 Joseph Hodges Choate, who became a lawyer and diplomat, was ranked third.Joseph's brother, William Gardner Choate, who preceded Brown in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, was valedictorian; George Bethune Adams, Brown's successor on the bench, was also a member of the class of 1852.To restore his health after years dedicated to study, Brown spent the summer of 1852 working aboard a fishing boat, sailing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts to Prince Edward Island.