Solomon Drowne

Dr. Solomon Drowne (March 11, 1753 – February 5, 1834) was a prominent American physician, academic and surgeon during the American Revolution and in the history of the fledgling United States.

Early Life
Drowne was born in Providence, Rhode Island in 1753. His father (also named Solomon, as was his father) was a merchant and was heavily involved in the civic affairs of the town. His great-uncle Shem Drowne made the famous grasshopper weather vane atop of Faneuil Hall in Boston. In 1772, Drowne witnessed the burning of a British ship in an event known as the Gaspée Affair. The following year, he graduated from Rhode Island College (now Brown University) and received medical degrees from Dartmouth College and the College of Philadelphia (now the University of Pennsylvania).

American Revolutionary War
From 1776 to 1780, during the Revolutionary War, Drowne served as a surgeon in different hospitals and with different regiments throughout the Continental Army. On July 3, 1776, he narrowly escaped being captured by the British while gathering medical supplies in New York City.

While stationed and treating soldiers at Rhode Island, he gained the favor of Marquis de Lafayette, the Comte de Rochambeau, the Comte d'Estaing and other French military officers supporting the American cause. In autumn 1780, he became surgeon on board the privateer sloop Hope owned by Joseph Nightingale and John Innis Clarke, keeping a diary that was later published. Drowne was discharged from the First Rhode Island Regiment on June 15, 1783, receiving a Badge of Merit for six years' faithful service.

After the war
In 1783, Drowne was elected to the Brown University (then still known as Rhode Island College) board of fellows. He traveled to Europe, touring various medical facilities and schools and meeting Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson in Paris. Returning home, he practiced medicine in Providence, Rhode Island until 1788, when he settled in Marietta, Ohio with other war veterans.

As his health declined, Drowne moved from Marietta to Morgantown, Virginia (now West Virginia), Union, Pennsylvania and back to Rhode Island in 1801.

Later life
In 1811, Drowne was appointed Professor of Botany and Materia Medica at Rhode Island College. He laid out the college's first botanical garden, became one of the original members of the Rhode Island Medical Society and American Academy of Arts and Sciences; and one of the founders of the Rhode Island Society for the Encouragement of Domestic Industry. With his son William Drowne, he co-wrote The Farmer's Guide, a thorough guide on husbandry and gardening, in 1824.

He became a close friend of U.S. Senator Theodore Foster, whom he had met at college. After Drowne moved back to Rhode Island, their families lived together on a farm in Foster.

Drowne's papers are now a part of Brown University's collection.