Captain James Browne historical note

During the eighteenth century, the descendants of Chad Browne became leading merchants in colonial Providence. Captain James Browne (1698-1739) was the first member of his family to engage in mercantile trade. He set sail in 1721 when in his early twenties, bound for the West Indies on the sloop Four Bachelors, which he owned with four other Providence men. Browne married Hope Power of Providence, the daughter of one of his partners in the sloop. Hope Power had been born in 1702 to Nicholas and Mercy (Tillinghast) Power; she was a granddaughter of Pardon Tillinghast, one of the original settlers of Providence. When the Four Bachelors returned to Providence, Captain James Browne opened a shop on Towne Street, and for a time continued to act as a shipmaster. His career at sea appears to have ended in 1727, after his return from a voyage to the French West Indies. For the remainder of his life, James Browne was a leading Providence merchant and the West Indies trade dominated his maritime ventures. Browne's vessels carried cargoes of agricultural produce, horses, and tobacco to the French and British West Indies, and returned home laden with molasses, sugar, and rum. Like other colonial New England merchants, Browne owned and operated a variety of enterprises. He not only exported and imported commodities, and sold at both wholesale and retail, but also owned ships, shops, distilleries, and a slaughterhouse. In addition, Browne invested in real estate, engaged in the maritime insurance business, and loaned money at interest.

Captain James Browne fathered five sons, James, Nicholas, John, Joseph, and Moses, and one daughter, Mary. He died in April 1739, and his widow, Hope (Power) Browne, along with his brother, Joseph Browne, and Charles Tillinghast, was appointed an executor of his estate. In his will, Captain Browne made provision for the support of his children with special emphasis on their education. Hope Browne continued to collect all monies owed her husband throughout the early 1740s, until her sons came of age. Family members sometimes referred to her as Mother Hope. She outlived many of her own children and even some of her grandchildren, and died in 1792 at the age of ninety.

When James, the first-born son of Captain James and Hope Browne, gained his majority in February 1745, he assumed his responsibilities as the head of the Brown household, providing for his widowed mother and younger siblings. According to Captain Browne's will, each child was to receive one-fifth of the estate upon turning twenty-one, with James, the eldest, inheriting an extra sum as his birthright. Although James became active in maritime trade, he used some of his newly acquired wealth to establish a still house which his brother Nicholas managed while James was away at sea.

It is unclear in what capacity James Browne sailed to the West Indies, but he is associated with sloops Humbird and Dolphin, schooners Neptune and Smithfield, and the brigantine Hope. He was on board the sloop Freelove when he died on February 15, 1750, off the coast of York, Virginia. Two of his younger brothers, Nicholas and John, continued in the mercantile tradition. In 1762, they were joined by their brothers Joseph and Moses under the partnership of Nicholas Brown and Company.

Nicholas and John Brown historical note

By the end of the eighteenth century, the descendants of Chad Browne were the leading merchants of colonial Providence. Nicholas and John Brown, two of the six children born to Captain James Browne and his wife Hope (Power) Browne, began their mercantile careers as young men. The pair were active in a wide range of business ventures from shipping to shopkeeping, from rum production to candle manufacturing. In 1762, Nicholas and John were joined in the business by their two surviving brothers, Joseph and Moses. The establishment of Nicholas Brown and Company created a unified and equal business partnership among the four brothers. Nicholas Brown, the second son of Captain James Browne, reached his majority on July 28, 1750. His father had died eleven years earlier, at the age of forty-one. After the death of his older brother James Browne in 1750, Nicholas assumed responsibility for his widowed mother and the remaining underage children. Already an experienced distiller due to his late brother's investment in a still house, Nicholas continued managing this venture as well as taking on the maritime trading activities started by his brother James. By 1751, Nicholas owned the sloop Freelove and sent her frequently to the West Indies for sugar to be used in the still house. His interest in the civic development of Rhode Island surfaces in his early papers with many references to lotteries, libraries, education, and his religious interests.

John Brown entered the world of commercial trade while still an adolescent. The family papers show that by 1752, John was paying bills and collecting money for transactions entered into by his brother, Nicholas, and his uncle, Obadiah Brown, when he was just sixteen years old. At this same time, uncle Obadiah commissioned John to seek out goods in Newport and other Rhode Island towns to be brought back to Providence for resale. By 1755, John was organizing and assembling cargoes for the Philadelphia trade. He inherited a one-fifth share of his father's estate two years later, and used this capital to intensify his maritime trade activities.

During the early 1750s, Nicholas and John Brown formed a loose and informal partnership. As young men, they engaged in a variety of mercantile activities, in addition to their investment in the distillery and retail store. The two partners worked well together, and laid the foundation of business activity and enterprise for subsequent generations of the family. Compatibility played a major role in Nicholas and John Brown's success as they capitalized on the respective strengths of each partner. The family would continue to follow this approach, as members of the next generation were groomed for specific duties within the business, based on their individual abilities. One partner would dominate in the counting house, and the other in the field. In the partnership of Nicholas and John Brown, Nicholas stayed in Providence, managing the finances, issuing notes, and taking care of the store. John traveled to visit customers and suppliers, and managed the vessels.

Nicholas and John Brown had an informal arrangement regarding their accounts with one another. However, this informality did not extend to other business accounts. The brothers, together and individually, entered into many ventures with other investors. Joint ventures provided broader sources of support for mercantile trade, helped to strengthen political alliances, and could expedite manufacturing enterprises. Wartime increased the incentives for collective projects. Nicholas and John Brown, Obadiah Brown, and Obadiah Brown and Company often engaged in joint ventures with one another and with other local merchants.

Throughout the first half of the eighteenth century, England and her colonies were repeatedly at war with other European powers and their allies. Nicholas and John Brown were able to capitalize on the political situation by investing in privateering adventures to prey on foreign shipping. In 1756, prior to the French and Indian War, investors including Nicholas and John Brown joined together to construct and financially sponsor the brigantine Providence, which was commanded by Esek Hopkins on her first privateering adventure. The second and third adventures of the brigantine were funded exclusively by Nicholas and John Brown.

Nicholas and John Brown also became involved in the Spermaceti Candle Works, which had been begun by Obadiah Brown in the early 1750s. Obadiah Brown formed a limited partnership with Nicholas and John to run the candle manufactory. The limited partnership stipulated that each party was responsible for their own debts and accounts. Obadiah Brown and Nicholas and John kept separate books for the works. Following the formation of Obadiah Brown and Company, Moses kept the separate account books for the works on behalf of himself and his uncle. After the death of Obadiah Brown in 1762, Nicholas and John Brown purchased his shares in the works from the Estate of Obadiah Brown, his widow and heirs.

The candle works enabled Nicholas and John Brown to become members of the United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers. This group of prominent business men were the leading manufacturers of spermaceti candles in colonial America. They sought to control various factors which affected the profitable manufacture of candles. The primary goals of the United Company were to keep the price of head matter low and the price of candles high.

In the late summer of 1762, Nicholas and John Brown created a business partnership with brothers Joseph and Moses to form Nicholas Brown and Company. The Browns established themselves as a leading entrepreneurial force in colonial and early republican Providence. Collectively and individually, the brothers developed a highly influential and lasting presence in Rhode Island's political and civic culture.

