Harold Brown

Harold Brown (December 24, 1863 – May 10, 1900) was an American financier and philanthropist who was prominent in New York society during the Gilded Age. Early life Harold Brown was born on December 24, 1863, to John Carter Brown II (1797–1874) and Sophia Augusta Brown (1825–1909). His father was a collector of American books in the mid-19th century and was the first American to join the Hakluyt Society as a charter member in 1846, and in 1855, he was elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society. His older brother was John Nicholas Brown I (1863–1900), who married Natalie Bayard Dresser (1869–1950) (sister-in-law of George Washington Vanderbilt II), and his younger sister was Sophia Augusta Brown (1867–1947), who married William Watts Sherman (1842–1912). His brother donated his father's collection to Brown University. Family His paternal grandfather was Nicholas Brown Jr. (1769–1841), the namesake patron of Brown University (in 1804). His great-grandfather was Nicholas Brown Sr. (1729–1791), a merchant and slave trader who co-founded the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. His great-grandfather was the brother of John Brown, Moses Brown, and Joseph Brown. His nephew, John Nicholas Brown II (1900–1979), became the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and married Anne Seddon Kinsolving (1906–1985).