Small Corrections to the Thomas N. Browning family!

I am currently out of pocket taking care of my mother, who's recovering from spinal surgery. I haven't had much time to spare to dedicate to genealogy (especially since I've no access to any of my databases and paperwork) but I did manage to find enough down time to locate a few obituaries via the Google News Archive Search.

If you've never used it, head on over there and try it out! There are a lot of newspapers and date ranges to pick from and I was lucky enough to find most issues of the weekly Robinson Constitution (Crawford Co., IL) available from 1877-1919. This newspaper has given me a number of obituaries and brief Browning mentions and I wanted to share a few of these. I've found I needed to do a few small corrections for the Thomas Newton Browning family I mentioned in my last post.

In the 27 December 1899 edition I found the obituary of Thomas Clifford Browning. I was reading through it and was surprised and chagrined to see that Cliff hadn't died where I always believed he had! The obituary stated he had "lung trouble" and had moved to San Antonio, TX to see if the climate would be of benefit to him. Obviously it didn't. His remains were shipped from San Antonio to the Crown Hill cemetery in Indianapolis for the burial on 24 December 1899. I got excited and boogied on over to FamilySearch's Texas Deaths 1890-1976 database hoping to find Cliff's death certificate but I wasn't able to locate it. Bleh!

In my original chronological post I'd mentioned that Cliff died in Indianapolis, IN. That was a guesstimate on my part and I willingly stand up and offer my back for the prerequisite 40 whacks! (In my defense, Cliff had been shown in an 1899 Indianapolis city directory and he'd been buried in Crown Hill in the city, so generally.....well, you know the rest.) Lesson definitely learned.

I also found his sister Leola (Browning) Paramore's obituary in the 17 October 1900 edition. She, too, died of lung trouble....consumption, or tuberculosis as it's called today. She died on 10 October 1900 in Indianapolis (this time the obituary and my records agree!) and was buried in the Crown Hill cemetery in Indianapolis on the 11th.

Add these two to the first of the Browning deaths out of infancy -- Iona Lee, in 1896. Iona's obituary states she died at age 19 after an extended illness...consumption.

I was glad to find these two obituaries but disturbed to notice the trend of deaths in Thomas and Sarah Ann (Huls) Browning's family. Of their seven children (Effy May, Ralph Hansen, Leola, Iona Lee, Thomas Clifford, Roscoe, and Alta Mearl) three of them died of lung troubles. Effy May and Roscoe died as infants. Only Ralph and Alta lived long enough to have children of their own and of those, only Ralph actually did.

The Browning Series Part 1c(2), or Thomas N. Browning's Move To CA

(For other posts on Thomas and Sarah Ann (Huls) Browning, look at my sidebar. They're listed in the Browning Series, Part 1c!)

I've often wondered why Thomas and Sarah went on to move to CA from Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN, in the early years of the 1900's when both of them were in their 60's. My hypothesis has been for some time that it was primarily to follow their son Ralph and his family. But why Ralph? A chronology of the events of their lives in the years between 1893 and 1917 can explain why by giving a much better picture than a few words do. It's all pretty tragic really.

11 Apr 1893 - Thomas and Sarah are living in Robinson, Crawford Co IL -- Sarah's mother Amanda Martha (O'Kennedy/O'Kenneday) Huls dies in their home.

Fall 1894 -- Thomas and Sarah attend the GAR annual meeting in Oblong, Crawford Co., IL, and witness what I will call "The Eaton Affair." (For more about this affair, please scroll down to the end of the entry!)

Spring 1895 -- Thomas is embroiled in the aftermath of the Eaton Affair's trial and his reputation in the GAR is shaky.

9 Nov 1896 -- Thomas and Sarah's daughter Iona Lee dies of tuberculosis in Robinson and is buried in the Robinson Old Cemetery there.

1897 -- Thomas and Sarah's son Thomas Clifford resides at 82 E. Vermont St., Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN. His occupation is listed as "bookkeeper Govt B and L Institute."

Dec 1897 -- Thomas and Sarah's daughter Leola marries Herschel Paramore in Marion Co., IN.

1899 -- Thomas and Sarah living at 444 1/2 Massachusetts Ave., Marion Co., IL. Daughter Alta Mearl and sons Thomas Clifford and Ralph Herbert are living with them. Ralph was a clerk for Parry Mfg Co. and Clifford was a messenger for the Governor of State. Thomas N. was an insurance agent and an Adjutant of Encampment #80 of the Union Veteran Legion. (The Union Veteran Legion was an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War founded in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1884. Its membership was open only to those who had served in the Union forces for at least two years and those who had been wounded.)

Dec 1899 -- Thomas and Sarah's son Thomas Clifford dies in San Antonio, Bexar Co., TX (where he had moved a couple months previously for his health) of tuberculosis and is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery.

27 Jun 1900 -- Thomas and Sarah's son Ralph H. marries Josephine Schwartz in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN.

10 Oct 1900 -- Thomas and Sarah's daughter Leola dies of tuberculosis in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN and is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery.

