Early life
Browning was born in Cynthiana, Kentucky on February 10, 1806, the son of Sally (Brown) Browning and Micaijah Browning. Sally Brown was the daughter of James Brown, a judge in Bourbon County, Kentucky, Bourbon County. 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. Orville Browning attended Augusta College (Kentucky), Augusta College in Augusta, Kentucky, studied law with his uncle William Brown (congressman), William Brown, and attained admission to the bar in 1831.Start of career
After becoming an attorney, Browning moved to Quincy, Illinois, where he established a practice in partnership with Nehemiah Bushnell. During the 1832 Black Hawk War he served in the Illinois Militia. Active in politics as a Whig Party (United States), Whig, he served in the Illinois State Senate from 1836 to 1840, and the Illinois House of Representatives from 1842 to 1844. His military and political careers overlapped Abraham Lincoln's; as a result of their involvement in Whig politics and their shared Kentucky backgrounds, Lincoln and Browning became lifelong friends. In 1844, Browning successfully defended five men who had been accused of the Death of Joseph Smith, murder of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. 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 (United States), Republican Party.National politics
In 1861, Browning was appointed to the United States Senate, filling the vacancy created by the death of Stephen A. Douglas. 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 United States Secretary of the Interior, Secretary of the Interior in 1866, and he served until the end of Johnson's term in 1869. From March to July, 1868 Browning also served as the interim United States Attorney General, U.S. Attorney General following the resignation of Henry Stanbery.Later life
After leaving office, he worked as a Washington lobbyist and lawyer in partnership with Edgar Cowan, Thomas Ewing and others. He won election as a democratic Party (United States), Democrat to the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1869-1870.Death and burial
Browning died on August 10, 1881 in Quincy and was buried at Woodland Cemetery (Quincy, Illinois), Woodland Cemetery there. The United States Post Office and Courthouse (Quincy, Illinois), 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. In 1836, Browning married Eliza H. Caldwell, a native of Kentucky. They had no children, but became the parents of a foster daughter whose mother had died. Emma Lord (1848-1885) resided with the Brownings from the age of five; she became the wife of Orrin Skinner, an attorney who practiced in New York (state), New York and later moved to Chicago. Skinner was later revealed to be a conman, and he was arrested several times for check forgery and other frauds. Skinner died in New York's Auburn Correctional Facility, Auburn Prison in 1896.References
Sources
Books
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Bibliography
*''Dictionary of American Biography''. * *External links
Retrieved on 2009-5-13