draft signed to Dear Friend.
On verso of Drown, Solomon; an autograph note signed and dated 1785 Nov 9 [to whom it may concern].
On verso of Drown, Eliza Russell; an autograph letter signed and dated 1792 Aug 14 to Aunty.
On verso of Ustick, Stephen; an autograph letter signed and dated 1797 Jun 14 to Solomon Drown.
On conjugate leaf of Hall, Anne; autograph letter signed and dated Feb 27 to dear friend.
With Bowen, Ephraim; an autograph letter signed and dated 1822 Sep 17 to Henry Ward.
With [Ward], Ann; an autograph letter signed and dated 1806 Sep 7 to Samuel Ward Jr.
With Ward, Phebe; an autograph letter signed and dated September (no year) to Henry Ward.
On verso of Ward, Samuel; an autograph letter signed 1806 Jul 17 to Henry & Samuel Ward.
On conjugate leaf of Ward, Samuel Sr.; an autograph letter signed and dated 1822 Aug 24 to Henry Ward.
With Potter, Charles; an autograph letter signed and dated 1837 Dec 13 to Henry Ward.
See Drown, Solomon; 1827 Sep 5.
On verso of Drown, Solomon; an autograph letter dated 1781 June to Elizabeth (Russell) Drown.
On sides and verso of printed item "Brown University. Exhibition . . . " with two drafts (documents), each two pages in length and written ca.1813 Aug 20 by Drown, Solomon with accession numbers A55815[306] and A55868.
(With this are a partial manuscript transcription by Herbert C. Drowne and a partial typescript.)
Filed with this is a copy of The Fayette Gazette containing the oration.
Filed with this is a copy of The Fayette Gazette containing the oration.
(With this are typed transcripts of the speech printed in The Fayette Gazette and The Union Advertiser, February 28, 1800.)
2 copies
On verso of Drown, Solomon--Miscellaneous Manuscripts--B.U.--Botanical Garden--Subscription Papers.
On conjugate leaf of Mitchell, Samuel L.; an autograph letter signed and dated 1818 Aug 13 to Solomon Drown.
Signed also by Levi Wheaton.
On verso of Drown, Solomon--Miscellaneous Manuscripts--B.U.--Botanical Garden--Sketches.
A Journal [Providence, RI]: 1767 Jun 23-25
With this is a transcript of excerpts.
A Journal of a Voige to Shitepolne Bay in the West: 1768 Oct 5
I Began to go to School to Mr. Charles Thompson...[Providence, RI]: 1769 May 17 - 1773 Jan 25
With this are records of births, purchases of land and stock, accounts, etc., 1765-1767.
This Day was the first Commencement of the Colony...[Providence, RI]: 1769 Sep 7 - 1771 Jul
College [Providence, RI]: 1770 Feb 7 - Sep 29
Filed with this is the letter of transmittal from Maude E.C. Covell to Mr. Koopman dated Septe,ber 6, 1917.
Journal Vol. I [Providence, RI]: 1771 Jan-Dec
This Day is my birthday..., etc. [Providence, RI]: 1770 Mar 11 - Dec 11
This day is just one year...[Providence, RI]: 1771 Mar 14 - Dec 15
Journal Vol. II [Providence, RI]: 1772 Jan-Dec
This Day I go up to the President's House... [Providence, RI]: 1772 Apr 21
A Long Journal of A short voyage from Providence to N. York. With an Account of my having the Small-Pox by Inoculation in that City. Together with other Occurrences during my Residence there. To which is added a few Observations concerning Inoculation [Providence, RI and New York, NY]: 1772 Sep 10 - Oct 12
Description of Solomon Drowne's trip from Providence, RI to New York City to be inoculated with the smallpox virus so that he would be immune to the disease the remainder of his life. He describes the process of the inoculation and the effects of the disease on his body. With this is a positive photostat.
