True Life Tuesday: William Washington Browne

With February being Black History Month I would like to highlight some lesser known figures in black history. William Washington Browne was a former slave, Union soldier, teacher, minister and important resident of Richmond, Virginia.

He was born on October 20, 1849 in Habersham County Georgia. His parents were Joseph and Mariah Browne. His parents were slaves originally from Virginia who met after being sold and moved to Georgia. He was originally named Ben but he changed it when he was sold to a horse trainer in Memphis when he was 10 years old. He escaped from servitude and joined the Union army in 1862. After his discharge in 1866 he attended school in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. He returned to Alabama in 1869 to teach. On August 16, 1873 he married Mary A. Graham. 

In the 1870's he was outspoken against the KKK and advocating for the temperance movement. He wanted to be endorsed by the white Independent Order of Good Temperance. They refused because they did not want to be affiliated with a black man, However, they offered him a charter and sponsorship under a different name - Grand United Order of True Reformers which he accepted. He eventually quit his teaching position to run the order full time. He was also ordained in August 1876 by the Colored  Methodist Episcopal Church Conference of Alabama.

In 1880 William and Mary moved to Richmond, Virginia. Here he implemented his plans for the order. He wanted to transform the organization into an insurance company and bank. Unfortunately his first try at insurance was basically a Ponzi scheme and ended up failing. However, in 1885 he established the first black insurance company to use calculations of life expectancy. On March 2, 1888 he received a charter to open the first black owned and operated bank. The bank was very successful and was the only bank in Richmond that was able to honor checks in Richmond during the Financial Panic of 1893. By 1891 the order had a membership of 10,000 people. They also had a hotel, a newspaper and a general store. The order became the largest black fraternal society and black owned business in the country. 

William Washington died on December 1897 from cancer. His funeral was described as one of the largest in Richmond history. He left the majority of his estate to Mary with a small bequest to their adopted son and daughter. The Grand United Order of True Reformers continued to prosper until the bank collapsed in 1910.

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