| 1766 September 11 |
Born near Staunton, Virginia. son of John and Margaret Preston Brown. Educated at the academy that later becomes Washington and Lee University. Graduates from the College of William and Mary |
| 1789 |
Commands a company of men in the Indian wars |
| 1789-1804 |
Practices law in Frankfort and Lexington Kentucky. |
| 1791 |
Marries the sister of the wife of Henry Clay, a Miss Hart ca. 1791 |
| 1792 |
Secretary to the Governor of Kentucky. |
| 1804-1823 |
Law practice inNew Orleans |
| 1804 October 1 |
Named Secretary of the Territory of Orleans. and District Attorney for New Orleans. |
| 1808 |
Prepares Civil Code for Orleans Territory in English and French with Moreau-Lislet. Entitled A Digest of the Civil Laws Now in Force in the Territory of Orleans this text remains the fundamental laws until the Livingston Code of 1825. |
| 1811-12 |
Member of the first Constitutional Convention. |
| 1813-1817 |
Serves in the U. S. Senate |
| 1816 |
Defeated for U. S. Senate by William C. C. Claiborne |
| 1819-1823 |
Returns to the U. S. Senate. |
| 1823 September 9 |
Appointed Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plentipotentiary to France, serving until June 28, 1829. |
| 1835 April 7 |
Dies of Apoplexy in Philadelphia |