Brown, John (12 September 1757–28 August 1837), lawyer, congressman, and U.S. senator from Kentucky, was born in Staunton, Virginia, the son of John Brown, a prominent Presbyterian minister in the Shenandoah Valley, and Margaret Preston, whose brother William Preston held a number of important government posts in western Virginia. Schooled at his father’s Liberty Hall Academy, which later became Washington and Lee University, the younger John Brown continued his education at Princeton, his father’s alma mater. Brown’s tenure at Princeton was interrupted by the Revolution. When ...

Brown, John (12 September 1757–28 August 1837), lawyer, congressman, and U.S. senator from Kentucky, was born in Staunton, Virginia, the son of John Brown, a prominent Presbyterian minister in the Shenandoah Valley, and Margaret Preston, whose brother William Preston held a number of important government posts in western Virginia. Schooled at his father’s Liberty Hall Academy, which later became Washington and Lee University, the younger John Brown continued his education at Princeton, his father’s alma mater. Brown’s tenure at Princeton was interrupted by the Revolution. When ...