Obadiah Brown historical note

Obadiah Brown was born on October 12, 1712, a fourth generation descendent of Chad Browne, one of the first settlers of Providence. He was the youngest son of Elder James Browne and Mary (Harris) Browne. In 1733, after his father's death and after he had reached the age of majority, Obadiah Brown went to work for his eldest brother, Captain James Browne, in the maritime and retail trade. From 1733 until James's death in 1739, Obadiah worked as a supercargo and captain on various voyages to the Caribbean. As his brother's agent, Obadiah purchased sugar and molasses and sold agricultural produce, tobacco, rum, and other local products on the Island market. While on a voyage to the West Indies in 1739, Obadiah received word of his brother's death. He returned to Providence, and did not sail again.

Following the death of his brother James in 1739, Obadiah Brown became a shopkeeper in Providence, and invested in numerous commercial ventures. He engaged in maritime and retail trade, provided marine insurance to area merchants, and operated a rum distillery. He also pioneered several manufacturing enterprises. In 1752, he built a mill to grind cocoa beans, and the following year he constructed a spermaceti candle manufactory. With the development of the candle works, Obadiah Brown became involved in the Nantucket trade to obtain the head matter used in making the candles.

Evidence suggests that Obadiah involved his two nephews, John and Moses, in a variety of tasks associated with these endeavors. Moses Brown continued in the employ of his uncle, working as his clerk from 1751. John Brown, however, moved on in 1754 to join with his older brother Nicholas in maritime trade. In 1760, Obadiah Brown formed the partnership Obadiah Brown and Company with his youngest nephew, Moses. The partnership extended to all areas of Obadiah's business, including the shop trade, navigation, and the candle works, and it continued unbroken until Obadiah's death in 1762.

Obadiah Brown, and subsequently the partnership of Obadiah Brown and Company worked with Nicholas and John Brown in several enterprises. Nephews, brothers, and uncle frequently entered into joint ventures with one another and with other local merchants in order to minimize the high risks involved in shipping enterprises. Nicholas and John Brown also joined Obadiah Brown's Spermaceti Candle Works in the early 1750s, forming a limited partnership. The partnership stipulated that each party was responsible for their own debts and accounts. Obadiah Brown, and Nicholas and John Brown, kept separate accounting books for the works. After the formation of Obadiah Brown and Company, Moses kept the separate account books for the spermaceti works on behalf of himself and his uncle.

Obadiah Brown died on June 17, 1762 at the age of forty-nine. With none of his own male offspring surviving infancy, Obadiah Brown had appointed his nephew Moses as his heir. Moses Brown inherited not only the business of Obadiah Brown and Company, but also an equal portion of Obadiah's estate along with each of Obadiah's daughters. Shortly after the death of his uncle, Moses joined his brothers Nicholas, Joseph, and John in the operation of Nicholas Brown and Company. Less than two years later, Moses married Obadiah's daughter Anna (his own first cousin), and by doing so obtained another portion of his benefactor's estate.

Obadiah Brown and Company historical note

After reaching the age of majority in 1733, Obadiah Brown went to work in the mercantile trading business developed by his oldest brother, James. Between 1733 and 1739, Obadiah worked as a supercargo and captain on various voyages to the Caribbean. As his brother's agent, Obadiah Brown purchased sugar and molasses, and sold agricultural produce, tobacco, rum, and other local products in the Island markets. While on a voyage to the West Indies in 1739, Obadiah received word of his brother's death. He returned to Providence, and did not go to sea again.

Obadiah Brown spent the rest of his career as a shopkeeper and innkeeper on Providence's North Main Street. He engaged in numerous commercial ventures, operated a rum distillery, and provided marine insurance to area merchants. He pioneered several manufacturing endeavors. In 1752, he built a mill to grind chocolate beans and the following year he planned and implemented the construction of a spermaceti candle manufacturing works. In conjunction with the development of the spermaceti manufactory, Obadiah Brown entered the Nantucket trade to purchase the head matter needed to supply the candle works.

In 1760, Obadiah Brown and his nephew, Moses Brown, became business partners in Obadiah Brown and Company. Although Obadiah referred to the partnership as early as 1757, it was formalized legally only in 1760, when an agreement was drawn up. The partnership encompassed all areas of Obadiah's business, including the shop, navigation, and the spermaceti works, and continued until his death in 1762. Previously, Moses Brown had worked in the capacity of clerk for his uncle. After the formation of the partnership, Moses handled most of the company's correspondence and traveled to Boston, Newport, and Nantucket representing the partners' interests.

Obadiah Brown and Company often joined forces with Nicholas and John Brown who themselves had formed an informal partnership in the early 1750s. The two separate companies engaged in maritime trading activities together in order to minimize the high risks involved. Joint ventures were formed for voyages that involved more danger either due to the length of the voyage or the nature of the cargo and ports of call. Wartime also necessitated joint ventures.

The Spermaceti Candle Works was probably begun by Obadiah Brown in the early 1750s. He soon involved Nicholas and John Brown in the venture. Obadiah Brown formed a limited partnership to run the spermaceti works with his two nephews. The partnership stipulated that each party was responsible for their own debts and accounts, thus Obadiah Brown and Nicholas and John Brown kept separate books for the works. Following the formation of Obadiah Brown and Company, Moses Brown kept the separate account books for the spermaceti works on behalf of himself and his uncle. After the death of Obadiah Brown in 1762, Nicholas and John Brown purchased his shares in the candle works.

The candle works enabled Obadiah Brown and Company and Nicholas and John Brown to become members of the United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers, which included the leading manufacturers of spermaceti candles in colonial America. The goal of the United Company was to control prices affecting the manufacture of candles. The manufacturers sought to keep the price of head matter low and the price of candles high.

Obadiah Brown died in June of 1762 at the age of forty-nine. All of his sons had predeceased him. His nephew and partner Moses Brown inherited not only the business of Obadiah Brown and Company, but also an equal portion of his uncle's estate, along with each of Obadiah's daughters. Two years later, Moses married Obadiah's daughter Anna (his own first cousin), and by so doing consolidated another portion of his uncle's estate with her inheritance. After the death of his uncle, Moses joined his brothers Nicholas, Joseph, and John, and became a partner in Nicholas Brown and Company.

Nicholas Brown and Co. historical note

In the late summer of 1762, Nicholas and John Brown formed Nicholas Brown and Company with brothers Joseph and Moses. The four brothers brought to their partnership an effective combination of interests and strengths. Their formidable union created one of the best established mercantile and manufacturing partnerships in early Rhode Island.

With the death of his father in 1739 and of his brother James in 1750, Nicholas Brown became the senior male figure in the family. Prior to the formation of Nicholas Brown and Company, Nicholas worked as a clerk for the Providence County Court of Common Pleas, and also as a distiller, shopkeeper, and merchant. In May of 1762, he married Rhoda Jenckes of Providence, the daughter of Joanna Scott Jenckes and prominent local merchant and justice Daniel Jenckes. Of the ten children born to Rhoda and Nicholas Brown, only two lived to adulthood, Nicholas and Hope. Nicholas Brown took a deep interest in the education of his children, both daughters and sons, as his family letters reveal. He was a firm supporter of higher education, and was an early patron of the Rhode Island College (which was renamed Brown University after his death, following a generous gift from his namesake son). Nicholas Brown was also an active and prominent member of the First Baptist Church, and corresponded on religious affairs. An astute and hardworking businessman, Nicholas built a substantial foundation for his family's future enterprise in the formation of Nicholas Brown and Company. Joseph Brown was a partner of Nicholas Brown and Company but, unlike his other brothers, did not regularly attend to counting house duties. He was an architect, a builder, a scientist, and a manufacturer, and his talents were deployed accordingly. Joseph Brown provided the design and mechanical expertise needed to run the Spermaceti Candle Works and the Hope Furnace. In 1759, he married his cousin Elizabeth Power, the daughter of Nicholas and Anne Power of Providence. Evidence suggests that Elizabeth Brown helped her husband in the management of the spermaceti works by taking on clerical and administrative responsibilities. An elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Joseph became a professor of experimental philosophy at the College of Rhode Island, as well as a trustee and a benefactor of the university. In addition to his academic interests, Joseph Brown served as a Representative in Rhode Island's General Assembly for several years, and was a leading Freemason in Providence.

