Background
Browne was born into slavery as Ben Browne in Habersham County, Georgia on October 20, 1849 to Joseph Browne and Mariah Browne, both of whom were slaves.
Browne was born into slavery as Ben Browne in Habersham County, Georgia on October 20, 1849 to Joseph Browne and Mariah Browne, both of whom were slaves.
After discharge Browne attended school in Wisconsin and began a teaching position in the South, during which time he met and married his wife Mary A. Graham.
Browne was also a minister and a teacher. The started as a temperance organization and in 1876 Browne was invited to spearhead a new branch of the movement in Richmond, Virginia. When interest in the organization began to decrease Browne began shifting the organization from a temperance society to an insurance organization, a movement that required Browne to move to Richmond in 1880.
Over time the organization grew in size to where it managed a bank, ran a newspaper entitled the Reformer, owned several properties, and at one point in time was the largest black fraternal society and black-owned business in the United States.
During Browne"s life the organization enjoyed success, however it suffered crippling setbacks in 1910 due to employee embezzlement and businesses defaulting on large unsecured loans, causing its collapse.
