Moses Brown (1738-1836) was an American manufacturer and merchant. Quaker discipline tempered the career of this successful New England businessman.

Moses Brown was born into a family of merchants of Providence, R.I. He began his business education as apprentice to his uncle, Obadiah Brown. The elder Brown's interests included not only the West Indies trade but also insurance, moneylending, and the manufacture of spermaceti candles--diversification typical of the era of merchant capitalism. On the death of his uncle in 1762, Moses joined his three older brothers in the firm of Nicholas Brown and Company. To candlemaking and the shipping trade they added an ironworks. By the 1770s the Browns were one of the great mercantile families of New England.

After the death of his first wife in 1773, Brown withdrew from his business commitments and remained inactive until the end of the decade. He became a Quaker, a faith...