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247:(where Andrew Johnson and William A. Browning had rooms) that read, "Don't wish to disturb you Are you at home? J. Wilkes Booth" Browning later testified about finding the note and that Vice President Johnson was home that day at 5 p.m. and stayed in the rest of the evening. The note has fueled decades of debate as to whether Booth meant to slay Johnson himself, whether Booth and Johnson were co-conspirators, or if the note was actually meant for Browning "since one of Browning's brothers was said to be seen drinking with Booth the day of the assassination." Booth and Browning had apparently had past dealings regarding the end of the war, and Booth reportedly felt betrayed by Browning's conduct.
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now carried off young
Johnson did its fatal work with him more speedily...Mr. Browning was married when quite young to a beautiful girl who lived but a short time after her marriage. He never seemed to recover in any degree from the shock of her death. On the contrary the pain of the separation seemed constantly to deepen and grow more poignant in his heart. The last time we met him was in Washington only a short time before his death. In the course of a brief conversation he said...'my heart is buried in my wife's grave and I want to die.' Soon afterwards he shut himself up in a room and deliberately drank
176:. However, Browning died in Washington, D.C., in March 1866 "after several weeks' sickness." He never left the United States or took up the position. The cause of death was said to be, variously, an "inflammation of the bowels" or "a severe attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which resulted in paralysis." His health had declined over a period of two months and then taken a turn for the worse when he was in New York. He apparently died at his parents' home on Missouri Avenue. Upon hearing the news of his death, Andrew Johnson's daughters
209:
scholar and a man of many accomplishments. He had been with Mr. Johnson in
Tennessee for several years and went with him to the White House. But his stay was of short duration. He received the appointment of Secretary of Legation to Mexico. He never left the country however. The same habit which has
113:
He had been admitted to the bar of the
Supreme Court of the United States. Andrew Johnson had apparently known him "since his boyhood, and obtained for him an appointment to a government job." Browning eventually left his position "at one of the Departments" to go work for Johnson. He began working
195:
Shortly after his funeral, a North
Carolina newspaper opined, "The death of Col. Browning, formerly private secretary to the president, was hastened by his own acts. He could not resist the seductive bowl and fell a victim to its temptations. The deceased was possessed of excellent talents and was
167:
During the fall 1864, he was apparently working for
Johnson but was unable to do much work writing letters and private dispatches "due to illness." Browning was commissioned November 14, 1865 and/or nominated December 9, 1865 to be secretary of legation to Mexico under Gen.
204:
Browning was one of the handsomest men in the world, tall, muscular, finely formed with an open pleasing countenance and a complexion as clear and a skin as fine as
Ireland or Nantucket gives to the fairest of women. He had graduated at Yale College and was a fine
184:, who served as his political hostesses, canceled the White House public receptions planned for the week and were said to have been "at the residence of Col. Browning most of the day." President Johnson, Martha Patterson,
114:
as
Johnson's secretary when Johnson was a U.S. Senator from Tennessee and stayed with him until his first year in the White House. In 1863, while Johnson was military governor of Tennessee, Browning was appointed
126:
newspaper wrote at the time, "The appointment of Col. Browning to so important an office is a most proper acknowledgment of his eminent worth and executive ability." On the Fourth of July 1864, Browning read the
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he will be granting no further pardons for the time being; "Mr Keitt retired evidently satisfied that Mr
Johnson was President and 'that treason was a stain not removed by the mere asking for a signature' "
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106:. He may have married Gertrude Allis (1835 – March 1, 1858), the daughter of Emily Stockbridge and Salmon White Allis, who kept the Tontine Hotel in
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died of an overdose in 1869, an anonymous columnist wrote a widely reprinted recollection of some of the figures of the
Johnson era, including Browning:
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434:"Aged Citizen Dead: P.W. Browning, Long a Citizen of Washington, Passes Away, Evening star Washington, D.C. April 05, 1900, page 12"
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capable of filing the most responsible positions with honor. Let others take warning from his fate." After Andrew
Johnson's son
660:
Biographical annals of the civil government of the United States, during its first century. From original and official sources
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Browning, born May 2, 1835 to a tailor named Peregrine Browning and his wife Margaret A. (Wood) Browning, was a native of the
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102:. William A. Browning was one of 12 children born to the couple, and the eldest son. Browning was said to be a graduate of
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President Johnson and Col. Browning met with defeated Confederates, after which Johnson told Browning to inform the
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188:, Mary Stover, and several members of Congress all attended the funeral. Browning was buried at the
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to U.S. Senator, then military governor of Tennessee, then Vice President and U.S. president,
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74:(May 2, 1835 – March 2, 1866), was a 19th-century American political staffer. He served as a
147:, several batteries of artillery, the Fire Department, citizens on foot and on horseback."