From a young age, John Brown worked with older brother Nicholas in various mercantile enterprises, weaning his commercial teeth long before he reached his majority. He eventually emerged as the most commercially adventurous of the brothers, willing to try new ventures in order to expand business. John Brown was an articulate correspondent, possessed of a notable facility with the written word. Like his brothers, he was an early proponent of education in Rhode Island and became a major contributor to the colony's first college. Throughout his life, John Brown involved himself in political affairs, and during the colonial period was active at the local level in Stephen Hopkins's gubernatorial campaigns. In 1760, John Brown married Sarah Smith, the daughter of Daniel and Dorcas Smith.

Moses Brown, the youngest brother, began his mercantile career as a clerk for his uncle, Obadiah Brown, and continued in that capacity for nine years. In 1760, Obadiah and Moses formed a partnership that lasted until the death of the senior member two years later. In 1763, Moses joined Nicholas Brown and Company, working in the firm's counting house as a clerk. As a member of the firm, Moses Brown often represented his family's interests at the proceedings of the General Assembly and with the United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers. An adept negotiator, Moses Brown was sought after by relatives and others to help settle grievances. He was an elected member of the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1764 to 1771. In 1764, Moses Brown married his cousin Anna Brown, the daughter of his late uncle and business partner. In 1773, he retired from business and that same year manumitted his slaves. In 1774, he joined the Society of Friends. He was a staunch supporter of Brown University, helped to launch the Rhode Island Peace Society, and was a founder of a Quaker boarding school in Providence, the Moses Brown School. Nicholas Brown and Company operated as a family partnership. Each partner initiated commercial investments and shared in management decisions, particularly those concerning financial policies and selection of staff. Throughout the 1760s, each of the brothers assumed particular duties and was responsible for a major function in the family business. Nicholas provided administrative support from Providence for maritime trading activities and supervised operations at the Hope Furnace. Joseph managed the candle manufactory and served as consultant for the furnace. John initiated and coordinated most of the maritime activity. Moses traveled to oversee enterprises in Newport and Nantucket, and acted as a political liaison with the General Assembly. The four men were not equally active in securing new business, and the distribution of profits at Nicholas Brown and Company reflected this. Each of the four brothers received a one-fifth share of the profits with Nicholas and John splitting the remaining one-fifth because of the adventures they initiated without involving the others.

The brothers managed their mercantile and manufacturing enterprises from a central office called the counting house, which was located at Joseph Brown's former residence on South Main Street (currently 50 South Main Street and still the home of family business). They acted as manufacturers, exporters, wholesalers, importers, retailers, ship owners, bankers, and insurers. As manufacturers and wholesale and retail merchants, they sought to control markets. Although the brothers undertook a variety of ventures, diversifying in a manner typical of colonial merchants, their main source of income derived from maritime trading, the manufacture of spermaceti candles, and the forging of iron at the Hope Furnace. They traded in numerous commodities, but primarily in rum, molasses, sugar, and foodstuffs. Their trade with Newport, Rhode Island's premier port, and with other Rhode Island coastal and interior towns, was considerable. In the colonial cities of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, they procured finished goods to supply their retail stores in Providence and Grafton. They supplied foodstuffs, rum, and horses to the West Indies in exchange for molasses and sugar. The brothers sent trading vessels to Nantucket to procure head matter, needed for the manufacture of spermaceti candles, in exchange for foodstuffs, rum, and molasses. Nicholas, John, and Moses engaged in extensive correspondence with merchants, agents, and whaling families in order to keep abreast of market conditions.

In addition to maritime trading, candle manufacturing was a major investment for the Brown brothers and provided a significant portion of their profits. The candle works, located in the Fox Point section of the Providence waterfront, was begun by Obadiah Brown in the early 1750s. It stood on approximately eleven acres of land. In addition to the manufactory, the site contained a dwelling house, a cooper's shop, two stores, and a private wharf. Joseph Brown was the resident manager of the works and received a salary for his duties in addition to his one-fifth share in the profits of the company. The manufactory employed equal numbers of black and white men as laborers. Women workers were also employed to make cotton wicks for the candles. The highly profitable works enabled the Brown family to become one of the leading manufacturers of spermaceti candles in Rhode Island. As candle manufacturers, Nicholas Brown and Company were a part of the United Company of Spermaceti Manufacturers. This powerful group of Rhode Island men sought to control the candle market. Manufacturers including Aaron Lopez, Rivera and Company, Palmer and Company, Naphtali Hart and Company, Thomas Robinson and Company, and Nicholas Brown and Company, joined forces to purchase head matter from Nantucket whalers at favorable prices, to prevent the construction of new candle works, and to try to fix the purchase price of candles. This local association allied themselves with spermaceti candle manufacturers in Boston and New York to extend their control of candle prices and the distribution of head matter.

As a result of a new series of Parliamentary legislation over colonial trade in the mid 1760s, the colonies adopted a policy of non-importation of English finished products. This political situation sparked the growth of colonial manufacturing. In 1765, a group of prominent Rhode Island men decided to invest in an iron furnace. The partnership agreement was signed by Stephen Hopkins, Israel Wilkinson, the members of Nicholas Brown and Company, Job Hawkins, and Caleb Arnold. The furnace, subsequently named Hope Furnace, was managed by Rufus Hopkins. Employing a mold and casting method, the Hope Furnace manufactured pig iron and various iron products, such as pots and pans. With the onset of the American Revolution, the business flourished as the furnace manufactured cannon. Hope Furnace was located on seven acres in Scituate, Rhode Island. The property contained two coal houses, a barn, and a smith shop. Many of the laborers, black and white, were boarded on site. The labor force consisted of wood choppers, carters, diggers, molders, a founder, and firemen. Of the four Brown brothers, Nicholas was the most involved in furnace affairs. Over the course of the brothers' partnership, John Brown's eagerness to increase profits spurred him to seek out riskier trading opportunities. He increasingly entered into business beyond the confines of Nicholas Brown and Company and in 1771, he withdrew from the company's mercantile endeavors. After the departure of John Brown, the name of the partnership remained the same, although a new distribution of profits was arranged for the remaining three brothers. In 1772, Nicholas Brown wrote to his London agents Hayley and Hopkins requesting that the statements of John Brown and Nicholas Brown and Company be separated, noting that "Our brother has a desire to Enlarge his business more than we apprehend the smallness of the Place and the Number of Traders at this Juncture will admit." After the death of his wife in 1773, Moses Brown removed himself from the routine activities of the business, leaving only Nicholas and Joseph directly involved in its daily management. Joseph's strengths had never included generating new commercial ventures, and within a year Nicholas Brown and Company ceased to engage in maritime activities. Nicholas Brown continued to engage in maritime trading activities on a smaller scale by himself or with other partners, such as Christopher Starbuck of Nantucket.

