Encyclopedia Brunoniana

1773

  • Solomon Drowne of the class of 1773, in an entry in his diary for June 30, 1770, described his examination by President Manning and tutor David Howell, which consisted of five verses in the Greek Testament, seven lines in Cicero’s Orations, and five lines in Virgil’s Georgics, after which he was pronounced fit to enter, which he did two days later.Admission
  • Botany was taught at Brown in 1811 by Solomon Drowne 1773, professor of materia medica and botany, in the newly established medical lectures.Botany
  • William G. Roelker described other accomplishments of the Browns, "In 1773, also with the aid of a lottery, they built the Market House.Brown family
  • Honorary degrees were awarded to Joseph Brown in 1770 and to John Brown in 1773.Brown family
  • Solomon Drowne graduated in 1773.Drowne, Solomon
  • In 1799 he purchased land in Foster, and in 1801 his old friend Solomon Drowne 1773 purchased an adjoining farm, and the two of them settled in the country in search of a quiet and studious life.Foster, Theodore
  • The Corporation decided instead to return to soliciting funds in England, and began by awarding degrees to a number of English clergymen in 1773 and 1774.Fund-raising
  • Rev. John Ryland of England assisted in identifying prospective honorees by sending lists of names of British clergymen and noted in a communication to James Manning in 1773, "For me to ask any of those gentlemen I nominated in my letter, whether he would please to accept of a degree from your College, would spoil all the honor and delicacy of conferring it.Honorary degrees
  • David Howell continued his interest in the College, being a member of the Board of Fellows from 1773 to 1824 and secretary of the Corporation from 1780 to 1806.Howell, David
  • In 1954 the library announced the acquisition of its millionth item, "De Homine Figuris et Latinate Donatus a Florentio Schuyl" by Descartes, printed in Leyden in 1662, a gift of Albert E. Lownes ’20, and its eight hundred thousandth book, "Compendium Pharmaceuticum," compiled by John Francis Coste, physician-in-chief of the French forces in America in the Revolution, given by the heirs of Solomon Drowne 1773.Library
  • In the beginning, there were three professors, Solomon Drowne 1773, professor of materia medica and botany, William Ingalls, professor of anatomy and surgery, and William Corlis Bowen 1803, professor of chemistry.Medical education
  • Solomon Drowne 1773 recorded in his diary on December 11, 1770 that he "began to learn French of Mr. David Howel ... four Evenings in a Week, and on the following two days purchased a French grammar and a French "Telemachus."Modern Languages
  • One of the exercises at the first Commencement in 1769 was "a Syllogistic Dispute ... on this Thesis, "‘Materia cogitare non potest.’"" Notes taken by Solomon Drowne 1773 in his junior year reveal that President Manning’s lectures in philosophy touched briefly upon psychology, intellectual and moral philosophy, ontology, and natural philosophy, and this instruction was completed in only a few days more than a month.Philosophy
  • Entries of the diary of Solomon Drowne 1773 describe experimental work in natural philosophy.Physics
  • Solomon Drowne 1773, Philip Padelford 1773, Barnabas Binney 1774, Pardon Bowen 1775, and Levi Wheaton 1782 all served as surgeons.Revolutionary War
  • Preliminary drawings of the second seal have been found in the papers of Solomon Drowne 1773, who appears to have had a hand in its design.Seal
  • The first steward, Josias Arnold (1770 to 1773), was followed by William Holroyd (1773 to 1782) and Peregrine Foster (1782 to 1784).Steward
  • On February 19, 1773, the senior class addressed "The remonstrance of the Senior Class of Rhode Island College, to the respectable, the PRESIDENT and PROFESSOR of the Same," the subject being that the members of the class feared that they were going to be deprived of a public Commencement because they were not accomplished orators.Student protests
  • Not long after this, on December 31, 1773, the Corporation was addressed by a committee representing all the classes, protesting that the steward was not providing the food prescribed.Student protests
  • Ebenezer David 1772 was put in charge of the school which had twenty students in 1773.University Grammar School
  • William Williams remained in Warren, teaching school, married Patience Miller, daughter of Colonel Nathan Miller, was baptized by his classmate Charles Thompson, pastor of the Warren Baptist Church in September 1771 and licensed to preach by that church in April 1773.Williams, William
  • William Williams preached in Wrentham, Massachusetts, beginning in 1773, and opened an academy there, from which over the years about eighty of his students came to Rhode Island College.Williams, William