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8:
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413:"William A Browning in household of Peregne W Browning, Washington, District of Columbia"
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332:"Interment Records Search Result: Browning, William A. (Section 1, Range 37, Site 85)"
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135:, following a parade that included "a procession over a mile long, consisting of the
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John Wilkes Booth's Calling Card, 04/14/1865. (National Archives Identifier 7873510)
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The Trial: The Assassination of President Lincoln and the Trial of the Conspirators
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822:
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Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America
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Unknown, "White House Reminiscences: Victims of Intemperance and Insanity" (1869)
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82:. Browning is mostly remembered today for being the recipient of a note from
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Genealogy of William Allis of Hatfield, Mass. and descendants, 1630-1919
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132:
467:. Boston Public Library. Hartford, Conn. : Art Pr. p. 118.
797:"White House Reminiscences: Victims of Intemperance and Insanity"
211:
691:
Schroeder-Lein, Glenna R.; Zuczek, Richard (June 22, 2001).
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People associated with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
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Personal secretaries to the President of the United States
518:(Library of Congress, Natl. Endowment for the Humanities).
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243:
On April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth left a note at
583:"The Impeachment Case: Extracts from the Testimony"
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791:
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308:"On Exhibit: John Wilkes Booth's Calling Card"
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500:. Washington, D.C. March 5, 1866. p. 3.
608:"General Logan Appointed Minister to Mexico"
905:. Taylor Trade Publishing. pp. 17–20.
823:"Harpers weekly: a journal of civilization"
680:. order of the Senate of the United States.
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694:Andrew Johnson: A Biographical Companion
494:"Funeral of the Late Col. W.A. Browning"
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943:Andrew Johnson administration personnel
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872:SteersJr, Edward (September 12, 2010).
674:Senate, United States Congress (1887).
282:"President Johnson's Private Secretary"
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16:American political staffer (1835–1866)
948:Burials at the Congressional Cemetery
663:. Washington: J. Anglim. p. 602.
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306:Kratz, Jessie (November 12, 2014).
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131:as part of a Union celebration at
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719:"No Reception at the White House"
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899:Jameson, W. C. (July 16, 2013).
878:. University Press of Kentucky.
450:– via Chronicling America.
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231:Assassination of Abraham Lincoln
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539:. September 15, 1863. p. 2
336:Historic Congressional Cemetery
633:"Death of William A. Browning"
614:. November 15, 1865. p. 4
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436:. April 5, 1900. p. 12.
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953:People from Washington, D.C.
461:Allis, Horatio Dana (1919).
257:Presidency of Andrew Johnson
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7:
782:– via Newspapers.com.
732:– via Newspapers.com.
589:. August 7, 1867. p. 1
571:– via Newspapers.com.
546:– via Newspapers.com.
388:"Death of Colonel Browning"
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129:Declaration of Independence
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827:Reissue of Harper's Weekly
775:. March 7, 1866. p. 1
750:. March 5, 1866. p. 3
744:"Funeral of Col. Browning"
725:. March 2, 1866. p. 2
639:. March 3, 1866. p. 1
533:"Promotion: Col. Browning"
417:United States Census, 1850
394:. March 2, 1866. p. 2
362:. March 2, 1866. p. 3
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803:. May 14, 1869. p. 3
697:. ABC-CLIO. p. 255.
612:Boston Evening Transcript
587:Brownlow's Knoxville Whig
564:. July 6, 1864. p. 1
118:of Tennessee, succeeding
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30:
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769:"Death of Col. Browning"
657:Lanman, Charles (1876).
419:– via FamilySearch
288:. May 2, 1865. p. 1
161:Charleston Daily Courier
286:Buffalo Weekly Express
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192:, in Washington, D.C.
190:Congressional Cemetery
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108:New Haven, Connecticut
60:Washington, D.C., U.S.
44:Washington, D.C., U.S.
773:The Wilmington Herald
637:New York Daily Herald
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801:Chicago Evening Post
214:until it killed him.
163:, September 2, 1865)
100:District of Columbia
748:National Republican
562:The Courier-Journal
558:"Nashville, July 4"
516:Chronicling America
68:William A. Browning
25:William A. Browning
857:has generic name (
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186:David T. Patterson
174:Minister to Mexico
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912:978-1-58979-832-8
885:978-0-8131-2724-8
704:978-1-57607-030-7
312:Pieces of History
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104:Yale College
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55:(1866-03-02)
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938:1866 deaths
933:1835 births
182:Mary Stover
41:May 2, 1835
927:Categories
839:HathiTrust
807:2023-06-27
779:2023-06-26
754:2023-06-27
729:2023-06-26
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341:2024-01-18
317:2023-06-27
292:2023-06-27
268:References
225:April 1865
37:1835-05-02
835:0360-2397
506:2331-9968
442:2331-9968
133:Nashville
94:Biography
251:See also
217:—
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124:Memphis
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356:"Died"
212:whisky
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