Nicholas Brown's own interest in mercantile trade gradually waned. Although after 1774, Joseph, John, and Moses Brown no longer engaged in mercantile activity for Nicholas Brown and Company, they retained a financial interest in the spermaceti manufactory and in Hope Furnace. During the American Revolution, Nicholas entered into numerous business ventures with his brother John, and with others. Nicholas and John Brown acted on behalf of the Continental Congress to procure supplies from the West Indies and Europe. Privateering and conducting maritime trade for the Continental Congress occupied their wartime years. John and Nicholas also collaborated to run a sugar house in the 1780s.

In addition to their role as economic leaders in the community, the four brothers were part of the religious, political, and civic life of Providence. Rhode Island benefited from their philanthropic activities. The Browns organized lotteries to build a market house, coordinated improvements to roads, and supported the building of bridges. Concerned with the town of Providence's vulnerability to fire, the brothers helped to organize a fire fighting team. They were deeply committed to the success and development of Rhode Island College, later renamed Brown University in honor of the family's continuing patronage in the nineteenth century. Nicholas, John, and Moses Brown were all active in the political life of Rhode Island. Nicholas and John campaigned on behalf of their friend and business associate, Stephen Hopkins, in his extended political battles for governorship of the colony. Moses Brown was a member of the General Assembly, and reported to his brothers in detail on proceedings. Joseph Brown also served in the General Assembly, and towards the end of his life, was an assistant to the Governor in Council. In 1799, when in his early sixties, John Brown was elected to the U.S. Congress and served two years.

Brown and Benson Historical Note

In 1783, the middle-aged Nicholas Brown (d. 1791) entered into another business partnership. During the eighteenth century, family relationships were the favored avenue for seeking partners. Beyond family ties, personal knowledge of a business associate's character was considered essential in the formation of what was usually a close personal as well as professional association. Nicholas's two sons were still in their teens when he decided to take a younger man into the business until his own children were able to follow him. To create a new partnership, Nicholas Brown chose his former clerk, George Benson. George Benson had worked for Nicholas Brown and Company during the 1760s before leaving to gain additional business experience on his own. For a while during the American Revolution, he resided in Newport. In the late 1770s, Benson moved to Boston where he served as a commission agent, with Nicholas Brown as one of his clients. In 1781, George Benson and Joshua Eaton formed a partnership to conduct a mercantile commission business. In 1783, George Benson and Nicholas Brown entered into a formal partnership agreement. The two men agreed that the partnership division of profits would be two-third shares for Nicholas Brown with the remaining one-third share for George Benson. This financial arrangement was valid for seven years which would preserve the company until 1790 -- the year the younger Nicholas Brown turned twenty-one.

The partnership of Brown and Benson operated out of a single office, called the counting house, where each partner was responsible for a major function. Both partners maintained a say in management decisions, particularly those concerning financial policies, allocation of resources, and the selection of staff. The partners expected that each would initiate commercial transactions and investments. George Benson introduced much needed administrative and management skills to the business. Since he handled the majority of the mercantile correspondence and daily accounts, he instituted a more thorough accounting system. Nicholas Brown, the senior partner, paid more attention to investments and banking interests. As the business expanded, the partners searched for a suitable clerk as an apprentice. After contacting a number of acquaintances in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Nicholas Brown selected Thomas Poynton Ives. Thirteen years old in 1783, the orphaned boy was taken from school and the care of his relatives in Boston to begin life as a clerk with the promise of good training in a trade and hopefully, paternal guidance from Messrs. Brown and Benson.

Under the influence of George Benson, Brown and Benson greatly expanded its commercial interests along the eastern seaboard and across the Atlantic to London and the Continent. In an environment of economic instability and currency difficulties, Brown and Benson engaged in commercial trading ventures, began a distillery, managed the Hope Furnace, invested in land, and were in the forefront of the development of the banking industry in Rhode Island. They exported, imported, and sold all types of products in both retail and wholesale markets. In addition, they continued to provide short-term loans for financing goods in transit, and they advanced long-term loans to farmers and other tradespeople. Brown and Benson insured ships and cargoes, built wharves, financed the construction of public buildings, and provided capital for the development of private enterprises. While many of these activities had been started under Nicholas Brown and Company, George Benson took the initiative in buying, selling, and shipping goods on behalf of the new firm, and helped to develop Nicholas Brown's mercantile activities. The partnership and its assets grew accordingly. During the tenure of Brown and Benson, both partners were keenly interested in local and national politics. They were proponents of the ratification of the United States Constitution, and were concerned about Rhode Island's failure to ratify the agreement quickly. They also paid close attention to Rhode Island's currency problems. The United States' commercial policies were important to Brown and Benson, as new federal regulations affected the business climate.

Shortly after the formation of Brown and Benson, Nicholas Brown (d. 1791) experienced a series of personal tragedies. In the spring and summer of 1783, two of Nicholas Brown's young children died, then in December of that same year his wife, Rhoda (Jenckes) Brown, also passed away. Over the course of the next several years, Nicholas Brown was very concerned with the health of his remaining children, especially his daughter Joanna. Joanna was a victim of consumption, and eventually died in 1785, after years of sickness. Of the ten children born to Nicholas and Rhoda Brown, only two, Nicholas and Hope, survived to adulthood. The only child of Nicholas and his second wife, Avis (Binney) Brown, who married him in September of 1785, died in infancy.

The early 1790s brought swift and far-reaching changes to Brown and Benson. After his graduation from Rhode Island College (later Brown University) in 1786, the younger Nicholas spent time in the Grafton, Massachusetts store learning the mercantile trade. In 1790, he reached his majority and immediately joined the company at the counting house in Providence. The partnership agreement was revised to include him and the terms of the partnership continued another seven years. Nicholas's younger brother, Moses, spent a brief time at Brown and Benson before his death in February 1791. A few months later, in May 1791, Nicholas the elder died, leaving his son Nicholas and his business partner, George Benson, to carry on the family business. Thomas P. Ives left the employ of Brown and Benson in May 1791 to become a partner in Sears and Ives. From their office in Baltimore, Maryland, George Sears, Jr. and Thomas P. Ives acted as commission agents for Brown and Benson and other clients.

After the death of Nicholas Brown in 1791, Brown and Benson operated in much the same manner as before. They engaged in various mercantile endeavors, they operated the distillery and the furnace, they provided credit in the form of notes to individuals, and invested their profits. In the spring of 1792, Thomas P. Ives returned to Providence to marry Hope Brown, the daughter of his late mentor and sister of the younger Nicholas. As a result of this union, Thomas P. Ives became a partner in Brown and Benson, and the name of the firm formally changed to Brown, Benson and Ives.

Brown, Benson, and Ives historical note

After the death of Nicholas Brown in 1791, his son Nicholas and his trusted business partner, George Benson, continued as Brown and Benson for less than a year. Thomas Poynton Ives, their former clerk, returned to Providence from Baltimore in March of 1792, married Hope Brown, the daughter of his former employer, and entered into a business partnership with his new brother-in-law Nicholas Brown, all within the space of a month. Under the new name of Brown, Benson and Ives, the two younger men, along with the seasoned veteran Benson, proceeded to make their mark in the world of commerce and trade. Partners were expected to initiate new business as well as to take on specific responsibilities within the firm. George Benson had enjoyed the confidence of the senior Nicholas Brown for many years and during their partnership, most daily tasks and decisions were handled by Benson. George Benson continued to dominate the firm's correspondence after the older man's death, and it is unclear how much responsibility the younger Nicholas took before the reconstruction of the company to include Ives.

