Joshua (Hawkins) Brown (abt. 1790 - abt. 1850)

Born about 1790 in South Kingstown, Washington, Rhode Island, United States

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Biography

Nancy (Hawkins) Brown is a part of US Black heritage.

He was about six feet high, very thin of flesh, and weighed only ninety-seven pounds....He was dressed in a fashionable black silk skirt, with a cinnamon-colored spencer waist, and wore a ladies' black beaver hat, with two black ostrich feathers.

J.R. Cole's extensive description of Joshua Hawkins/Nancy Brown suggests he was born male and from age 14 on lived as female. While the term transgender was not coined until 1969, the choice to change name, dress and occupation to align with norms for women suggests Nancy may have identified with the modern definition.

Parents Jack Fisher and Dinah (Hawkins?) were enslaved on the farms of George Brown and Christopher Hawkins of South Kingston. Presumably they were Black rather than Indian, though persons of both ethnicities were enslaved in the Narragansett area. Some of Jack and Dinah's children took the Brown last name and some took the Hawkins last name. Joshua started as a Hawkins and later took Brown as a last name.

Joshua's birth date should coincide somewhat with the period of gradual emancipation in Rhode Island. J.R. Cole writes that at age 14 Joshua rejected the prospect of being a farm hand, but instead dressed in woman's clothing, did housework, and took the name Nancy Brown.

Nancy later worked in an East Greenwich hotel for several years employed by Daniel Updike in what was then known as the Updike Inn. This location and its owner played a key role in early colonial history and was located on or near the Old Post Road, a primary conduit of travel. The hotel has been rebuilt, but artifacts from the original building still exist today at the Varnum Memorial including the building's arched entry and the hotel log book. Updike, a notable Rhode Islander, ran it from 1825-1842.

Nancy later worked at a New Bedford Hotel and then in an Albany hotel for 16 years "dressed in female attire", as Cole makes a point of saying. She returned to South Kingston in 1849, but finding no living relations, went back to Albany. Albany at the time had a number of hotels and Inns and had long been a crossroads for turnpike travelers.

It is unclear exactly when Joshua was born and whether he was born to servitude or not. If born after 1784 he could have been a legally free child born to enslaved parents.

Birth and death dates are guesses. Please refine if you find more detail.

Research Notes

There is a federal census record in 1830 for Dinah Hawkins in South Kingstown. She is described as a free colored person and between 55-99 years old. Possibly Nancy's mom?

There's also a Fisher Brown in the 1800 census there (free other person in 1800 and 1810; free colored person in 1820), and while it's a stretch, noting it just in case Jack Fisher changed his name to Fisher Brown, discarding his slave name. In the same year, there aren't any Fishers.

There is a 62-year-old Nancy Brown, born in Rhode Island around 1788, living in New Bedford, Massachusetts in the 1850 federal census with dry goods dealer Oliver Brown and his family. Race isn't specified however, but Cole's "very thin of flesh" makes me wonder if he simply means skinny or also light-skinned. Only she and Oliver of the household were born in Rhode Island. Hard to say, though. 1840 census describes Oliver as a free white person.

Sources

• J.R. Cole's "History of Washington and Kent Counties" page 42

• Same source Internet Archive version

• History of Greenwich Hotel

• Historic sketch of Arnold's Tavern/Bunch of Grapes/Updike Inn

• Early New Bedford Hotels: Sign of the Swan, Sign of the Golden Ball, The New Bedford Hotel, Hotel Eagle

• Updike was Secretary as Rhode Island ratified the Constitution