William Montague BROWNE

July 7, 1827 (age 55)

Dublin, County Mayo, Ireland, United States

His wife. He attended Rugby Preparatory School, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Irish National University before seeing diplomatic service during the Crimean War. Browne was married but was childless. In 1853, he moved to New York, where he was political editor for the Journal of Commerce. In 1857, the Democrat Browne moved to Washington to edit the Constitution, a Buchanan organ. Four years later, he accompanied his intimate friend Howell Cobb to Athens, Georgia. While attending the Montgomery Confederate convention, he met and became a fast friend of Jefferson Davis. He volunteered for service in the Confederate Army, but Davis appointed him to his personal staff. As a member of Davis’s Department of Organization, he was a valuable aide. In the early months of 1862, he was also ad interim secretary of state. Although Browne participated in little actual fighting during the war, he was promoted to brigadier general in November 1864 and was sent to Savannah to serve under General Hugh Mercer during Sherman’s siege. However, the Confederate Senate refused to confirm his promotion. He surrendered in North Carolina in mid-1865 and he was subsequently paroled. After the war, Browne settled near Athens, where he failed as a planter but edited a paper called Farm and Home and authored a biography of Alexander Stephens during the 1860s. Through his connections with Howell Cobb, Browne obtained a professorship of law, history, and political economy at the University of Georgia, which he held from 1866 until his death in Athens on April 28, 1883.

William Montague BROWNE

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Background

BROWNE, William Montague was born on July 7, 1827 in Dublin, County Mayo, Ireland, United States. Son of the Right Honorable D. Geoffrey Browne, a member of Parliament.

Career

His wife. He attended Rugby Preparatory School, Trinity College, Dublin, and the Irish National University before seeing diplomatic service during the Crimean War. Browne was married but was childless. In 1853, he moved to New York, where he was political editor for the Journal of Commerce.

In 1857, the Democrat Browne moved to Washington to edit the Constitution, a Buchanan organ. Four years later, he accompanied his intimate friend Howell Cobb to Athens, Georgia. While attending the Montgomery Confederate convention, he met and became a fast friend of Jefferson Davis.

He volunteered for service in the Confederate Army, but Davis appointed him to his personal staff. As a member of Davis’s Department of Organization, he was a valuable aide. In the early months of 1862, he was also ad interim secretary of state.

Although Browne participated in little actual fighting during the war, he was promoted to brigadier general in November 1864 and was sent to Savannah to serve under General Hugh Mercer during Sherman’s siege. However, the Confederate Senate refused to confirm his promotion. He surrendered in North Carolina in mid-1865 and he was subsequently paroled.

After the war, Browne settled near Athens, where he failed as a planter but edited a paper called Farm and Home and authored a biography of Alexander Stephens during the 1860s. Through his connections with Howell Cobb, Browne obtained a professorship of law, history, and political economy at the University of Georgia, which he held from 1866 until his death in Athens on April 28, 1883.

Religion

"Peculiar institution" of slavery was not only expedient but also ordained by God and upheld in Holy Scripture.

Politics

Stands for preserving slavery, states' rights, and political liberty for whites. Every individual state is sovereign, even to the point of secession.

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William Montague BROWNE

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