Collection Details:

Collection Name and Number: Reverend William Phineas Browne Notebook and Letter (Z/0142).
Creator/Collector: William Phineas Browne.
Date(s): 1921.
Size: 0.30 cubic feet.
Language(s): English.
Processed by: MDAH staff, 1944; Redescribed by Allyson Hartling, 2023.
Provenance: Gift of Unknown donor, circa 1944.
Repository: Archives & Records Services Division, Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Rights and Access:

Access restrictions: Collection is open for research.

Publication rights: Copyright assigned to the MDAH. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to Reference Services. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the MDAH as the owner of the physical items and as the owner of the copyright in items created by the donor. Although the copyright was transferred by the donor, the respective creator may still hold copyright in some items in the collection. For further information, contact Reference Services.

Copyright notice: This material may be protected by copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Preferred citation: Reverend William Phineas Browne Notebook and Letter (Z/0142), Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

 

Biography:

William Phineas Browne, Sr.

William Phineas Browne was born on August 13 or 15, 1850, the son of Julia Cornelia Cox (1825-1900) and Chester Franva Browne, II (1811-1897).  He was either born in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, or Pascagoula, Mississippi, and he had ten siblings.

Browne married Mary Johnson (1857-1941) on July 17, 1883. Mary was the daughter of Jane C. McWillie and Dr. Robert B. Johnson, born on March 14, 1857, in Kershaw County, South Carolina, however, her obituary stated she was born in Kirkwood, Madison County, where the McWillie family eventually settled.  William and Mary Browne had the following children: Jennie Roberta Brown (1884-1887), William P. Browne, Jr. (1886-), Mary Louisa Brown (1888-1889), Antoinette "Nannie" Browne (1890-), and Julia Henrietta Browne (1893-1985). William Phineas Browne, Sr., died on January 17, 1928, and was buried in Cedar Rest Cemetery in Bay St. Louis, Hancock County. 

Reverend Browne was ordained to the diaconate in St. Andrew's Church in Jackson, Mississippi, on April 9, 1876, conducting a large amount of his studies there, and was granted priesthood in All Saint's Church in Grenada, Mississippi, on April 25, 1880. He was among the oldest members of the clergy in the Diocese, having served for longer than most of the members present at that time. He was a missionary, writing and planning his missions almost entirely on his own, and not only gave sermons in the church but traveled as well. He served as a missionary of the Episcopal Church throughout the South in Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, and Tennessee. However, the majority of his missions took place in Mississippi in the cities of Raymond, Edwards, Bolton, Bovina, Canton, Greenwood, Grenada, Brookhaven, McComb, and many others. Browne was said to have the most missions, as well as contributing to the planning and building of more churches in Mississippi and surrounding states. He was the predecessor of the Reverend Valentine "Val" Hunter Sessions in rural mission work for the Episcopal Church in the state of Mississippi.  

 

Scope and Content Note:

Manuscript volume of notes kept by the Reverend W. P. Browne, of Pascagoula, missionary of the Episcopal Church in Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana, from 1876 to 1918.  The notebook begins with an autobiographical sketch of Browne and his family, dated November 17, 1921, covering 16 pages.  This is followed by 8 pages of notes about an incident in South Pascagoula, Mississippi, on December 20, 1921.  Several news columns by Rev. Browne are included in the notebook.  Next, there are 5 pages of a typed "Reminiscence of the Bishop Green Training School, Dry Grove, Miss., September 15, 1921" with additional handwritten corrections.  Lastly, a handwritten "statement" dated November 17, 1921, is on the last three pages of the journal, describing Browne's purpose for "coming to old East Pascagoula, Miss."  There is one loose item, a letter from W.P. Browne to Mr. Tucker, dated December 29, 1921, in South Pascagoula, in which he asks his friend to keep this notebook for safekeeping because Browne was ill and feared his notes and reminiscences would be lost.

 

Series Identification:

Series 1: Notebook, 1921.
 One notebook, measuring approximately 21.5 x 17.5 inches, and containing 24 pages of manuscript notes.  The notebook includes an autobiographical sketch of Browne and his family, notes on an incident in South Pascagoula, newspaper clippings, notes about Bishop Green Training School, and a statement describing Browne's purpose for moving to East Pascagoula. 

Box 1, Folder 1

Series 2: Letter, December 29, 1921.
There is one letter from W.P. Browne to Mr. Tucker, dated December 29, 1921, in South Pascagoula, in which he asks his friend to keep this notebook for safekeeping because Browne was ill and feared his notes and reminiscences would be lost.

Box 1, Folder 2

 
Box List:

Box 1
Folder 1: Notebook, 1921.
Folder 2: Letter, December 29, 1921.