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Thomas H. B. Browne

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American politician For other people named Thomas Browne, see Thomas Browne (disambiguation).
Thomas Henry Bayly Browne
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 1st district
In office
March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1891
Preceded byThomas Croxton
Succeeded byWilliam A. Jones
Personal details
Born(1844-02-08)February 8, 1844
Drummondtown, Virginia, US
DiedAugust 27, 1892(1892-08-27) (aged 48)
Drummondtown, Virginia, US
Political partyRepublican
Alma materUniversity of Virginia School of Law
OccupationAttorney
Military service
AllegianceConfederate States of America
Branch/serviceConfederate States Army
Unit39th Virginia Infantry
Stuart Horse Artillery
Battles/warsAmerican Civil War

Thomas Henry Bayly Browne (February 8, 1844 – August 27, 1892) was a Virginia lawyer, Confederate veteran and two-term Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia's 1st congressional district (1887–1891).

Early and family life

Browne was born in Drummondtown (renamed Accomac shortly after his death) in Accomack County on Virginia's Eastern Shore. His father was Dr. Peter Fielding Browne (1813-1880), and his mother, Sally Cropper Bayly (1813-1857), was likewise from an established planter family. He had a sister who died as an infant and an elder brother Orris Applethwaite Browne (1842-1898). Educated by private tutors, Browne later attended Hanover Academy and Bloomfield Academy, both in Virginia. After the American Civil War discussed below, Browne studied law and graduated from the law department of the University of Virginia in 1867.

After the war, Browne married Anna Drummond Fletcher (1849-1926), and one of their daughters and two sons (including the future World War I artillery commander and Brigadier General Beverly Fielding Browne) survived to adulthood.

Confederate soldier

During the Civil War Browne dropped out of school to enlist as a private in Company F of 39th Virginia Infantry, where his widowed father served as surgeon (and would by 1864 run a division of Chimborazo Hospital in Richmond). Browne later fought with Chew's Battalion of Stuart Horse Artillery. He was with the Army of Northern Virginia when it surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. His elder brother Orris, after graduating from VMI in 1862, served on the CSS Shenandoah.

Career

Admitted to the Virginia bar in 1868, Browne and returned to his home town to practice law, and his elder brother also returned and advocated agricultural reforms as well as held a state job regulating the oyster industry. Accomack County voters elected Browne as Commonwealth attorney (prosecutor) in 1873, and re-elected him as well.

In 1886, voters in the surrounding 1st Congressional district narrowly elected Browne as a Republican to represent them in the 50th United States Congress. He defeated incumbent Thomas Croxton. Two years later Browne won re-election to the 51st Congress, but in 1890 Democrat William A. Jones defeated him.

Death

Browne returned to his law practice in Drummondtown, where he died a few months later.

Elections

  • 1886; Browne defeated the incumbent Democrat, Thomas Croxton, with 54.07% of the vote to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
  • 1888; Browne was re-elected with 50.71% of the vote, defeating Democrat Gilmer S. Kendall.
  • 1890; Browne lost his bid fore re-election, winning only 45.4% of the vote. Democrat William A. Jones won.

References

  1. "BROWNE, Thomas Henry Bayly, (1844–1892)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. United States Congress. (Retrieved March 16, 2020)
  2. Barnes, Brooks M.; Barnes, Brooks Miles; Truitt, Barry R. (April 1999). Seashore Chronicles: Three Centuries of the Virginia Barrier Islands. University of Virginia Press. ISBN 978-0-8139-1879-2.
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded byThomas Croxton Member of the U.S. House of Representatives
from Virginia's 1st congressional district
1887–1891 		Succeeded byWilliam A. Jones
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Virginia's 1st congressional district
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