[1] The Browns acquired a water lot in the East River from Stanton to 3rd Street, including "Manhattan Island," in November 1807.

Under the general supervision of Henry Eckford, Noah Brown was placed in charge of construction on Lake Erie,[2] and from February 1813 he completed three gunboats, a despatch schooner, and the brigs Lawrence and Niagara.

From March 1814, they were based at Lake Champlain, where they built corvette Saratoga, nine gunboats, and converted the steamer Vicennes into the schooner Ticonderoga.

They then returned to New York to build Robert Fulton's steam battery Demologos and the torpedo-boat Mute, before working with Eckford on the construction of the ships New Orleans and Chippewa at Sacketts Harbor in early 1815.

[1][6] Following the end of the war Noah Brown served as assistant alderman in New York's Tenth Ward representing the Republican party.