Set out for Philadelphia by Water...: 1774 Sep
Journal Vol. III [Providence, RI]: 1773 Jan-Dec
Tour of New England. Journal 1774 Vol. IV [various places]: 1773 Sep-1774 Apr
Mr. Binney & I set out for Philadelphia... [various places]: 1775 Oct 7
Stiverson's house near east river. Firing from British ships. [Hospital in New York]: 1776
Journal of a Cruise in the Fall of 1780. On board Hope: 1780 Oct 3-23
With this are copies of essays and a printed copy and a manuscript transcript of the Journal..
Journal during cruise of ship Gen. Washington--Commencing 18 May 1780- & ending 27 July--following James Munro Commander- On board Gen. Washington: 1780 May 18-Jul 27
With this is a printed item "A Privateering Episode" with biographical meterial.
Before leaving for Europe: 1784
Landed in London...: [1785] Jan 11-Feb 18
Orationis. Strand illuminated [London]: [1785] Mar 1-8
On verso of handbill: Leake's Justly Famous Pills.
Very cold... [London]: [1785] Mar 12-18
On verso of handbill: Friday 21st January, 1785.
Go to Mrs. Draper's... [London]: [1785] Mar 20-25
On verso of handbill: Leake's Justly Famous Pills.
Finish packing up my trunk... [London]: [1785] Apr 4
Go to the British Museum... [London]: [1785] Apr 14
Walk to several places... [London and Holland]: [1785] Apr 22-May 17
Walk from Mr. Glen's with J. Earl... [London]: [1785] May 4-7
Set off to Oxford... [London and Oxford]: [1785] Apr 25
To transport and please... [Holland]: [1785] May 12
Rains pretty fast... [Holland]: 1785 May 17-22
Rainy, stay in my chamber... [France]: [1785] Jun 1-Jul 15
A patient pursuit of facts...On board l'Orient: 1785 Jul 10
Have St. Mitchel...On board l'Orient: 1785 Jul 13-14
A seaman rouses me...On board l'Orient: 1785 Jul 17-Aug 16
Towards evening the wind...On board l'Orient: [1785] Aug 20-29
Italiam! Italiam!...On board l'Orient: [1785] Aug 25
Quit the mild shade of sweet domestic happiness... [Plainfield, CT]: 1787 Nov 9-12
Meteorological Observations at Marietta: 1788 Nov 18-1789 Mar 29
Crossed the Muskingum... [Ohio]: 1788 Dec 19
N.W. Cloudy... [Marietta, OH]: 1789 Apr 28-Jun 8
Journal continued [Marietta, OH]: 1789 Jun 9-Jul 24
This day at about 10 o'Clock A.M....Providence; Alexandria, VA.; Philadelphia: 1782 Aug 2-Sep 3; 1792 May 10-1795 Jun 14
With this is an account of debts to Bank of North America with Mr. de la Roquèbrune, 1782, Aug.-Sept.
I found the injuries I received... [Morgantown, VA]: [1792?] Jul 3
Extracts from the Journal of Peregrine Foster affecting the Weather...[various places]: 1787 Dec 31-1788 Jun
From lectures by Thomas Bond, Adam Kuhn, John Morgan, Benjamin Rush, William Shippen.
Photo print of Solomon Drown's instruments with manuscript descriptive list.
With this are two negative and one positive photostat.
With Brown, Ann F. On my brother
Also included are the Graduation exercises of the Foster Schools, 1929-1930, consisting of 2 items.
Filed with this is a printed copy.
Filed with oversize Archives manuscripts.
On verso of the Crucifixation of Christ.
Contains the following: books, distances, persons, etc.
Contains the following: epitaphs, notes, exercises, sketches.
Contains the following: Book catalogs, History of Greece, A plan of education, A pocketbook for travelers, A review of Dr. Milton's letters..., School books (2), Scripture texts, Sententiae Latinae..., Stenography, Version book 1769, and Synopsis of Chymistry.
Contains the following: Literature and philosophy and Poetry and prose (chiefly copies.)
Contains the following: Physical sciences and Notes, sketches, and tables.
Contains the following: Copies.
Contains the following: Original poems.
Contains the following: Cooking, dying, etc.
