John Brown (Kentucky) - Early Life

Early Life

John Brown was born in Augusta County, Virginia, on September 12, 1757. John Brown was the son of Reverend John Brown and Margaret Preston Brown, immigrants from Ireland. The son of a Presbyterian minister and schoolmaster, John was well educated, first at his father's Liberty Hall Academy, and then at the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University). His studies at Princeton were halted, temporarily, as a result of the approach of English troops during the American Revolutionary War.

John Brown's role during the Revolutionary War is unclear. The family belief was that Brown served under General George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette in the Continental Army, however no documentation has been located to prove this theory. Two years after he left the College of New Jersey (1778), John Brown enrolled at The College of William & Mary where he studied law. Again, in the fall of 1780, his studies were interrupted by the War and the arrival of the British forces. Brown then continued to study law in the office of Thomas Jefferson near Charlottesville, Virginia.