345:. He had campaigned on a platform of balancing the budget. The City of Houston ran budget deficits during Browne's first term, but these deficits were proportionately lower than those in previous years. Browne had been an advocate for lowering municipal utility bills through municipal ownership of the utilities. However, estimates for the City of Houston to build its own waterworks and electrical power plant had gone up to a range $ 500,000 to $ 900,000. Browne abandoned this option while favoring a policy of dedicating all capital spending on street paving and sewerage. The Browne administration also hired a city planning expert to study demands based hypothetically on a population of 75,000.
356:, "held that special assessment tax liens were unenforceable against urban homesteads." The City of Houston imposed special tax levies for road and sewerage projects on owners of property abutting the sections of street being improved. The ruling effectively removed the only tool the city had for enforcing payment of the special assessments by homeowners. Road construction contractors stopped all work because they feared the city would not pay them. Many homeowners stopped paying their assessment bills.
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Correction: The tombstone of Mayor John T. Browne in the City of
Houston actually states that he served in Company A, 36 Texas Cavalry. Family history passed down that he was seriously wounded in a major battle of the Civil War, but recovered fully. Browne joined the Confederacy, officially serving
359:
To meet this immediate revenue crisis, the Browne administration devised a plan to issue $ 500,000 in municipal bonds to be sold over a three to four-year period. The Labor
Council opposed the bonding measure and organized to defeat the measure when the referendum made it to the ballot. The City of
348:
Mayor Browne proposed converting the
Houston Volunteer Firefighters to a professional department under municipal management. The City of Houston would need to buy existing equipment and horses from the volunteer department, but could lease firehouses and would not be required to buy them. Houston
31:
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Browne returned to messenger service in
Houston after the Civil War. He worked for Adams Express Company, then for Southern Express Company. He transitioned into the grocery business first as a bookkeeper and clerk for H.P. Levy.
246:
to
Michael and Winifred (Hennessy) Browne. His family emigrated into the United States in October 1851. Not long after arriving in New Orleans, his father died. In 1852, Winifred relocated with her five children to
307:. In 1872, Browne and Charles Bollfrass started a business as wholesale and retail grocers with $ 500 in capital. By the early 1890s, this grocery was amassing about $ 340,000 in annual sales.
275:
in
Company B of the Second Texas Infantry. He served in Houston, detached from his unit, maintaining employment with the Houston and Texas Central Railroad, but in a new capacity as a
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262:. He returned to Houston to first work as a baggage hauler, then performed messenger duties for Commercial and Southwestern Express Company before settling in at the
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452:(1895) A History of Texas and Texans, Together with a Biographical Sketch of the Cities of Houston and Galveston, Chicago: Lewis Publishing Company, p.384-385.
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251:, Texas to be closer to family of her mother. Winifred's Irish uncle, Patrick Hayes, was an herbal medicine doctor and farmer in Madison County, Texas.
258:
at the behest of Father
Gunnard, where he also received an education. At age fourteen in 1859, he left the plantation and found work hauling bricks in
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Browne married Mary Jane "Mollie" Bergin on
September 13, 1871. They were the first marriage to be recorded at the
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Browne represented
Houston in the Texas House of Representatives from 1897 to 1899, and again in 1907.
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in 1892. He won in a landslide: 3900 to 600. During his time as mayor he lived in the Fifth Ward.
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214:(March 23, 1845 – August 19, 1941) was an American merchant and politician. He served on the
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Houston would need to find another way to compensate for $ 300,000 in uncollected taxes.
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266:. The 1860 Census listed John residing with his mother in Houston's Fourth Ward.
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Platt, Harold L. (1983). City
Building in the New South, Philadelphia:
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Browne's first term as Mayor of Houston began the same year as the
560:"The Political Graveyard: Knights of Columbus, politicians, Texas"
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In 1979, his former residence in the Fifth Ward was used by an
488:, February 1979. Volume 7, No. 2. ISSN 0148-7736. START: p.
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while chairing the Finance Committee in 1887. He ran for
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Portrait of John Thomas Browne, mayor of Houston, Texas
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Browne spent much of the 1850s on Spann Plantation in
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352:In April 1895, the Texas Supreme Court ruling in
349:City Council drafted an ordinance and passed it.
279:. He was briefly dispatched to the defense of
234:John Thomas Browne was born March 23, 1845, in
1029:Burials at Glenwood Cemetery (Houston, Texas)
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113:January 8, 1907 – January 12, 1909
102:January 12, 1897 – January 8, 1901
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478:West, Richard. "Only the Strong Survive."
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89:Texas House of Representatives
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1044:Irish emigrants to the United States
422:Shiels, Damian (20 September 2013).
390:-owned grocery, Orlando's Grocery.
371:Browne died on August 19, 1941, of
264:Houston and Texas Central Railroad
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629:
617:
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1039:Deaths from pneumonia in Texas
224:Texas House of Representatives
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295:Browne and Bollfrass Building
381:Glenwood Cemetery in Houston
305:Annunciation Catholic Church
312:Ancient Order of Hibernians
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287:Rise to the Merchant Class
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222:, and three terms in the
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177:Mary Jane "Mollie" Bergin
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256:Washington County, Texas
590:Mayor of Houston, Texas
507:Temple University Press
310:He was a member of the
564:politicalgraveyard.com
326:Browne was elected to
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558:Lawrence Kestenbaum.
524:houstonfiremuseum.org
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260:Madison County, Texas
486:Emmis Communications
328:Houston City Council
216:Houston City Council
600:Horace Baldwin Rice
379:. He was buried at
354:Higgins v. Bordages
330:, representing the
316:Knights of Columbus
80:Horace Baldwin Rice
16:American politician
577:Political offices
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212:John Thomas Browne
23:John Thomas Browne
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236:Ballylanders
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156:(1941-08-19)
140:Ballylanders
108:
97:
75:Succeeded by
54:
1024:1941 deaths
1019:1845 births
968:K. Whitmire
958:F. Hofheinz
938:R. Hofheinz
429:October 27,
201:Businessman
65:Preceded by
1013:Categories
838:Scherffius
394:References
332:Fifth Ward
230:Early life
198:Profession
133:1845-03-23
888:Hutcheson
883:Pastoriza
768:Whitmarsh
624:biography
373:pneumonia
281:Galveston
270:Civil War
146:, Ireland
109:In office
98:In office
59:1892–1896
55:In office
998:Whitmire
943:Holcombe
933:Holcombe
918:Holcombe
913:Fonville
908:Holcombe
903:Monteith
898:Holcombe
878:Campbell
858:Woolford
853:Brashear
773:Hutchins
314:and the
923:Pickett
893:Amerman
868:Jackson
803:Scanlan
793:McGowan
758:McGowan
748:Stevens
733:Buckner
718:Baldwin
708:Andrews
703:Bigelow
677:Houston
610:Portals
377:Houston
277:fireman
249:Houston
244:Ireland
192:
184:
180:
161:Houston
993:Turner
988:Parker
973:Lanier
963:McConn
948:Cutrer
928:Massey
843:Browne
818:Wilson
808:Wilson
798:Morris
788:Taylor
783:Anders
743:Fuller
728:Bailey
698:Lively
688:Holman
673:Mayors
172:Spouse
167:, U.S.
983:White
978:Brown
953:Welch
833:Smith
828:Baker
823:Burke
778:House
753:Ennis
738:Moore
723:Swain
713:Moore
693:Moore
636:texas
367:Death
186:(
182:
165:Texas
45:32nd
873:Rice
863:Holt
848:Rice
813:Lord
763:King
431:2014
151:Died
127:Born
675:of
494:105
375:in
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131:(
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