The Drowne family papers consist of correspondence and documents dating from 1636 to 1936. The materials contains important information on members of the Arnold, Bowen, Brown, DeWolf, Greene, Rhodes, Russell, Stafford, and Tillinghast families of Rhode Island; and the Foster, Hall, and Ward families of Connecticut.
The collection includes much material pertaining to the history of Brown University. Dr. Solomon Drowne, a member of the Brown Class of 1773, taught at Brown from 1811 until his death in 1834. Many other members of the family also attended Brown. The collection thus contains correspondence reflecting on the early history of the University (1770-1820) - including letters signed by Brown's first Presidents: James Manning, Jonathan Maxcy, Asa Messer, and Asher Robbins, as well as later materials.
Other correspondents represented in the collection include Henry Bowen Anthony, John Jay, Lucy Audubon, Barnabas Binney, William Cullen Bryant, Lydia Maria Child, Henry Clay, Schuyler Colfax, George William Curtis, Theodore Dwight, Manton Eastburn, Edward Everett, Millard Fillmore, Hamilton Fish, Theodore Foster, Albert Gallatin, Ulysses S. Grant, John Hancock, Julia Ward Howe, Robert Livingston, James Monroe, Robert Morris, Rembrandt Peale, Earl Sproat, Thomas Ustick, George Washington, Daniel Webster, and Benjamin West.
The manuscripts that comprise the collection encompass a variety of forms: accounts, invoices, receipts; originals and copies of prose and poetry; notes, sketches, and valentines of Dr. Solomon Drowne; political, legal, and military documents; and ships' papers. Some broadsides in the collection (1809-1829) were annotated by Dr. Solomon Drowne or contain extensive notes in his hand. Among these are: "Exercises of Commencement, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, 1809 September 6"; with notes on botany (recto and verso), dated 1812 April 23.
Among the later materials are photographs, particularly of family members and Mount Hygeia (the Drowne family estate in Foster), correspondence and genealogical materials largely compiled by Henry Thayer Drowne.
Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the Brown University Library. Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. It is up to the researcher to determine the owners of the literary rights and to obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Drowne family papers, Ms.Drowne, Brown University Library.
The collection is divided into 9 series:
Items within Correspondence, are ordered alphabetically by the author of the letter. Accounts, invoices and receipts are ordered alphabetically. Addresses and orations are ordered by name. Brown University material correspondence are arranged alphabetically. Diaries and journals are arranged by name and then by time. Papers related to medicine are arranged alphabetically by type. Military documents are arranged chronologically. Miscellaneous manuscripts and papers are arranged alphabetically.
There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Gift of
Brown University Library catalog record for this collection:
RESOURCES AT BROWN UNIVERSITY
Solomon Drowne was an instrumental figure in the early life of Brown Univeristy. The Brown University Archives holds notes from his botany lectures, as well as a number of collections that contain materials on Drowne's career at Brown.
Further details are contained in the following entries pertaining to Solomon Drowne from the Encyclopedia Brunoniana:
The Brown University Library holds a number of works authored by Solomon Drowne, M.D.:
The John Hay Library also holds the library collection of the Rhode Island Medical Society, of which Solomon Drowne was a founder. See entry in the Brown University Library Collections A-Z:
RESOURCES AT OTHER INSTITUTIONS
Excerpts from Solomon Drowne's journal of a privateering voyage on the Sloop Hope in 1780, during the Revolutionary War (published in: American History Told by Contemporaries, Vol. II, p. 497-499, edited by Albert Bushnell Hart):
The American Revolution Digital Learning Project site includes two letters, one from Solomon Drowne to William Drowne (July 13, 1776), and a second from William Drowne to Mrs. Johnston of New York about the death of Capt. Joshua Sawyer (Sept. 25, 1781):
The Massachusetts Historical Society has several letters of Solomon Drowne in its Foster Family Autograph Collection:
The Rhode Island Historical Society has an extensive collection of the papers of Theodore Foster (Brown Class of 1770), a close friend and neighbor of Solomon Drowne:
A number of items were removed and catalogued individually as part of the Broadside Collection, John Hay Library: