James Brown (Louisiana politician)
U.S. Senator from Louisiana and Minister to France (1766-1835)
James Brown (September 11, 1766 – April 7, 1835) was an American lawyer, planter, diplomat and politician who served as a Secretary of State for the new state of Kentucky, and later as U.S. Senator from Louisiana, and Minister to France (1823–1829) before his retirement and death in Philadelphia.
Early and family life
Born near Staunton, Virginia, to John Brown and his wife, young James Brown had brothers John and Samuel Brown and sisters Mary and Elizabeth who either survived him or had children who survived him, unlike his brother Preston. His brother John Brown became the U.S. Senator from Kentucky and active in its gaining statehood. Well-connected among the southern elite, they were also cousins of John Breckinridge, James Breckinridge and Francis Preston.
James Brown attended Washington College (later Washington and Lee University) in Lexington, Virginia, and the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg. James Brown read law, was admitted to the Virginia bar, and commenced practice in Frankfort, Kentucky, then still part of Virginia.
He married Ann "Nancy" Hart, one of seven children of Revolutionary War veteran and successful businessman Col. Thomas Hart, who moved from North Carolina to Maryland and finally Lexington, Kentucky. Her sister Lucretia married Henry Clay, who became U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Her brother Nathaniel G. S. Hart died in the War of 1812.
“James Brown (Louisiana politician)” enters the record as u.S. Senator from Louisiana and Minister to France (1766-1835). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what James, Brown and Louisiana can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1592759. VIAF identifies the subject as 60607654. The Library of Congress control number is n87860819. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1766, 1835, 1823 and 1829.
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