John Newton Brown (June 29, 1803 – May 14, 1868) was an influential

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only ( believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

teacher, minister and publisher in the 19th century. He was born in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

, and attended Madison College (now known as Colgate University) where he graduated at the head of his class in 1823. Ordained the following year, he spent many years traveling

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

, serving as minister in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New York (behind only New York City) and the seat of Erie County. It is at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of the Niagara River, and is across the Canadian border from Sou ...

, Malden, Massachusetts, and

Exeter, New Hampshire Exeter is a town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 16,049 at the 2020 census, up from 14,306 at the 2010 census. Exeter was the county seat until 1997, when county offices were moved to neighboring Brentwood. ...

, as well as a teaching position at the Academical and Theological Institution of New Hampton,

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the nor ...

, before ill health forced him to travel south where he took up a ministry in Lexington, Virginia, in 1845. In 1848 he became editorial secretary of the

American Baptist Publication Society The American Baptist Publication Society is a historic building at 1420–1422 Chestnut Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1896 on the site of the former headquarters of the American Baptist Publication Society, which had been ...

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, and was editor of its publications the

Christian Chronicle ''The Christian Chronicle'' is a religious newspaper associated with the Churches of Christ.Douglas Allen Foster and Anthony L. Dunnavant, ''The Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Christian Churches ...

and

National Baptist National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

. It was under his tenure that a number of influential works of the day were published under his direction. Brown was one of the authors of the

New Hampshire Confession of Faith In 1833, Baptists in the United States agreed upon a confession of faith around which they could organize a missionary society under the Triennial Convention. The New Hampshire Confession of Faith was drawn up by the Rev. John Newton Brown of New ...

in 1833, which was a more moderate expression of the more

Calvinistic Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

Baptist beliefs that existed at the time, and was widely accepted in the northern United States. His name has become the one most associated with this work. Brown also authored a book of poetry, "Emily and Other Poems," (1840) which was dedicated to a sister who had died young. Brown died on May 14, 1868, in the Philadelphia neighborhood of

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Newton Brown, John 19th-century Baptist ministers from the United States 1803 births 1868 deaths