1901 -- Thomas (an insurance agent) and Sarah reside at 317 Magnolia bldg in Indianapolis. Son Ralph H., a clerk, resides at 2047 Alvord St.

17 Apr 1901 -- Thomas and Sarah's first grandchild, Russell N. Browning, is born in Marion Co., IN.

8 Dec 1901 -- Thomas and Sarah's daughter-in-law Josephine dies in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN, and is buried in the Crown Hill Cemetery there.

1902 -- Thomas (an insurance agent) and Sarah reside at 222 Eden Pl. in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN. Ralph, a clerk, lives at 2047 Alvord St.

1904 -- Thomas (an insurance agent) and Sarah reside at 38 Eastern Ave., Indianapolis. Son Ralph, a travel agent for Parry Mnfg Co., also resides at the same address.

1906 -- Thomas (an elevator operator) and Sarah reside at 234 E. St Joseph., Indianapolis. Son Ralph H., a clerk, resides at the same address.

1 April 1906 -- Thomas and Sarah's son Ralph H. marries Lida C. King (or perhaps CARTER) in Marion Co., IN. (Lida was 28 at the time of this marriage. One of the surnames us her maiden name, the other a possible first marriage.)

1908 -- Thomas N. Browning (and daughter Mearl Browning) shown as registered Republican voters in San Diego Co., CA. Both show residence at 3437 A Street.

Apr 1910 -- Thomas and Sarah live on 3340 Wilcox St in Indianapolis, Marion Co., IN.

23 Apr 1910 -- Ralph, wife Lida and son Russell reside at 1356 6th St. in San Diego Co., CA, where Ralph is an agent in the US Forestry Bureau. (http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Publications/first_century/sec2.htm)

12 Apr 1912 -- Sarah Ann (Huls) Browning dies and is buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego, San Diego Co., CA.

c1916 -- Thomas, now a widower, and his daughter Alta Mearl move to 4125 Stockton Ave. in San Diego, CA.

13 Jan 1917 -- Thomas Newton Browning dies and is buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego, San Diego Co., CA.

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To summarize:

In 1896 Thomas and Sarah lost one daughter. They then moved from Robinson, Crawford Co., IL to Marion Co., IN between the years 1897-1899. In 1899 they lost one son, in 1900 they lost another daughter and in 1901, a daughter-in-law. Of their seven children, two died as infants and another three before the age of 30. By 1901 only two of their children were still alive. Of these two, their only surviving son (and father of their only grandchild at the time) decided to move to CA. Is it any surprise that they followed him?

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And now the "Eaton Affair":

In the course of my correspondence with Sharon (Bailey) Brown (T.N. Browning's g-g-granddaughter) I have come across a typed copy of a speech that Thomas Newton Browning wrote and gave to the officers and members of Henry Longenecker Post 171 of the G.A.R. at a regular meeting of the order on or about 27 May 1895. (As an aside, Thomas assisted with the formation of Oblong in April 1883; he was one of the JP's assigned by County Judge Jacob C. Olwin to canvas the returns of the vote to form the village of Oblong.) At the time of this 1895 speech Thomas was noted as the Commander of the post.

The speech is in response to an event that occurred at the annual reunion of the Crawford County Veteran Association in Oblong in the fall of 1894. Thomas and his wife Sarah Ann (Huls) Browning were witnesses to the event and had apparently testified to the same during a trial. The members of his order were very against him and the speech was in his defense about his version of the event that he had testified to at trial.

Culled from the speech, this is what is known:

A fight occurred between three old soldier police and another man by the name of Dave Eaton. The result of this altercation was that one of the old soldiers was killed (last name McDonald) and another slightly wounded (perhaps by the last name of Mock?), both shot by Eaton. Eaton had first been attacked by clubs before attempting to shoot.

The Browning Series Part 1c , or Thomas Newton Browning, the Jack Of All Trades

Thomas Newton Browning, the third son of James Browning and Jane Nevitt (see this post for a further introduction to his parents) was born on 25 Oct 1844 in Harrison County, Ohio. He came to Crawford County, Illinois with his family in 1849 and settled near Bristol Landing, about two miles southeast of Palestine. His father died when Thomas was seven years old, leaving his mother to care for her brood of six (Elias, Joseph, Thomas, Sarah, Mary Jane and Margaret) by herself.

As a result, Thomas never had much schooling. He must've started working as soon as he could lift a hand to help his older brothers Elias and Joseph. No doubt this helped turn him into the man he became. By all accounts Thomas was never the sort to settle for any one thing over any length of time. Throughout his life he was a jack of all trades and seemed to have many irons in the fire. I wonder sometimes if the experiences he had growing up was one of the two major experiences in his life -- his Civil War service being the other -- that taught him not to place all his eggs in one basket, so to speak.

In 1860 he was working as a farm hand. In December of 1861, at the age of 17, Thomas enlisted in the Union Army. According to one account (W. H. Perrin's History Of Crawford and Clark Counties, IL, 1883, pg. 228) he was too young to enlist as a common soldier so he signed up as a drummer boy in Company F of the 62^nd IL and was placed on the staff of musicians until the official band was organized. He mustered in on April 1862 in Jonesboro, Illinois. I don't have his entire service file (as of yet -- another to-do for me!) but all the other sources I have only list him as a private with no mention of any musical service. A picture of him taken during the war is to the right.