The addition of Thomas Poynton Ives to the partnership created new business opportunities for Brown, Benson and Ives. Although only twenty-three at the outset of the firm's formation, Ives had served as clerk to both the senior Nicholas Brown and George Benson for ten years. His intelligence and thorough training in commercial practices enabled the young man to assume a more visible role in the administration of the company. Thomas P. Ives's particular strength lay in his ability to take charge of the day-to-day details of conducting business without losing sight of the firm's larger economic interests. Possessed of a graceful command in writing, he emerged as the primary correspondent for Brown, Benson and Ives. Ives also took a more aggressive approach to debt collection, which prompted some letters of complaint to Benson. Ives's profit-oriented vision may have strengthened the company, which expanded its overseas business, especially in the China Trade, during his tenure. The young Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives worked extremely well together as they shared similar business philosophies and financial goals. They had both grown up under the eye of the senior Nicholas Brown, although in very different circumstances.

Nicholas Brown, who stood to inherit his father's shares in the family firm, received the finest formal education available at the time. After his graduation from Brown University in 1786, he began his long association with the family business by learning the operations of the Grafton store. Shortly before the death of his father, Nicholas Brown became a partner of Brown and Benson. Thomas P. Ives received his education through his apprenticeship in the counting house. The two young partners divided responsibilities according to their individual strengths and abilities. Ives handled all of the business correspondence, accounting records, and investments. Brown took care of the vessels and insurance. While Ives remained in the counting house, Nicholas Brown traveled extensively on behalf of the company.

Ives's return to the firm in 1792 coincided with new developments in American maritime trade, which had expanded during the 1780s. The scope of the firm's trade broadened rapidly from the West Indies and the southern United States to Europe, China, India, and Africa. John Brown offered Brown, Benson and Ives his distillery business if they would refrain from trading with China, but the partners refused. Instead they sent out the Rising Sun to explore the China market in 1792. Brown, Benson and Ives focused on eliminating their debt to their London agents, increasing trade with the southern states, and accumulating specie for use with the Canton merchants. They chartered numerous vessels with a variety of partners and bought sloop Nancy and brig Three Friends. In addition, they commissioned Benjamin Tallman to build a ship, the John Jay. While they developed their activity in foreign ports, the partners allowed the Nantucket trade, the Hope Furnace, and their rum distillery in Providence to run down.

Brown, Benson and Ives continued to diversify their investments. They followed the senior Nicholas Brown's example of acquiring real estate, expanding their holdings from Vermont and New York to Ohio. As merchants, Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives were very interested in the development of transportation systems which would open new markets for trade. They invested eagerly in the building of bridges and turnpikes. While some turnpike shares were bought outright, others were acquired in payment for debts. The partners invested heavily in the construction of the Providence-Norwich Turnpike. The Rhode Island General Assembly issued an act to incorporate the turnpike in 1794.

From its creation, Ives was the treasurer until he was succeeded by his son, Moses B. Ives, in 1820. Brown, Benson and Ives also continued the company's interest in banking, and specifically in the Providence Bank. In addition, they contributed to the evolution of the insurance industry by founding the Providence Insurance Company.

After 1794, tensions began to emerge among the partners. George Benson, the senior partner in terms of age and experience, had been ill in Newport for some time. After his recovery, he took care of his dying brother, and consequently was out of the office for an extended period. During that time, Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives decided to split up the partnership with Benson, a process that took more than two more years to complete. The ensuing correspondence between Brown and Ives and George Benson spans several years, with the tone of the younger partners becoming increasingly hostile. The sticking points were the division of shares in the Providence Bank and the settlement of accounts from the voyage of the John Jay. The extended visit of the John Jay to Bombay and Canton from 1794 to 1796 prolonged the partnership of Brown, Benson and Ives. George Benson refused to leave the company until the proceeds of this adventure were known and a full accounting made. Once the John Jay reached Providence and its cargo was sold, Benson agreed to retire from the business. In October of 1796, Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives began their own enduring and highly successful partnership of Brown and Ives.

Brown and Ives historical note

The formation of Brown and Ives in October 1796 created a dynastic business enterprise that continued into the twentieth century. The original partners, Nicholas Brown (1769-1841) and Thomas Poynton Ives (1769-1835), worked extremely well together as they shared similar business philosophies and financial goals. They had both grown up under the eye of the senior Nicholas Brown (d. 1791), although in very different circumstances. The young Nicholas Brown, the heir apparent of his father's firm, Brown and Benson, received his formal education at Brown University, where he graduated in 1786. He began his long association with the family business by learning the operations of their Grafton store. Shortly before the death of his father, Nicholas Brown became a partner of Brown and Benson. Thomas P. Ives received his education through an apprenticeship in the Counting House, the family offices at 50 South Main Street, Providence, and was trained in accounting practices by the elder Nicholas Brown and George Benson. Ives left the firm for several years to gain further outside experience, then married into the Brown family, before achieving partnership status. After the death of the older Nicholas Brown, Ives joined with young Nicholas and elder partner George Benson in Brown, Benson and Ives. In 1796, however, the two younger men decided to go their own way without Benson, and created Brown and Ives.

In the partnership of Brown and Ives, Thomas P. Ives handled all of the business correspondence, accounting records, and investments. A major portion of the firm's papers bear his hand. Nicholas Brown took care of the vessels, including their maintenance, repairs, and insurance. Brown often traveled on behalf of the company or could be found at the wharf, checking on incoming and outgoing vessels. Perhaps as a result of his frequent absences from the office, there are fewer available documents by or about Nicholas Brown.

During the first years of the company's existence, the two young men channeled their resources into the developing China Trade. They were able to take advantage of war in Europe, especially Great Britain's preoccupation with Napoleon, and of United States neutrality, to gain a strong foothold in the Canton and Batavia trade. To support their expanding Eastern trade, the partners needed to procure large amounts of specie (especially gold), as the Hong merchants preferred this to trade goods. To obtain sufficient gold, Brown and Ives gathered foodstuffs, cotton, and tobacco from the eastern United States and shipped these raw commodities to war-torn Europe. They then transferred their revenues into specie at either Amsterdam or Gibraltar. Brown and Ives's vessels carried the precious metal to the Far East, where their agents purchased a variety of China goods, including tea and silks, to be resold in the United States and Europe.

During the early years of Brown and Ives, maritime trade with Europe and the Far East formed the backbone of the firm's business. Already in 1796 the owners of one vessel, the John Jay, they commissioned Benjamin Tallman in 1797 to build the first of their ships to bear the name Ann and Hope. Tallman also built ship Isis for them in 1801. After the shipwreck of the first Ann and Hope off the coast of Block Island in 1805, Benjamin Tallman built a second ship of that name in 1806. Also in 1806, Benjamin Ives Gilman, a cousin of Thomas P. Ives, built the Robert Hale in Marietta, Ohio, and sailed her down the Mississippi River in order to deliver the vessel to the partners in Providence. Brown and Ives commissioned the ship Washington in 1819, the peak year for earnings from their maritime adventures. In addition to commissioning ships designed to meet their trading needs, Brown and Ives also purchased a variety of vessels. Some vessels made numerous voyages; others were simply used to freight cargo to a destination and then sold. The firm also had shares in a number of vessels including the ship Mary Ann, the brigantine Juno, the brig Merchants Array, the brig Rambler, and the brig William and Mary (1814).

