Sep 8

Sep 8 Purveyor General of Hospitals Nathan Brownson

Update 9/4/21

Nathan Brownson was Purveyor General of Hospitals during the American Revolution and then Governor of Georgia.

Nathan Brownson

Nathan Brownson relocated from Connecticut to Georgia just before the Revolutionary War began.

Since Georgia was the youngest colony, there was ample opportunity for a new doctor to make a prosperous living.

It was not long before Nathan was chosen to represent St. John’s Parish in the Provincial Congress, with the goal of preserving the liberties of his constituents.

Continental Congress

By 1777, independence had been declared and Brownson was sent as one of Georgia’s delegates to the Continental Congress. There he worked closely with Lyman Hall, another Connecticut doctor who made Georgia his home.

Brownson took a trip to the (newly declared) State of Vermont to gather information about their preparedness for actual statehood. Although it seemed they had the qualifications, due to resistance from New York and New Hampshire the issue was put off until after the war.

Nathan was back in Congress when the British approached Philadelphia. He fled the city with the rest of the Continental Delegates.

General of Hospitals

When his term in the Continental Congress concluded, Brownson decided to put his medical skills to work for the war effort.

He joined the ill-fated expedition into Florida where he served as Director General of Hospitals for the mission.

This was followed with a promotion by General Nathanael Greene to the position of Purveyor General of Hospitals for the Southern Department. The lengthy title basically means he was in charge of all the medical facilities south of Maryland.

Governor

Of all the colonies involved in the American Revolution, none was perhaps more divided internally from political parties than Georgia. To settle this, General Greene sent Brownson to unite the State.

Brownson became a compromise candidate. He had been representing the State as a whole in the Continental Congress, then, devoting himself to the war effort, he was absent from politics for about three years.

The State Legislature unanimously elected him Governor of Georgia.

During his tenure, he oversaw the ending of hostilities, most notably with the Native Americans on the Georgian frontier.

Justice

After the Revolutionary War came to its conclusion, Brownson became a Justice of the Peace while also returning to his medial practice.

Nathan attended Georgia’s ratification convention in support of the Constitution.

Afterwards, he wrote to George Washington throwing his hat in the ring for a judicial position with the federal courts. This was extremely common at the time, though pains were taken to balance out an immodest account of one’s successes with a humble presentation. Unfortunately, this position was never given.

Instead Brownson assisted in the rewriting of Georgia’s State Constitution, after which he was chosen as the first President of the State Senate.

A large portion of this article is based off the letter Brownson wrote to Washington. He was nice enough to give me (err...um...George) an overview of his life, which can be read here. It's double interesting because it gives you a look into what the First President was dealing with in his first few week of office.

Please leave a comment to let me know what you think of this article and remember to subscribe to our email list for a new Founder straight to your inbox every morning.

If you're interested in reading more about Georgia during the Revolutionary War, I'd recommend picking up the Robert C. Jones book below through our affiliate Amazon here: https://amzn.to/3yFjYod