The Brown Fellowship Society was founded in
Charleston, South Carolina in 1790 with the motto “Charity and Benevolence”. It was founded by five free non-whites who attended St. Philip’s Episcopal Church: James Mitchell, George Bampfield, William Cattel, George Bedon, and Samuel Saltus. It was founded “to provide benefits which the white church denied them like a proper burial ground, widow and orphan care, and assistance in times of sickness”. The group’s cemetery was an important part of its function. Those who joined the club considered themselves “brown”,
mulattoes, an important distinction at the time when society in Charleston recognized three races: White, Mulatto, and Negro, including
octoroons and
quadroons. Unlike some mutual self-help organization in the African-American community, the Brown Society was not linked to any church, even banning discussion of religion. Many of the members of the Brown Fellowship Society had their own businesses and some were prosperous. In 1843, another group was formed by African American men in Charleston, the Humane Brotherhood, modeled after the Brown Fellowship Society, but less class conscious. "After the Civil War, the Brown Fellowship Society expanded to include more African Americans, including women and those of darker skin". The whole cemetery was paved over. The records of the society are held at the
Avery Research Center for African American History and Culture. == Brotherly Society ==