After their intense early years of maritime enterprise, Brown and Ives began to develop new manufacturing interests. The partners saw the potential for domestic textile manufacturing resulting from the United States trade embargo of 1807, and joined with others to form the Blackstone Manufacturing Company in 1808. The company began with a cotton spinning mill in Mendon, Massachusetts and expanded considerably. Manufacturing investments became increasingly significant to Brown and Ives, and the firm's maritime trade declined, especially after the War of 1812 when the British re-entered the China market and American merchants lost their advantage. In their overseas trade, Brown and Ives turned to supplying American cotton to British textile factories.

Throughout the 1820s, the partners pursued new capital investments, including real estate, banking, canals, turnpikes, and eventually railroads. They participated deeply in their new enterprises. Ives served as the president of Providence Bank for twenty-four years, and for fifteen of these years was also president of the Providence Institute for Savings. Brown and Ives were major investors and organizers of the Blackstone Canal. Ives was treasurer of the canal company until succeeded by his son Moses in 1827. In addition to varied entrepreneurial interests, the firm continued to expand in textile manufacturing beyond its Blackstone River concerns, organizing the Lonsdale Company in the 1830s which operated cotton mills in Smithfield, RI, and gaining shares in mills in Fall River, MA, Newport, NY, and Patterson, NJ.

Thomas P. Ives and Nicholas Brown took an active interest in local and national politics, especially when events and issues posed an economic impact on their business. The Embargo of 1807 incensed them as it did many New England merchants, because of its devastating effect on maritime business. The partners were both ardent Federalists, but Nicholas Brown took a more active role in the political arena and was a member of the Rhode Island General Assembly for many years.

With their successful history of maritime trade, their growing textile industry, and a range of new investments, Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives became members of a new American elite in the early nineteenth century. The partners resided in two of the finest homes on the East Side of Providence, and positioned themselves as community leaders. Nicholas Brown continued his father's legacy by supporting a variety of charitable and philanthropic causes, especially the College of Rhode Island, which was renamed Brown University in honor of his contributions. He paid for the erection of Manning Hall and Hope College, and was a member of the Board of Trustees, also serving as treasurer of the college from 1796 to 1825. Nicholas Brown also sponsored religious organizations (especially associated with the Baptist Church), the Providence Athenaeum, and an asylum for the insane. Thomas P. Ives supported many of the same philanthropic causes as his brother-in-law. He was a trustee of Brown University for forty-three years, from 1792, and was also a founder of the Providence Athenaeum.

Nicholas Brown's sons, Nicholas (1792-1859) and John Carter Brown (1797-1874), and Ives's sons, Moses Brown Ives (1794-1857) and Robert Hale Ives (1798-1875), all graduated from Brown University. Moses Ives and the younger Nicholas Brown also attended the famous Litchfield law school established by Judge Tapping Reeve. The younger Nicholas did not enter the family business, however. John Carter Brown was the son who inherited both a favorable position in Brown and Ives, and the bulk of the fortune his father left at his death in 1841. From 1818 through the 1820s, the names of the partner's sons appear in company records as the young men received the tutelage required to eventually enter the partnership. Moses Ives and John Carter Brown concentrated on maritime trade, while Robert Ives received the bulk of his training in manufacturing.

In 1832, the sons joined the partnership. Moses Ives, Robert Ives, and John Carter Brown were all well into their thirties, with Robert married and a father of three. The two original partners divided their assets according to their original agreement, and placed their assets into individual accounts. The three sons each carried individual accounts as well making Brown and Ives a five-way partnership. Throughout the existence of Brown and Ives, the principals combined their abilities and skills in business and finance, but kept their income and expenses separate. Meticulous financial records allowed each partner to accurately assess his income at any given moment, and investments did not have to be undertaken unless desired.

The death of Thomas P. Ives in 1835 seems to have had an impact on the firm's direction. Nicholas Brown may have not have been able to replace his old partner's energy, and perhaps did not allow the younger men to take over leadership roles. Documents from 1835 to 1841 are scarce, however. After Nicholas Brown's death in 1841, the sons immediately reorganized into an effective three-way partnership which continued until the death of Moses Ives in 1857. Robert Ives acted as the daily manager because of his familiarity with the textile industry, which had become the firm's greatest source of income. Moses Ives took a special interest in the civic, philanthropic, and legal aspects of the partnership, representing the company in the community much as Nicholas Brown and Thomas P. Ives had done before him. John Carter Brown was the least interested in desk duties; he combined business with his love of travel and society, making long voyages to all parts of the world to confer with the firm's associates while enjoying the sights far from Rhode Island. After the death of her husband in 1849, Charlotte Rhoda Ives Goddard, sister of Robert and Moses Ives, also joined in the partnership; the extent of her active participation is unclear.

The second generation of Brown and Ives partners expanded on the experiences of their fathers and sought a range of investments. These included negotiating commercial paper, the purchase of United States and state stocks, manufacturing and bank stocks, insurance company and railroad shares, railroad bonds, real estate purchases and leases, and providing notes, drafts and acceptances for individuals seeking credit from Brown and Ives. In addition, the firm maintained large amounts of cash deposits in banks throughout the United States, which yielded liberal interest and dividends for the partners.

By the 1850s, the three male partners were concerned about training successors to ensure the continuation of the business after their lifetimes. The sons of Moses Ives and Robert Ives were schoolboys, and John Carter Brown remained a bachelor until the end of the decade. The two Ives brothers looked to their nephews, the sons of their sister Charlotte, for continuity until their own children could join them in the business. Charlotte Ives Goddard had five sons who attained maturity. In 1850, her two oldest boys, William (1825-1907) and Thomas (1827-1893), both graduates of Brown University in 1846, were in their twenties and expressed a willingness to participate in the family business. However, instead of joining Brown and Ives as junior partners, William and Thomas formed their own partnership called Goddard Brothers. In this capacity, they worked with Brown and Ives as agents for the textile mills owned by their uncles. In the process, the Goddard brothers received training in the complexities of running a manufacturing concern. During the 1850s, Moses Ives and Robert Ives included William Goddard on their many trips to Boston, Philadelphia, and New York, introducing the young man to their business contacts in these cities. With the management of the textile mills secured, John Carter Brown, Moses Ives, and Robert Ives next sought assistance in the counting house. Although Brown and Ives employed other clerks and bookkeepers, the partners wished to train a trusted family member as a confidential clerk to handle the desk duties associated with family investments and trust funds. With no immediate heir of suitable age, another Goddard nephew got the job: Charlotte's third son, Moses B. I. Goddard (1831-1907).

Moses Goddard began his association with Brown and Ives in 1853, before he complete his studies at Brown University (he never graduated). His cousin, Thomas Ives (1834-1865) also entered the family business, but stayed long enough at Brown University to receive his degree. As the only son of senior partner Moses Ives, Thomas Ives recognized that his future life would be centered at 50 South Main Street. However, he chose to pursue an interest in science and scholarship before settling down to family business. Thomas Ives studied medicine in lieu of touring the Continent after his college graduation. He eventually joined Brown and Ives as a partner shortly before his father's death in August 1857.

