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37-651: Moses Brown (1738–1836) was the school's founder and a member of the Brown family, a powerful mercantile family of New England . He was a pioneering advocate for the abolition of slavery, a co-founder of Brown University , and an industrialist. In 1777, a committee of New England Yearly Meeting took up the idea for a school to educate young Quakers in New England. The school opened in 1784 at Portsmouth Friends Meeting House in Portsmouth, Rhode Island . However, there

74-527: A Quaker, and he became Rhode Island's leading opponent of the slave trade. He freed the last of his own slaves in 1773. He solidified his opposition to slavery during the Revolutionary War, in the company of ministers and teachers from the college in Providence which had closed temporarily because British troops were billeted in its campus. Brown renewed his efforts against the slave trade after

111-614: A daughter who died young. Brown served as a deputy to the Rhode Island General Assembly from 1764 to 1771, and he served on a committee to oppose the Stamp Act in 1765. In 1769, he participated in efforts to move the college in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations to Providence from Warren, Rhode Island. The four Brown brothers donated family land passed down from Chad Brown for

148-663: A law in Congress to forbid foreign slave ships from being equipped in American ports. In contrast, his brother John was one of the state's leading slave traders and the first person prosecuted under the federal laws prohibiting slave importation . Brown played a significant role in the revival of the New England Yearly Meeting School. It had existed intermittently in the 1770s and 1780s, but died out through lack of interest. In 1814, Brown presented

185-416: A means of adjusting the whale's buoyancy , since the density of the spermaceti changes with its phase. Another hypothesis has been that it is used as a cushion to protect the sperm whale's delicate snout while diving. The most likely primary function of the spermaceti organ is to add internal echo or resonator clicks to the sonar echolocation clicks emitted by the respiratory organs. This makes possible

222-596: A photometric unit defined in the United Kingdom Act of Parliament Metropolitan Gas Act 1860 and adopted at the International Electrotechnical Conference of 1883, was based on the light produced by a single, pure spermaceti candle. Spermaceti is derived from Medieval Latin sperma ceti , meaning "whale sperm " (from Latin sperma meaning " semen " or "seed", and ceti , the genitive form of "whale"). The substance

259-605: A similar mill in Pawtucket, Rhode Island . In 1793, the factory became the first water-powered spinning mill in America, a seminal event generally considered the birth of the American Industrial Revolution . Moses' son Obadiah Brown soon replaced Smith Brown as a partner, and Samuel Slater was taken in as well to create the firm of Almy, Brown & Slater. Brown soon withdrew from active involvement in

296-461: A sperm whale, the whalers would pull the carcass alongside the ship, cut off the head and pull it on deck. Then, they would cut a hole in it and bail out the matter inside with a bucket. The harvested matter, raw spermaceti, was stored in casks to be processed back on land. A large whale could yield as much as 500 US gallons (1,900 L; 420 imp gal). The spermaceti was boiled and strained of impurities to prevent it from going rancid. On land,

333-516: A varied selection of topics. English is the only subject mandated through four years in the Upper School. Students must study a single language for three years, and lab sciences for two. There is a requirement for a comparative religions class. Students are also required to take a minimum of two semesters of fine art courses. Students are required to participate in varied school activities, whether athletic, theater, dance, or community service. In

370-490: Is a derivative of jojoba oil , jojoba esters , C 19 H 41 COOC 20 H 41 , a solid wax, which is chemically and physically very similar to spermaceti and may be used in many of the same applications. Currently, disagreement exists on what biological purpose or purposes spermaceti serves. The proportion of wax esters retained by an average (living) whale head appears to reflect buoyancy influenced by heat. Changes in density likely enhance echolocation. It might be used as

407-429: Is extracted from sperm oil by crystallisation at 6 °C (43 °F), when treated by pressure and a chemical solution of caustic alkali . Spermaceti forms brilliant white crystals that are hard but oily to the touch, and are devoid of taste or smell, making it very useful as an ingredient in cosmetics, leatherworking, and lubricants. The substance was also used in making candles of a standard photometric value, in

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444-556: Is located on 33 acres (130,000 m) on Providence's East Side. Moses Brown Moses Brown (September 23, 1738 – September 6, 1836) was an American abolitionist and industrialist from New England who funded the design and construction of some of the first factories for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution , including the Slater Mill which was the first modern factory in America. Moses Brown

481-402: Is too small to be meaningful until the organ grows to a huge size. Measurement of the proportion of wax esters retained by a harvested sperm whale accurately described the age and future life expectancy of a given individual. The level of wax esters in the spermaceti organ increases with the age of the whale: 38–51% in calves, 58–87% in adult females, and 71–94% in adult males. Spermaceti wax

