Browning family photograph album

Collection

Identifier: BCA 0351

Scope and Contents

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This 1860s photograph album has the word "Photographs" embossed on the front cover and the word "Mother" embossed on the back cover. It may have been collated for and owned by Asenath Carnes Browning (1805-1871). Within are the following images:

Asenath Carnes Browning
C. N. Browning [Charles]
Ellen Parker Browning [wife of C. N. Browning]
Francis Marion Browning
Dr. Jerry Weaver
Caroline Browning
Dorinda Browning
Johnnie Browning [son of C. N. B.]
"Uncle" Joe Mackintosh, Yellow Springs, O.
"Aunt" Polly McIntosh, Yellow Springs, O.
Grace Browning
Unidentified tintype: adult Euro-American female
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male in military uniform
"Aunt" Moore as girl saw Gen. Washington
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male in military uniform
Lt. Col. Henry C. Corbin [USCT]
Dorinda Browning
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male
Francis M. Browning
Capt. Rathbone, escaped from Libby Prison
Dr. Rogers
Mira Barkley(?)
N. G. Buff
Reba (?) Bettle
Newell Conner
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male in military uniform
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American couple, seated
Mary Dale, niece of "Aunt" Polly
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male in military uniform
Rev. John G. Fee (founder Berea College) and Matilda Fee
Charles N. Browning
Emma Minerva Browning
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male
"Grandmother" Coombs, Lindale, O.
Rev. John G. Fee
Emma Coombs for whom EMB was named
Unidentified tintype: adult Euro-American female
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American female
Unidentified tintype: adult Euro-American male
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American female
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male
Unidentified carte de visite: young Euro-American male
John Buff [and wife]
Olin Coombs
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American male
Unidentified carte de visite: two adult Euro-American females
Unidentified carte de visite: adult Euro-American female
Florence N. Brown

Dates

Creation: circa 1865

Biographical Note

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Asenath Carnes was born in Bracken County, Kentucky, in 1805. She married John N. Browning of Fleming County, Kentucky (d. 1849). Their children were Charles Nichols, Dorinda, Caroline, Francis, and Minerva. Asenath Carnes Browning died in Clermont County, Ohio, in 1871.

Charles Nichols Browning (1831-1921) married Ellen Parker (1833-1885) of Madison County, Ohio, in 1861. Their children were Grace D. Browning Ballard (1864-1944) and Kent Parker Browning (1869-1951). Charles Nichols ("C. N.") Browning served in the 153rd Ohio Infantry Regiment (OVI) during the Civil War. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, he was the editor and publisher of the Clinton Republican, a newspaper based in Wilmington, Ohio.

"Grandmother" Coombs of Lindale, Ohio, may be Kitty A. Coombs (1811-1906), the wife of Andrew Coombs, Jr. (1805-1864). Coombs was a leader of the Gilead Anti-Slavery Society. Two of their six children, Emma and Olin, also have photographs in the album.

"Uncle" Joe and "Aunt" Polly McIntosh (Joseph McIntosh, 1818-1902, and Mary J. Seaton McIntosh, 1820-1887) lived in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Yellow Springs was known to be a center of abolitionism.

Rev. John G. and Matilda Fee were leading activists in the anti-slavery movement in Kentucky.

Henry C. Corbin (1842-1909) made a career in the military beginning with the Ohio Volunteer Infantry in 1862. In 1863 he was commissioned a major in the 14th United States Colored Infantry, eventually rising to the rank of colonel within the USCT. After the Civil War, Corbin served in the U.S. Army's 38th Infantry, a Buffalo Soldier regiment. The peak of his career came in 1906, when Corbin was promoted to lieutenant general shortly before retirement.

Newell W. Connor (1838-1915) of Clermont County, Ohio, served in the 5th Regiment, Ohio Cavalry, during the Civil War.

Full Extent

1 item ; 4.5 x 6 x 2.5 inches

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

The Browning family photograph album contains 49 images of matriarch Asenath Carnes Browning (1805-1871), her descendants, associates of the family, and public figures. Most images are cartes de visite; a few are small tintypes. Some men appear in Union military uniforms. The Browning family had roots in Kentucky. When this album was created in the 1860s, they lived in Clermont County, Ohio, a region rich in abolitionist and Underground Railroad activity. Two items of special interest to Berea College are previously uncollected images of John G. Fee and Matilda Fee. Like the Fees, some of the persons whose pictures are in the album were associated with the anti-slavery cause.

Custodial History

This photograph album was abandoned property found in Amherst, Massachusetts during the 1980s. The donor paid a professional book conservator to repair the binding. He donated the album to Berea College Special Collections and Archives in 2026 because of the images of the Fees that are within.