William Brown was a soldier for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Stamford and enlisted in the 5th Connecticut Regiment as a corporal on May 23 1775, and re-enlisted as a private on April 9 1777, for the duration of the war in the 8th Connecticut Regiment. He was promoted to corporal on May 8 1779, and to sergeant on August 1 1780, transferring with the consolidation of units to the 5th Connecticut Regiment on January 1 1781, and to the 2nd Connecticut Regiment on January 1 1783.
William Brown (birth name unknown) was reputed to be a Black woman who joined the Royal Navy disguised as a man. The story goes that she was born in Edinburgh, joined in 1804 and served until 1816, even after her birth-sex was discovered in 1815.
William Brown was a Scottish clergyman; born 1766; died 1835; for forty-three years minister of Eskdalemuir, Scotland. He is the author of Antiquities of the Jews Carefully Compiled from Authentic Sources, and Their Customs Illustrated from Modern Travels, in two volumes, with a map showing the ground-plan of the Temple (London, 1820; 2d edition, Edinburgh, 1826). The work is compiled mostly from Latin, French, and English sources, such as Arias Montanus' Aaron, Calmet's dictionary, Goodwin's Moses and Aaron, Owen's Exercitation on the Hebrews, Buxtorf's De Synagoga Judaica, and Basnage's history.