Simplify the following text for a Grade 6 native English-speaking person.
Original: He was a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence on behalf of the state of Rhode Island . He also served as the first chancellor of Brown ( at the time called the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ) from 1764 to 1785 .
Simplified: It was founded in 1764 and was originally called The College of Rhode Island .