Through the 1850s, John Carter Brown, Moses and Robert Ives, the Goddard brothers, and the young Thomas Ives pursued a profitable yet prudent course of investing which supported an extremely wealthy lifestyle. The men were active in business, yet developed richly leisured lives for themselves and their families. They relocated their households at the change of the seasons to refresh themselves in new social territory, migrating fashionably from their farms in Warwick, Rhode Island, to their cottages in Newport, and to sojourns at health spas both in America and abroad. Just as they invested in leisure and social display, the partners invested in the philanthropy associated with elite status and encouraged by their religious traditions. Members of the Protestant Episcopal Church, the Brown, Ives and Goddard men embraced church-supported causes including education and social reform, and responded to the needs of other religious denominations, as well as supporting literature and the arts. Three institutions in Providence--Brown University, Butler Hospital, and Rhode Island Hospital--were sustained through much of the nineteenth century by the financial and administrative support provided by Brown and Ives and the Goddard Brothers.

In 1859, John Carter Brown married at the age of 62. His bride, Sophia Augusta Brown, was almost thirty years younger, and the couple had three children, John Nicholas (1861-1900), Harold (1863-1900), and Sophia (1867-1947). Becoming a family man late in life, John Carter Brown grew less interested in the family business. Although an influential partner in the firm, John Carter Brown had consistently preferred social and cultural pursuits to financial dealings. Domestic concerns and the upbringing of his children increasingly occupied his time during the 1860s. The frequent absences of John Carter Brown from the Counting House left Robert Ives as the senior partner to handle the affairs of the firm. In 1860, Ives brought his son, Robert Ives, Jr., into the business. Robert Jr. had graduated from Brown University in 1857, then toured Europe before joining Goddard Brothers as a junior partner in 1860.

With the opening of the Civil War in 1861, Goddard and Ives men of suitable military age enlisted in the northern cause. William Goddard served as an aide to General Burnside from 1861 to 1862. His brothers, Frank and Robert Goddard, joined the infantry. In 1861, Thomas Ives gave his yacht, Hope, to aid in the naval blockade of the South. He served as a volunteer in the Navy in a variety of capacities throughout the war, and eventually rose to the rank of Captain. As a business, the firm of Brown and Ives took full advantage of the economic opportunities. With their considerable capital resources, the partners speculated heavily in commodities, a type of investment they had rarely entered into before the war. Their textile mills also returned profits as the north's wartime economy developed. During the long course of the conflict, however, the partners remained uncertain about the outcome, and even shipped gold to London for safekeeping. Despite their concerns, the decade of the 1860s provided an economic windfall for the partnership and the families involved.

The war exacted a personal toll, however, and exacerbated the problem of succession in the family-based firm. Less than a month after his departure from Providence in September 1862, young Robert Ives died from wounds received at Antietam. The senior Robert Ives traveled to his wounded son's bedside in Hagerstown, Maryland after the battle, but the young soldier died within ten days. Robert Sr. recalled his sorrow and desolation in correspondence many years after his son's death. Thomas Ives contracted tuberculosis and was increasingly ill through the war years; he offered his resignation to the War Department in 1864. His request refused, Captain Ives took a desk job at the Navy Ordnance Yard in Washington, D.C. until January of 1865, when he took a leave of absence to return to Providence. Advised by his physician to travel to Europe for two to three years to restore his health and prevent "hemorrhaging of the lungs," Thomas Ives and his cousin, Moses B. I. Goddard, sailed for the Continent in April 1865. The two young men traveled through Europe to partake of robust mountain air, sparking waters and plain but nutritious meals. Captain Ives wrote reassuring letters to his uncle Robert Ives back home, and in July sent word of his engagement to Elizabeth Cabot Motley, daughter of John Lothrop Motley, noted historian and Minister to Austria from 1861 to 1867. Thomas Ives and Miss Motley married in Vienna on October 19, 1865. The marriage was short-lived. Thomas Ives's health deteriorated rapidly and he died at Le Havre on November 17, 1865.

In 1866, at the age of sixty-eight, Robert Ives found himself the only living male representative of the Ives line. With John Carter Brown's two sons still very young, the future of the Brown and Ives partnership seemed limited. Another Goddard nephew was ushered into the firm's business office, Robert Hale Ives Goddard (1837-1916), Civil War veteran and Brown University graduate, Class of 1858. Robert Goddard worked as a salaried agent for Goddard Brothers after his military term expired in early 1865. He rose to partner of Goddard Brothers and assisted his brothers, William and Thomas, in managing the family textile mills.

The firm's two surviving male partners, Robert Ives and John Carter Brown, relinquished the daily duties of running their manufacturing concerns to younger family members, but remained involved in the business. Major decisions involving capital funds could only be made by one of the two partners until 1860, when Goddard Brothers received power of attorney to act on behalf of the firm in regard to the textile mills. However, until the deaths of the Robert Ives and John Carter Brown in the 1870s, the Goddards sought the advice and counsel of the older men on manufacturing and investment matters, and conferred with them weekly. After 1865, the firm focused on reinvesting wartime profits. The post-war period was a peak one for returns on manufacturing investments, and there were new areas of return, such as Lake Superior copper and iron mines.

The deaths of these last two male partners of Brown and Ives were a little over a year apart. John Carter Brown died at his Providence home on June 10, 1874, leaving a widow and three young children. Within a month, surviving partner Robert Ives named his Goddard nephews -- William, Thomas, Moses, and Robert -- partners in Brown and Ives in order to ensure the continuity of the firm. Robert Hale Ives died at his Providence home on July 6, 1875. His survivors included his daughter Elizabeth Ives Gammell and six grandchildren. Two of his grandsons, Robert Ives Gammell (1852-1915) and William Gammell, Jr.(1857-1843), eventually became partners in Brown and Ives. John Carter Brown's two sons, John Nicholas and Harold, formed their own partnership, J. N and H. Brown, in 1888. They never participated in Brown and Ives, and died within one month of each other in 1900.

The death of John Carter Brown ended all financial interest of the Brown family with Brown and Ives, and the Estate of John Carter Brown moved into a separate space at 50 South Main Street called the Trustee Room. From this location, Senior Trustee George W. R. Matteson (1833-1908) managed the vast holdings accumulated by Brown during his lifetime. Matteson had been employed as Mr. Brown's personal bookkeeper since the 1860s, and after 1874 continued to represent John Carter Brown's heirs at family board and stockholder meetings. Matteson also initiated investment purchases and managed all aspects of the fortune in consultation with the other trustees.

The death of Robert Hale Ives further atomized the firm's finances when his estate was inherited by his daughter, Elizabeth Ives Gammell (1830-1897). Elizabeth had married Professor William Gammell in 1851, and she and the professor had six children. Her eldest son, Robert Gammell, entered the firm of Brown and Ives in 1874, and concentrated on handling the fiduciary affairs of his grandfather's estate on his mother's behalf. Robert and his brother William continued to manage the Ives inheritance for their mother during her lifetime. At her death, the estate was split five ways among the five surviving children. Robert and William maintained offices at 50 South Main Street and managed their inheritance as well as overseeing investments for their three sisters, Hope Gammell Slater, Harriet Gammell Safe, and Helen Gammell Herbert.

In 1875, Charlotte Ives Goddard was the last of the second generation of Brown and Ives partners, though she apparently had not been involved in the day-to-day operations at the Counting House. Four of her sons, William, Thomas, Moses, and Robert, long active in the family business, dominated the third generation of the firm. William Goddard took a leadership role in Brown and Ives, and continued as a partner of Goddard Brothers, but he declined to make drastic changes until his mother's death in the spring of 1881. Within a month after Charlotte Goddard's death, however, the Providence architectural firm of Stone & Carpenter was hired to renovate and modernize the aging Counting House, and a new partnership configuration gradually formed among William, Thomas, Moses, and Robert Goddard, and their nephews, Robert and William Gammell.

