Joseph Browne (1758-1810), a British-born physician, served as a member of the Pennsylvania line during the Revolutionary War. In 1782 he married Catherine de Visme at The Hermitage near Paramus, New Jersey. At the same ceremony Aaron Burr married de Visme’s half-sister, Theodosia Prevost. The two men were linked politically thereafter. In 1798 Browne proposed a system by which drinking water for New York City would be drawn from the Bronx River, a plan that he and Burr advocated together, which led to the establishment of the Manhattan Company. In 1804, Browne campaigned for Burr’s election as governor of New York. Once established in St. Louis as territorial secretary, Browne served as acting governor of the Louisiana Territory during James Wilkinson’s absence, during which time he made efforts to distance himself from the rumors of his brother-in-law’s potentially questionable activities. He was replaced by Frederick Bates in April 1807 (Mary-Jo Kline, ed., Political Correspondence and Public Papers of Aaron Burr, 2 vols. [Princeton, 1983], 1:lxvi, 400; 2:835; Terr. Papers description begins Clarence E. Carter and John Porter Bloom, eds., The Territorial Papers of the United States, Washington, D.C., 1934-75, 28 vols. description ends , 14:3, 98-101, 117).