On 19 December 1862 Thomas was was one of a detachment of soldiers from the 62^nd camped in the garrison at Holly Springs, Mississippi. He'd been there since the first week of December; his regiment had been attached to the 1st Brigade of the district of Jackson, Tennessee's 16th Army Corps. Holly Springs was a cushy post back then -- it housed Mrs. Ulysses S. Grant and her son and was one of the Union's major route of munitions and supplies for their armies. That bitterly cold night the residents of the town threw a huge Christmas Ball and invited the soldiers. Thomas had just turned 18 and was away from home and the whiskey was flowing -- did he get himself drunk like so many other soldiers did? Maybe he did. Maybe they stayed up late drinking and dancing and went to bed secure in the knowledge that they could sleep late the next morning. He was probably doing just that when a band of Confederates commanded by Major General Earl 'Buck' Van Dorn moved in and captured the town.

I can imagine the fright of being knocked awake by the sound of gunfire. Swords clattering, yelling, and screaming horses and men. Struggling to pull on your boots and find your weapons in a place where you assumed you'd be safe. Maybe half bleary with the drink that hadn't worn off from the night before. The capture of the soldiers at Holly Springs went almost without a fight, it's said, and it's also said that over 1500 Union men signed paroles that day. Thomas was one of them. (To be paroled meant a prisoner of war promised to refrain from trying to escape or to take up arms against his captors.) I imagine he was frightened of what might happen to him if he didn't. Thomas was sent back to Benton Barracks in Missouri and arrived there on 10 January 1863, where he was exchanged. He continued to serve, re-enlisting as a veteran on 28 December 1863. On 30 Mar 1864 he was transferred to the new Consolidated 62^nd and was finally mustered out for good at Little Rock on 6 March 1866.

After the war he returned to Crawford County and married Sarah Ann Huls on 26 Sep 1866. Sarah was the daughter of Joseph Hansen Huls and Amanda Martha O'Kennedy. Thomas was the first of the children of James Browning and Jane Nevitt to marry into the family of Joseph and Amanda Huls -- Thomas's sisters Mary Jane (who married Amos K. Huls a few months later) and Margaret Ann (who married Charles Francis Huls in 1869) would soon follow suit.

Thomas and Sarah (seen below about 1870 or so?) settled five miles northwest of Robinson and thus began his interesting life as a jack of all trades. Thomas tried his hand at farming but the life didn't suit him so in March of 1868 Sarah's older brother Andrew Huls took Thomas on as a co-proprietor of his clothing, boot and shoe business. Perhaps he did so because Sarah was pregnant with the couple's first child, Effy May. Thomas and Andrew called the venture Huls & Browning's Clothing, Boots and Shoes. The venture began drying up soon; perhaps one of the causes was that Thomas found his heart went out of the effort when Effy died at 12 days old in May. By August the partners were attempting to sell their remaining stock. Their partnership lasted until October, when Thomas offered his peddling wagon up for sale. Thomas and Sarah went off to Terre Haute in Vigo County, Indiana, and lived there for four years while he worked at the Terre Haute Iron And Nail Works. Their son Clifford was probably born there in 1871.

By 1874 the family was back in Crawford County, where Thomas was moving up in the world -- he was elected a Justice of the Peace that year. By 1883 he'd begun to sell insurance, representing Home, Phoenix, German-American of New York, Royal, and German of Freeport and Peoria. By 1888 he was an attorney and he and Sarah had four more children, Leola, Iona, Ralph and Alta Mearl. By 1889 he'd added hotelier to his repertoire by purchasing the stock of a local hotel called the Cottage Hotel and taking charge of it.

By 1897 Thomas and Sarah and the children were back in Indiana, settling in Indianapolis. Perhaps they left Crawford County after the sad occasion of their daughter Iona's passing from pulmonary disease in 1896. He was a real estate agent at that time. Another daughter, Leola, died in 1900. Ten years later, in 1910, Thomas was in his 60's and nearing retirement. He had chosen to work as a railroad conductor.

One would think at this stage of the game Thomas and Sarah would have settled into a stationary life. Not so. Sometime between 1910-1912 Thomas and Sarah decided to move to San Diego, California. Their son Ralph was already there by 1910 so I suppose they went to join him. Their daughter Alta Mearl went along. Sarah died in 1912 and Alta Mearl lived with her father until his death in January of 1917.

Sarah and Thomas are buried in the Mount Hope Cemetery in San Diego, as is their daughter Alta Mearl (who married Hugh Richard Kelzer and died in 1962.) I've been told they don't have stones but plaques. I sure would like to get a photo of all of them, if there are some to take.

Thomas Newton's life must have been full to the brim with new experiences. Living through the war, being a prisoner, and then coming back to make much of himself even though he'd had a rough beginning. One little fact about his life makes me curious, though; in 1868 he joined the Sons of Temperance. Perhaps he swore off the life of liquor because of what happened at Holly Springs? I like to think he did.