The Goddards secured their local prominence in social and charitable affairs in the late nineteenth century, and their activity centered on benevolence no less than business. William Goddard was president of the Hope Club, an elite local social club, from 1888 to 1890. He was a major supporter of St. John's Episcopal Church in Providence and along with other family members donated a window at St. John's in memory of his parents. He served as President of the Arion Club, a leading Providence music organization in 1896, and became a charter member of the Narragansett Yacht Club in 1882. William Goddard's many charitable gifts included the gates to Butler Hospital in memory of John Carter Brown and John Nicholas Brown (1905), and the Goddard Building at Rhode Island Hospital (1898). His brother, Thomas Goddard held positions as administrator or director of numerous banks including Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company and Providence Institution for Savings, and supported local charitable and cultural institutions, including Butler Hospital and St. John's Church. The third brother of the partnership, Moses Goddard, was deeply involved in Butler Hospital, and served many years as treasurer. He was also gifted Brown University with replicas of Roman statues of Caesar Augustus (1906) and Marcus Aurelius (1908), reflecting his interest in arts and literature. Brother Robert, known as Colonel Goddard, served as Governor of the Hope Club (1880-1885) and was influential in local financial circles.

The Goddard brothers enjoyed lives of elite mobility, maintaining multiple homes and traveling frequently. William Goddard had residences in Providence and Warwick, RI, and in Aiken, South Carolina. After his mother's death in 1881, William commissioned Stone & Carpenter to remodel the family homestead at the corner of George and Brown Streets (donated in 1940 to Brown University and currently the Maddock Alumni Center). His official residence remained "Hopelands," his farm at Potowomut Neck in Warwick. The South Carolina property, also named "Hopelands," provided a winter retreat for the family. During his mother's lifetime, William and his family stayed with her in Newport for the summer season, but after her death, they chose to spend the warm months in either Europe or Bar Harbor, ME. Thomas Goddard, like his brother, maintained three homes. His official residence was at 35 Brown Street in Providence, but he also kept a Potowomut farm, "Thornledge," and "Hope Cottage" in Colorado Springs, CO. Moses shared ownership of "Hopelands" at Potowomut with William, and had a house in the city at 25 Brown Street, near the rest of the family.

The four Goddard brothers shared similar social, philanthropic, and business interests with their Gammell nephews, Robert and William, who joined them in the Brown and Ives partnership. Robert Gammell assumed the major responsibility of handling his grandfather Robert Ives's vast estate. He also became director of Providence Bank and in 1905, succeeded his uncle William Goddard as president, remaining in that position to his death in 1915. Robert Gammell also served on the boards of Rhode Island Hospital Trust Company and Providence Institution for Savings, and was treasurer of Blackstone Manufacturing Company. One of the founders of the Hope Club in 1875, he provided administrative support for the organization throughout the years of his membership. Robert divided his time between the Gammell homestead at 52 Power Street in Providence, "Ocean Lawn," his grandfather's waterfront estate in Newport, and the Potowomut farm. After his marriage to Elisa Anthony Hoppin in 1878, he and his growing family moved into his grandfather Ives's former house at 327 Benefit Street, which abutted his parents' home.

William Gammell, Jr. was an energetic businessman. He got his start in the Berkeley Company, one of the family owned manufacturing businesses, in 1881, and eventually became its president. William managed the Beverly Land Company, the Gammell's real estate holding company, while serving on boards for Providence National Bank, Hope Company, Providence Institution for Savings, Brown University, and Butler Hospital. In addition to his partnership in Brown and Ives, he formed another business partnership, Sturgis and Gammell, which acted as agents for the Berkeley Company. Socially, William Gammell was in step with his brother and uncles in the firm. He joined the Hope Club and was an officer for many years. He lived in the same neighborhood as other family members; his residence at 170 Hope Street, corner of Hope and Manning, was designed and built by Gould & Angell in 1882. Like his brother, William Gammell Jr. and his family divided their time between Providence, the Newport estate, "Ocean Lawn," and the Potowomut farm.

After 1875, the firm of Brown and Ives continued by the Goddard and Gammell relations existed solely for the purpose of managing the inheritances and trust funds which had been established by original partner Thomas Poynton Ives for his daughter Charlotte, sons Moses and Robert, and their heirs. The family office became the place where Goddards and Gammells paid the bills and analyzed comparative values of investments for themselves and other heirs interested in utilizing their expertise. Over a long history, the firm had shifted from maritime activity, to manufacturing and entrepreneurship, and by the end of the century, increasingly to financial management.

The Gammells and Goddards maintained separate books, in keeping with family tradition. The legacies of Robert Hale Ives were the responsibility of Robert and William Gammell. After token bequests, their mother Elizabeth, the only surviving child of Robert Ives, inherited the bulk of his estate, which was estimated in the Providence Journal as between ten and twenty million dollars. Elizabeth Ives Gammell contributed to a wide array of charitable causes, including St. John's Episcopal Church, the Church of the Messiah (a stone building in memory of her husband who died in 1889 as well as a window commemorating her son, Arthur, who died in 1887), St. Luke's in East Greenwich, Emmanuel Church in Newport, Rhode Island Hospital, Butler Hospital, the Providence Female Charitable Society, the Rhode Island Historical Society, (where her husband served as president from 1882 to 1889), and Brown University.

After her father's will was fully probated in 1879, Mrs. Gammell proceeded to remodel and modernize her main residence at 52 Power Street in Providence, which her father had purchased for her in 1854. In addition, she refurbished "Ocean Lawn," her father's estate located on the Cliff Walk in Newport. In 1887, she decided to move the original Newport house to a different site on the property and build something more striking in its place. She hired Peabody & Sterns, the Boston architectural firm, to design a new and larger house, more suitable for Newport's extravagant social style. She also added a greenhouse and additional stables. After her husband's death in 1889 and throughout the 1890s, Mrs. Gammell continued to participate in Newport society. Her sons and financial managers, Robert and William, commented on the cost of her lavish investments, but gathered regularly at the Newport estate each summer with other members of the family. After Mrs. Gammell died in Dover, England, on April 1, 1897, the bulk of her estate was divided among her two sons and her daughters, Hope, Harriet, and Helen.

Following the deaths of William and Moses Goddard in 1907, Colonel Robert Goddard took the helm of Brown and Ives with the remaining partners, William and Robert Gammell. As the last living Goddard brother of his generation, the Colonel needed a successor. His oldest son, William, born in 1871, died in Florence, Italy at the age of 11. Daughter Madeleine (1874-1931) could not be seriously considered for a business career. Consequently, Robert Goddard, Jr. (1880-1959) became the heir apparent. Fortunately, "Ives" as he was called, showed the interest and aptitude to continue in the family's venerable business tradition. Educated at Groton and Yale, Robert Goddard, Jr. joined Brown and Ives soon after graduation. After his marriage to Margaret Hazard in 1908, he moved into the Thomas P. Ives house (built 1804) at 66 Power Street. Robert Goddard, Jr. joined the Hope Club and was periodically elected to administrative positions. He even briefly served as an interim bank president for Providence National Bank after the death of his cousin, Robert Ives Gammell, in 1915. By the time of father's death on April 22, 1916, "Ives" had been prepared according to the family way to step into a leading role at Brown and Ives, and to maintain the firm and the family's investments, working with his Gammell relatives and other family members.