1.  Marriage Record:

.  James Newell Arnold.  1891-1912.  Rhode Island Vital Extracts, 1636-1850.  21 vols.  Narragansett Historical Publ. Co., Providence, RI (online at Ancestry.com via NEHGS; color added):

Providence County
V. 3,  p. 34	1-48 BROWN Richard Bowen, of Allen and Huldah  April 13, 1797. 1-48   "   Oliver Hall, March 5, 1804.
V. 18, p. 301	PROVIDENCE PHENIX [newspaper] — DEATHS... BROWN, Oliver H., son of Allen, at Foster, in 23d year, March 11, 1826
V. 20, p. 619	DEATHS... BROWN, Oliver H., son of Allen, at Foster, aged 23 years, March 11, 1826

.  Rhode Island Births and Christenings, 1600-1914 (online at FamilySearch.org; color added):

Name	-	-	-	-	Richard Bowen Brown	Richard Bowen Brown	-	-
Gender	-	-	-	-	Male	Male	-	-
Birth Date	-	-	-	-	13 Apr 1797	13 Apr 1797	-	-
Birthplace	-	-	-	-	Foster, Providence, RI	Foster, Providence, RI	-	-
Father's Name	-	-	-	-	Allen Brown	Allen Brown	-	-
Mother's Name	-	-	-	-	Mahildah	Huldah	-	-
GS Film #	-	-	-	-	941054	22256	-	-

.  1840 U.S. Census Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #3-4 of 32 — list was roughly alphabetized; official enumeration began 1 Jun 1840; extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

1840

RI

Providence Co.

Foster

Roll 5050

pp. 2B-3A

Ln. 6

Brown Allen

000 000 101 - 000 000 001

0200000

These data indicate:

No. & Sex	Age Class	Therefore Born	Individuals Inferred
1 male	40-49	1790-1800	= ?
1 male	60-69	1770-1780	= Allen
1 female	60-69	1770-1780	= Mahala (b. 1773)
2	persons employed in agriculture

The male in his 40's can't be Richard; he's married with children and living in New York City.

.  1850 U.S. Census Every-Name-Index/Images (online at Ancestry.com, Image #116 of 260):  New York City (Ward 16, Dist. 2), New York Co., NY, Roll M432_553, p. 240B, 342/985, enumerated 9 Aug 1850, official enumeration date 1 Jun 1850 (extracted by Diana Gale Matthiesen):

Richard B Brown	54	M		Agent		Rhode Island
Caroline    "	45	F				Do
Charlotte   "	16	F				New York
Richard B   "	14	M				Do
Mary        "	10	F				Do
Teresa Cornican	17	F				Ireland
Mahalla Brown	77	F				Rhode Island

.  Anne Wright Brown.  1999.  New York Marble Cemetery Interments, 1830-1937, with Additional Biographical Information Gathered from Family Genealogies, Newspapers, and City Directories.  Rhinebeck, NY (online at Ancestry.com):

Name	-	-	Mahala Bowen Brown	-	-
Vault #	-	-	8	-	-
Burial Date	-	-	14 Feb 1851	-	-
Birth Year	-	-	B 1772	-	-

-

.  Adelos Gorton.  1907.  The Life and Times of Samuel Gorton, the Founders and the Founding of the Republic, a Section of the Early United States Hisory, and a History of the Colony of Providence and Rhode Island Plantations, in the Narraansett Indian Country, of the State of Rhode Island, 1592—1636—1677—1687, with a Genealogy of Samuel Gorton's Descendants to the Present Time.  G.S. Ferguson Co. Printers, Philadelphia, PA. 966 pp. (online at Ancestry.com; boldface and color added):

p. 211 Image #217	333. SARAH5 GORTON (William4 John3 John2 Samuel1), born Dec. 31, 1746, died March 10, 1835, married, January 4, 1770, Charles Benjamin Brown, born 1742, probably in Groton [New London Co.], Conn., died December 20, 1816, son of Benjamin and Deborah (Wheeler) Brown, grandson of Nathaniel, Jr., and Mary Brown, great-grandson of Nathaniel and Rhoda Brown...  Nathaniel's wife, Rhoda's, family name may have been Allen.  One of her sons,Allen Brown, married, May 19, 1796, in Coventry, R.I., Mahala6Brown (Elnathan5 Samuel4 Samuel3 John2 Samuel1 Gorton)...
p. 274 Image #280	855.  MAHALA6 BOWEN (Elnathan5 Samuel4 Samuel3 John2 Sam'l1), born February 16, 1773, married, May 19, 1796, Allen Brown, son of Nathaniel and Rhoda Brown, of Foster, R.I.  She died February 14, 1851; he died January 8, 1860; both in New York City.
	Mahala's maiden name was BOWEN, not BROWN, as shown in her own entry.  And how can our subject (b. ca. 1769) be the granduncle of a man born in 1742?
	If Gorton made errors as big as these, then his credibility is shot.  So... how hard do I work to support his claims for the identities of Benjamin's parents and grandparents?  Is the reason I've so far been unable to document them due to the fact that they don't exist?

.  David Rees Gorton.  Our Family Genealogy Pages (online at www.davidgorton.com/Genealogy/).

.  LDS.  Family Search:  Ancestral File (online at familysearch.org):  a file there gives Allen's parents as Nathaniel & Rhoda BROWN (both born 1739); he is their only child.