Orestes Augustus Brownson (1803–1876) was a New England

New England

New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...

 intellectual

Intellectual

An intellectual is a person who uses intelligence and critical or analytical reasoning in either a professional or a personal capacity.- Terminology and endeavours :"Intellectual" can denote four types of persons:...

 and activist, preacher, labor organizer, and noted Catholic convert and writer. Brownson was a publicist

Publicist

A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...

, a career which spanned his affiliation with the New England Transcendentalists, through his subsequent conversion to Roman Catholicism.
Brownson was born on September 16, 1803 to Sylvester Augustus Brownson and Relief Metcalf, who were farmers in Stockbridge, Vermont

Stockbridge, Vermont

Stockbridge is a town in Windsor County, Vermont, United States. The population was 674 at the 2000 census.Stockbridge was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.-Geography:...

.