Commanding a prospect of the Town of Providence below, of the Narragansett Bay and Island and of an extensive country, variegated with hills and dales, woods and plains.... Surely this spot was made for a seat of the Muses.
The first building, one sufficient for the needs of the college for the following fifty years, was University Hall, modeled after Nassau Hall of Princeton. The upper two stories were added after the Revolutionary war. For six years, during that great struggle, the hall was used as barracks and hospital for the combined American and French troops. In 1775, the present First Baptist Church Meeting House was erected, “for the public worship of Almighty God and to hold commencements in.” Since 1775 until the present time, with the exceptions of the years 1804 and 1832, this church has been used for the commencement exercises. On its platform illustrious students have received their degrees and have gone forth to bless the world. The presidents of Brown University, seated in the James Manning chair, have presided at the commencements in the historic Baptist Meeting House, and have given public honor to men who in turn have honored the university and city. George Washington received the honorary degree of LL. D. in 1790. Among her illustrious graduates none is greater than Adoniram Judson, our pioneer American and Baptist foreign missionary.
Doctor Manning died in 1791, and was buried in the North Burial Ground. The corporation voted that same year,
That the children of the Jews may be admitted into this institution and entirely enjoy the freedom of their own religion, without any constraint or imposition whatever.
The name of the college was changed from Rhode Island to Brown University, in 1804, in honor of Nicholas Brown, whose liberal gifts to the college were much appreciated. He was a trustee and in his lifetime gave about $100,000 to the college. In 1821 the increasing number of students made another building imperative, and Nicholas Brown gave this needed structure, Hope College, as a gift to the institution.
Original Home of Brown University, in Providence, R. I.
Brown University in Early Nineteenth Century
The second president of Brown University was Jonathan Maxcy, who served from 1792 until 1802. In these ten years two hundred and twenty-seven were graduated, sixty-six claiming law as their profession, and fifty-six entering the ministry. Asa Messer was the third president, serving from 1802 until his resignation in 1826. His membership was in the First Baptist Church, but his views, after 1815, were Unitarian. Acts of vandalism, such as breaking into the library, beating down the pulpit, and breaking windows, were such that he took it as a protest against his position and finally resigned.