My Genealogy Hound

Dr. Samuel G. Browning is one of the enterprising and deservedly popular men of this county. He is a successful physician, is proprietor of a general store at Macon, and with his brother and others owns one of the largest saw mills in the county, turning out about thirty car loads of pine and hard wood per month. In 1888 the destruction of one of the mills and a dry house by fire, entailed a severe loss, the latter having cost over $2,000 and the mill $4,000; in addition to which $2,000 worth of lumber was destroyed; and although they have been three times visited by fire, indomitable energy and enterprise have more than overcome the effects of the destroying elements. Samuel G. Browning was born in Mississippi in 1850, the second in a family of eleven children. He received his literary education in the common schools of that State, and having determined upon the medical profession as his calling in life, in 1872 entered the Louisville Medical College, commencing the practice of medicine at Tillatoba, Miss., in 1876. In 1879 he came to Arkansas and located at Coal Hill, Johnson County, where he practiced for two years. He then engaged in milling near Russellville, Polk County, for two years, when he sold out and removed to Johnson County, devoting himself to milling, cotton ginning and merchandising. At the end of two years he resumed the same business at Jefferson Springs, whence after a stay of two years, he moved to his present location, where he has a large mill, having been very successful in his business. In 1888 Dr. Browning was elected justice of the peace, and although a Democrat in his preferences, he is not active in politics. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. In 1877 the Doctor married Miss Georgie L. Simms, a native of Mississippi, and an estimable lady, who has borne two children: Maude, who died at the age of six years, and Walter, aged eleven. Mrs. Browning is a member of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Browning’s father was Wiley J. Browning, of South Carolina, who married Sarah C. Selby, of the same State. He was a farmer by occupation and soon after his marriage moved to Mississippi, engaging in the same business in connection with stock-raising. At the breaking out of the late war he was a merchant in Winston County, Miss., but entered the Confederate service as private, and also served as quartermaster. He was slightly wounded in the battle at Jackson, Miss., and died in 1877 at the age of fifty-six. He was a Mason and a member of the Presbyterian Church. Dr. Browning’s influence in this community is widely felt, and his progressive spirit and sincere interest in the welfare of his adopted home have had a telling effect. All worthy enterprises receive his hearty support.