Orville Hickman Browning

Template:Use mdy dates Orville Hickman Browning (February 10, 1806 – August 10, 1881) was an attorney in Illinois and a politician who was active in the Whig and Republican Parties. He served as a U.S. Senator and the 9th United States Secretary of the Interior.

Born in Kentucky, and trained as a lawyer, Browning settled in Illinois, where he served in the militia during the Black Hawk War, established himself as a successful attorney, and became involved in politics as a Whig. He served in the Illinois State Senate and the Illinois House of Representatives, and ran unsuccessfully for the United States House of Representatives. When the Whig Party broke apart in the mid-1850s and the Republican Party was formed as the country's major anti-slavery party, Browning took part in the convention that organized the party in Illinois.

In 1861, Browning was appointed to the United States Senate seat left vacant by the death of Stephen A. Douglas; he served until January 1863, after which he resumed practicing law. After the death of Abraham Lincoln, Browning became a supporter of Andrew Johnson; in 1866, Johnson named Browning as U.S. Secretary of the Interior, and Browning served until the end of Johnson's term in March 1869.

After leaving office, Browning practiced law in Washington, DC and Illinois. He was elected as a Democratic candidate for a delegate's position at the 1869-1870 Illinois constitutional convention. He died in Illinois in 1881.

Early life

Browning was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky on February 10, 1806,Template:Sfn the son of Sally (Brown) Browning and Micaijah Browning.Template:Sfn Sally Brown was the daughter of James Brown, a judge in Bourbon County.Template:Sfn Micaijah Browning was a prominent merchant and farmer who also served as a justice of the peace, member of the county court, and presiding county court judge.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn Orville Browning attended Augusta College in Augusta, Kentucky,Template:Sfn studied law with his uncle William Brown,Template:Sfn and attained admission to the bar in 1831.Template:Sfn

Start of career

After becoming an attorney, Browning moved to Quincy, Illinois,Template:Sfn where he established a practice in partnership with Nehemiah Bushnell.Template:Sfn During the 1832 Black Hawk War he served in the Illinois Militia.Template:Sfn Active in politics as a Whig,Template:Sfn he served in the Illinois State Senate from 1836 to 1840,Template:Sfn and the Illinois House of Representatives from 1842 to 1844.Template:Sfn His military and political careers overlapped Abraham Lincoln's;Template:Sfn as a result of their involvement in Whig politics and their shared Kentucky backgrounds, Lincoln and Browning became lifelong friends.Template:Sfn

In 1844, Browning successfully defended five men who had been accused of the murder of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.Template:Sfn Browning was an unsuccessful candidate for election to Congress in 1843, 1850, and 1852. In May 1856, he was a delegate to the convention in Bloomington, Illinois which was held in opposition to the Kansas–Nebraska Act, one of the events that led to the creation of the Republican Party.Template:Sfn

National politics

In 1861, Browning was appointed to the United States Senate, filling the vacancy created by the death of Stephen A. Douglas.Template:Sfn He did not run for a full term, and served from June 1861 to January 1863. During his time in the Senate Browning served as the chairman of the Committee on Enrolled Bills. He remained in Washington after his term expired, and resumed the practice of law. President Andrew Johnson appointed Browning as Secretary of the Interior in 1866, and he served until the end of Johnson's term in 1869.Template:Sfn From March to July, 1868 Browning also served as the interim U.S. Attorney General following the resignation of Henry Stanbery.Template:Sfn

Later life

After leaving office, he worked as a Washington lobbyist and lawyerTemplate:Sfn in partnership with Edgar Cowan, Thomas Ewing and others.Template:Sfn He won election as a Democrat to the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1869–1870.Template:Sfn

Death and burial

Browning died on August 10, 1881Template:Sfn in Quincy and was buried at Woodland Cemetery there.Template:Sfn The Quincy Post Office and Courthouse is named for him.

Family

Browning's siblings included: Talitha Ann; Amanda; Miranda; Marcus Elliott; Milton Davis; Zelinda Field; Ann Davis; and Elizabeth Brown.Template:Sfn

In 1836, Browning married Eliza H. Caldwell, a native of Kentucky.Template:Sfn They had no children, but became the parents of a foster daughter whose mother had died.Template:Sfn Emma Lord (1848–1885) resided with the Brownings from the age of five;Template:Sfn she became the wife of Orrin Skinner,Template:Sfn an attorney who practiced in New York and later moved to Chicago.Template:Sfn Skinner was later revealed to be a conman, and he was arrested several times for check forgery and other frauds.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Skinner died in New York's Auburn Prison in 1896.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

• Dictionary of American Biography.

External links

Template:CongBio Retrieved on 2009-5-13

• Orville Browning at Mr. Lincoln's White House