518-493: The 1960's, Moses Brown's Field House was the testing ground for AstroTurf . The school briefly made headlines during the January 2015 nor'easter when Headmaster Matt Glendinning released a music video called "School Is Closed" , in which he parodied " Let It Go " from Frozen . The school is mentioned in H. P. Lovecraft 's novella The Case of Charles Dexter Ward as the alma mater of the titular villain. Moses Brown School

555-506: The Yearly Meeting School with 43 acres of land in Providence, and worked diligently toward the creation of a school on this land. He provided important financial assistance, and also donated his impressive book collection to the school library. His son Obadiah joined him as a major supporter of this effort until his untimely death in 1822. Moses Brown served as the school's treasurer until shortly before his own death in 1836 at

592-468: The age of 98. The school was renamed in his honor in 1913 as the Moses Brown School , and remains a leading preparatory school in the U.S. Spermaceti Spermaceti / s p ɜː m ə ˈ s iː t i / is a waxy substance found in the head cavities of the sperm whale (and, in smaller quantities, in the oils of other whales). Spermaceti is created in the spermaceti organ inside

629-771: The business was renamed Nicholas Brown & Co. The brothers were co-founders of the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations , later renamed Brown University after Nicholas's son . The family was active in the Baptist community of Providence and were descendants of Chad Brown (c. 1600 – 1650), a Baptist minister who co-founded Providence Plantations with Roger Williams . Brown married his cousin Anna Brown (daughter of his uncle Obadiah) in 1764. They had two surviving children: Sarah (1764–1794, married William Almy) and Obadiah (1771–1822), as well as

666-752: The carbon chains in the wax esters are relatively long ( C 10 −C 22 ). The blubber oil of the whale is about 66% wax. When it cools to 30 °C or below, the waxes begin to solidify. The speed of sound in spermaceti is 2,684 m/s (at 40 kHz, 36 °C), making it nearly twice as good a conductor of sounds as the oil in a dolphin's melon . Spermaceti is insoluble in water, very slightly soluble in cold ethanol , but easily dissolved in ether , chloroform , carbon disulfide , and boiling ethanol. Spermaceti consists principally of cetyl palmitate (the ester of cetyl alcohol and palmitic acid ), C 15 H 31 COOC 16 H 33 . Simple triglycerides are seen as well. A botanical alternative to spermaceti

703-399: The casks were allowed to chill during the winter, causing the spermaceti to congeal into a spongy and viscous mass. The congealed matter was then loaded into wool sacks and placed in a press to squeeze out the liquid. This liquid was bottled and sold as "winter-strained sperm oil". This was the most valuable product - an oil that remained liquid in freezing winter temperatures. Later, during

740-577: The children of his stepdaughter Sarah (Lockwood) Harris (1773–1832) and to the Society of Friends . His son Obadiah had married but left no children. Brown is buried in the Quaker section of the North Burial Ground at 5 Branch Avenue, Providence, RI. Moses broke with his brothers and refused to continue any involvement in the slave trade. He began a long crusade against slavery after becoming

777-475: The construction of the first building, which still serves as the main building of the school. Obadiah Brown also left $ 100,000 (equivalent to $ 1.99 million in 2023) in his will to the school, a sum unheard of at the time for a school endowment. In 1904, the school was renamed "Moses Brown School" to honor its benefactor and advocate. It offered an "upper" and "lower" school for younger boys. The Quakers were early advocates of women's education, and Moses Brown School

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814-412: The dressing of fabrics, and as a pharmaceutical excipient , especially in cerates and ointments . The whaling industry in the 17th and 18th centuries was developed to find, harvest, and refine the contents of the head of a sperm whale. The crews seeking spermaceti routinely left on three-year tours on several oceans. Cetaceous lamp oil was a commodity that created many maritime fortunes. Candlepower ,

851-723: The firm but remained a partner. Brown then moved on to a variety of new activities. He played a role in Rhode Island's ratification of the U.S. Constitution in 1790. He also became interested in agricultural experiments on his Providence farm, and helped found the Rhode Island Agricultural Society in 1800. He served on the first board of directors of the Providence Bank, and was treasurer of the Central Bridge Company. During

888-469: The ill-fated and notorious voyage of the slave ship Sally in 1764, in which at least 109 Africans died. Moses Brown's father died in 1739, and Moses was raised in the family of his uncle Obadiah Brown, who was primarily responsible for running the firm's spermaceti works. Obadiah died in 1762, and Moses served as executor of his estate. Shares in the farming and shipping business were divided among Moses and his brothers Nicholas , Joseph , and John , and

