Edward LeRoy Browne

Edward LeRoy Browne was born on a farm in Granville Township, Washington County, NY, not far from the Vermont line. He came with his parents to Wisconsin in 1845, by way of the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes. He attended Prof. Buck's Institute in Milwaukee for three years. He rented a room and boarded himself. He taught school in Menominee Falls, WI, and began studying law, borrowing books from a law firm. In 1851 he was admitted to the Bar. In November 1852, he went to Waupaca and decided to locate there. Mr. Dana Dewey wrote, "On the Fourth of July, 1853 the Hon. E. L. Browne delivered an excellent oration at the celebration."

When Mary Ann Parish accepted his proposal of marriage, they each wrote a letter to her parents in Vermont. His has been preserved. It read:

Jan. 8, 1856

Mr. and Mrs. J.K. Parish, Randolph VT.

It is with pleasure that I address you at this time upon a subject of great importance to me, and one upon which you, as the parents of Mary, have a right to be consulted.

It will be sufficient to say at this time, that your daughter Mary and I have become intimately acquainted, and are well convinced that there exists between us perfect congeniality of mind, taste and sentiment, and that our future happiness depends in a great degree upon the result of that acquaintance. Indeed we love each other in all the strength of mature affection, and look forward with hope and pride to the time when that love shall be proclaimed to the world upon the marriage altar. May we hope for and expect your approbation? I think I can appreciate the delicacy of your position, and the responsibility resting upon you, in making a decision. Your own, the happiness of your daughter, and mine, are involved in the issue.

To you I am a stranger. You know not that I am worthy to be the repositoryof your daughter's happiness. The hopes of parents are bound up in their children - their love, and almost their very existence are centered in them. It mjust be doubly so in your case, as Mary is kind-hearted, gentle and affectionate, and in every respect worthy to be the recipient of the rich treasures of a parent's heart. Parental affection is an object of deep reverence to me; it is the purest and holiest of the human heart. I would sooner desecrate any other shrine, than that on which this affection is lodged; or lay unholy hands on any object sooner than that around which it twines.

Any yet, I have presumed to ask, that your daughter's hopes and happiness on earth, be confided to my keeping, - that I may be her protector, to shield and guard her from the storms of life, her comforter to sooth away her sorrow, and endeavor to turn her griefs into joys. Indeed, to love her in your place; when she shall have felt your loss.

The boon I crave, is the greatest you can give. It should be asked modestly, and I admit granted with caution. Yet, rest assured, no effort shall be wanting on my part to lessen her ills of life, and to render her lot as happy as falls to mortals. In doing this, I shall feel that I discharge a sacred duty I owe you, to her, and to myself.

Hoping to hear from you as soon as your convenience dictates, I remain, Your obedient servant,

E. L. Browne" _____

THE BIOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION BELOW IS A SLIGHTLY ALTERED TRNSCRIPTION FOUND IN THE BROWN/BROWNE FAMILY BY CYNTHIA INGALLS BROWN; p.23-24. This excellant genealogy is available at ancestry.com.

Attended district schools in his native NY. After coming to WI in 1845 with his parents and younger siblings, he attended Professor Buck's Institute in Milwaukee for three years, renting a room in the city and boarding himself.. Later he taught school at Menomiee Falls, WI and began studying Law, borrowing law books from the firm of Finch & Lynde, of Milwaukee. In 1850 he continued his study of law in the offices of Graham & David, attorneys at Fon du Lac, WI and was addmitted to the bar in 1851.

In September, 1854 he located at Waupaca, WI, where he began the practice of law. The county of Wapaca was not organized at that time and Circuit Cort was held at Oshkosh to which place his business frequently called him. Roads were poor and no regular stage was available so he frequently walked to Oshkosh and Fon du Lac and sometimes to Milwaukee.

In later years he related one of the incidents that befell him on one of these walking trips while on the circuit. "Night was coming on," he said, "and as I was a good distance from my destination or any habitation I was forced to spend the night in the woods. I slept in a tree with the Wolves howling all around." He often told of how he had walked thirty-two miles to represent his first case at court in Berlin, WI. He won the case and was paid $32.00. "after that ," he said, "I was never without money."

Edward L. Brown appeared in many cases before the Supreme Court of Wisconsin for a period of nearly seventy years. In the United State Biographical Dictionary of Wisconsin appears the following from a contemporary attorney as to Mr. Browne's reputation as a lawyer: "He is a close logical reasoner; has a sound. discriminating judgement on legal points, and as an advocate is always strong with a jury. His style of address is very earnest, his appeals are often eloquent; while his clear candid statements of facts, and his deductions from them are always convincing, as his almost invariable success in jury trials will attest."

Mr. Brown was a Republican in politics and represented WI in the State Senate in 1861-62 and also in 1867-68. He was a member of important committees in that body and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 1862 he recieved the Republican nomination for Congress in the 5th District at a convention held in the city of Oshkosh, WI. He was defeated by only a few hundred votes. He was a delegate to every Republican state convention for over thirty-five years, and also a delegate to the several national conventions and served as presidential elector for his party. He was always in demand as a campaign speaker and although not a candidate for office, spoke under the auspices of the State and National Committees in every Presidential campaign beginning with the Fremont campaign od 1856, when the Republican party was started until just a few years before his death.

Mr. Browne was highly ranked as a lawyer and always enjoyed a large law practice. His name is associated with much important litigation in Northern, WI. The law office building, which Edward L. Browne built in Waupaca in 1853, and used through the long years of his career was still standing in 1925. He went to his office every day right up untill a week or two from his death. His son Edward E. and grandson Thomas A. Browne, also used this office building as they practiced law.

Edward had been frail as a lad, and his older brothers, in a teasing manner called him puny and advised him to move away from the damp climate of Milwaukee. Eventually he took their advise and moved to Waupaca, WI, where the climate was much drier and the winters longer and colder. He outlived all of his brother and reached the age of 95 years!