Brownson, Nathan, 1742-1796

<ul><b>RACES</b>
<li> 12/31/1776 GA Continental Congress Won 100.00% (+100.00%)</li>
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NATHAN BROWNSON, a physician and governor of Georgia, was born in Woodbury, Connecticut on May 14, 1742. His education was attained at Yale College, where he graduated in 1761. He went on to study medicine, and then established a medical practice in Liberty County, Georgia, in about 1774. He also became a leader during the Revolutionary movement, as well as serving as an army surgeon during the war. Brownson first entered politics as a member of the provincial congress, a position he held in 1775. He also served as a delegate to the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1778. In 1781 he was elected Speaker of the Assembly, which then elected him governor. During his tenure, the British were driven out of Augusta, and measures were initiated to restore Georgia to its prewar status. After leaving the governorship, Brownson continued to stay politically active. He served as deputy purveyor for southern hospitals in 1781 and again in 1782; was assistant state justice from 1784 to 1789; was a member of the Georgia House of Assembly from 1785 to 1788; and served as a member of the 1787-1788 state convention that ratified the federal constitution. He also served in the state constitutional conventions in 1788 and 1789 as well as serving as the first president of the Georgia State Senate from 1789 to 1791. In his last public service endeavor, he laid the groundwork for the creation of the University of Georgia. Governor Nathan Brownson passed away in Liberty County, Georgia, on October 18, 1796.

<p>Nathan Brownson (May 14, 1742 – November 6, 1796) was an American physician and statesman. He served Georgia as a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777 and as the Governor of Georgia in 1781. Nathan Brownson was a member of the Society of the Cincinnati of the State of Georgia.</p>

<p>Brownson was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, the sixth of ten children born to Timothy (1701–1766) and Abgail Jenner (1707–1784). He graduated from Yale in 1761 and practiced medicine in his hometown. In 1769 he married Elizabeth Lewis. The couple moved to St. John Parish, Georgia, in 1774 and began working a 500-acre plantation near Savannah. He settled in Liberty County, Georgia in 1764 and began his medical practice. Brownson’s wife died in 1775, and the following year he married Elizabeth McLean, with whom he had two children.</p>

<p>In 1774, St. John Parish was a hotbed of revolutionary activity; many of its people were New England Congregationalists by way of Dorchester, South Carolina, a settlement on the Ashley River above Charlestown that had been founded by Puritans from Massachusetts. Brownson and another transplanted Connecticut physician, Lyman Hall, were among the eleven delegates chosen to represent the parish at the provincial congress, which met in Savannah in July 1775. Both men were elected to represent Georgia in the Second Continental Congress; Brownson served from January to May 1777 and again from late August to early October of the same year.</p>

BROWNSON, Nathan, a Delegate from Georgia; born in Woodbury, Conn., May 14, 1742; was graduated from Yale College in 1761; studied medicine and practiced in Woodbury; moved to Liberty County, Ga., about 1764; member of the Provincial Congress in 1775; surgeon in the Revolutionary Army; Member of the Continental Congress in 1777; member of the State house of representatives in 1781 and served as speaker; chosen by that body as Governor of Georgia in 1782; again elected to the State house of representatives in 1788 and served as speaker; delegate to the State convention to ratify the Federal Constitution in 1788 and to the State constitutional convention in 1789; member of the State senate 1789-1791 and served as president of that body; died on his plantation near Riceboro, Liberty County, Ga., November 6, 1796; interment in the Old Midway Burial Ground.