Brown was born in Weaversville in East Allen Township, Pennsylvania, he attended the common schools and was apprenticed to the blacksmith trade.
At the beginning of the American Revolutionary War, he was commissioned first lieutenant in the Pennsylvania "Flying Camp".
On September 10, 1776, he was captured at the surrender of Fort Washington on November 16, 1776, and worked at the blacksmith trade while a prisoner.
Brown was a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate from 1783 to 1787, and was elected as a Democratic-Republican to the Fifth Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Samuel Sitgreaves.
In 1823, Brown died near the Weaversville section of present-day East Allen Township, Pennsylvania.