John Brown Francis (May 31, 1791 – August 9, 1864) was a governor and United States Senator from Rhode Island.

[1] He engaged in mercantile pursuits, attended the Litchfield Law School, and was admitted to the bar but never practiced.

[1] From 1841 to 1854, Francis was chancellor of Brown University; he was elected as a member of the Law and Order Party to the U.S. Senate to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of William Sprague and served from January 25, 1844, to March 3, 1845.

He was not a candidate for reelection; while in the Senate, he was chairman of the Committee on Engrossed Bills (Twenty-eighth Congress).

[1] Francis was a member of the Rhode Island Senate from 1845 to 1856, and then retired from public life and engaged in agricultural pursuits until his death at "Spring Green," Warwick, Rhode Island, in 1864; interment was in North Burial Ground, Providence.