925-707: The new campus. Brown's wife Anna died in 1773. He gradually retired from the family business and began his involvement with of the Quakers . John Brown was arrested in the Gaspee affair which helped to trigger the American Revolutionary War . Moses and Joseph Brown delivered a proposal to the English in Boston that Rhode Island's preparations to resist royal authority would be stopped if John Brown

962-405: The sperm whale is capable of heating the spermaceti, lowering its density and thus allowing the whale to float; for the whale to sink again, it must take water into its blowhole, which cools the spermaceti into a denser solid. This claim has been called into question by recent research that indicates a lack of biological structures to support this heat exchange, and the fact that the change in density

999-688: The war ended. He unsuccessfully petitioned the General Assembly in 1783, wrote frequently in the local press, and helped distribute antislavery pamphlets throughout New England. He was instrumental in the 1787 passage of a law banning the participation of Rhode Islanders in the slave trade. In 1789, he helped found the Providence Society for Abolishing the Slave Trade with Quaker and non-Quaker associates to help enforce recently passed anti-slave trade legislation. He later helped pass

1036-404: The whale sensing the motion of its prey and its position. The changing distance to the prey affects the time interval between the returning clicks reflected by the prey. This would explain the low density and high compressibility of the spermaceti, which enhance the resonance by the contrast of the acoustic properties of the sea water and of the hard tissue surrounding the spermaceti. After killing

1073-470: The whale's head. This organ may contain as much as 1,900 litres (500 US gal) of spermaceti. It has been extracted by whalers since the 17th century for human use in cosmetics, textiles, and candles. Theories for the spermaceti organ's biological function suggest that it may control buoyancy , act as a focusing apparatus for the whale's sense of echolocation , or possibly both. Concrete evidence supports both theories. The buoyancy theory holds that

1110-469: The yellow fever epidemic of 1797, he was a strong advocate of sanitation practices. He later introduced smallpox vaccination to Rhode Island. Brown's second wife Mary died in 1798, and he married widow Phebe (Waterman) Lockwood in 1799. Phebe died in 1809, and Brown remained unmarried for the last 27 years of his life. Brown was a pacifist, and he was inspired by the War of 1812 to work on behalf of peace; he

1147-726: Was a founding member of the Rhode Island Historical Society , served as its chairman, and had most of his papers left there after his death. Brown was also elected a member of the American Antiquarian Society in 1815. Brown died from gastroenteritis in Providence on September 6, 1836. He left few family members, having outlived three wives, all three of his children, and three of his four stepchildren. At his death, his only descendants were his granddaughter Anna (Almy) Jenkins (1790–1849) and her children. He also left much of his estate to

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1184-548: Was a shortage of both students and teachers in the years following the American Revolutionary War , and the Yearly Meeting decided to close the school four years later. Brown worked to restart the school as treasurer of the school fund, and he was able to convince the Yearly Meeting to reopen it by donating the land in Providence for the school to be built on. It reopened in 1819 in Providence. Moses Brown joined with his son Obadiah and his son-in-law William Almy to pay for

1221-457: Was born in Providence in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations on September 23, 1738, the son of James Brown II and Hope Power Brown. He was the grandson of Baptist minister James Brown (1666–1732), and his father was a prosperous merchant. The family firm was active in distilling rum, owned an iron furnace, and took part in a wide variety of merchant activities including sponsoring

1258-510: Was co-educational. However, in 1926 it became a boys-only boarding school as was the fashion for college-prep schools in America at the time. It again became coed in 1976. Well-known faculty over the years included the twin Quaker educators Alfred and Albert Smiley in the mid-Nineteenth Century and children's author Scott Corbett in the 1960s. It transitioned to a private day school in the 1980s. Ninth and tenth grade students are offered limited flexibility in their courses, aiming to expose them to

1295-407: Was initially believed to be whale semen , due to its appearance when fresh. The substance is also the origin of the name of the sperm whale . Raw spermaceti is liquid within the head of the sperm whale, and is said to have a smell similar to raw milk. It is composed mostly of wax esters (chiefly cetyl palmitate ) and a smaller proportion of triglycerides . Unlike other toothed whales, most of

1332-570: Was instrumental in founding the Rhode Island Peace Society in 1818. He promoted the Quaker position that Quakers should resist war taxes. Brown played an important role in collecting documents relating to colonial Rhode Island, many of them inherited through his own family. He collected biographical information about his contemporary and fellow abolitionist who was known as the Public Universal Friend . He

1369-522: Was released. In 1779, Brown married his second wife Mary Olney, a fellow Quaker. They were married for 18 years and had no children. In 1788, Brown returned briefly to the business world, embarking on a textile venture in partnership with his cousin Smith Brown and his future son-in-law William Almy. Brown became interested in recent British attempts to use water power in their textile mills, and he hired English immigrant Samuel Slater to help build

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