The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-09-06
The. Frisls Of the Newly =.
Rich 10 Lot Of Mr.. Browning


Grsensbore, Sept. A.-~rCeme, bely
pull Georgia out of the mud! w
need your millions, Of course, bu,
we need even more, a man Of you,
undonbted ability and engaging per
sonality to help develop one Of Geor.
gia's best towns. We can offer you
etc, ETC." That is the urgent anc
Hattering call an entelprising cham.
Der of commerce in Georgia town
has sent to J. H. Browning Of Greens.
boro, N. c. For though Browning
is an illiterate mill hand, he is a pros.
pective millicnaiIe.,
That is only &ns of the scores Of
propositions apd offers Browning
has had since Il became known, two
weeks ago, that he expects to re-
ceive large share Of the estate Of
his uncle, Thomas Browning, who is
reported to have died in Texas six
years ago, leaving land and oil wells
valued at the stupendous figure of
$50, 0,OOO, 900, "and some cash."
Browning, when it first became
known that he expects to inherit mil
lions, expressed desire to buy "a
nice home" AS in the Alladin story,
to wish was enough, for during the
past two weeks he has been offered
homes of every description, in every
section Of the country. Pictures Of
ten accompany the various offers, as
was the case with an Atlanta man
who has an Office building for sale.
Another hustling Albanian wants
to be the millionaire's executive: a
New York woman has already ap-
piled for the position Of private sec
retary, and Baltimore woman re-
Gently bereft of her husband, asks
charity. Even the florists are in the
grand rush; one florist wants to sup
ply Browning's new home with flow
ers daily, and catalogue is sent
along to demonstrate the superiority
of ---'s AGwerB. So It goesI
Long before the mi1l man has re-
ceived his inheritance-while he is
still an humble cloth carrier iu 3
cotton MILL
The prospective millionaire is re-
ceiving from twelve to fifteen pro-
posals daily-more mail than he Is
accustomed to receive in year. Will
he "fall for" them all? He will not.
They get scant attention from ]. H.
Browning. Why? Well, in the first
place, he can neither read nor write.
In the second, this man is no fool
Forty years of hard work, deprivation,
of the sacrifice necessary to support
a large family on a meagre income
forty years filled with these things
will not turn out man who is soon
parted from his money. Henry
Browning is level-headed and shrewd
But while the man pays little at
'tention to the many offers he is re-
his wife laboriously spells
out each letter, laughs over It, and.
puts it away in an old trunk. "Might
want it sometime, she explains.
The story Browning tells reads like
q fairy tale. It goes something like
this:
IN 1858. Thomas Browning. a lad
OF 1s, left bis home, near Grsenville
county 8. c., to seek his fortune.
Like many men Of that day, he went
west. sG
In 1860 he entered the Confeder-
ate army, and fought for the South
four years. The war over, he re-
turned to Texas, and took up 1000
acres of government land. From
that time until last April nothing
more was heard from his by his peo-
pie, and it was supposed that he had
died long since.
In April of this year his relatives
received startling news. According
to the message coming to them,
which, they say, was in the form of
an advertisement in South Carolina
Thomas Browning, dead
six years, left an estate of $50, ,000,-
900; and, the message added, he died
without children, and with no will.
He made his money from oil, discov-
cred on his property years ago.
When Browning received news Of
his uncle's death, and of the estate he
had left, he Immediately went to
Greenville, s. c., where he and his
cousin, Will Browning Of Greenville,
employed Haynsworth & Hayns-
worth, Greenville attorneys, to in
vestigate the matter. The firm Of
Haynsworth & Haynsworths was lat.
er released, according to Browning,
and the case was put in the hands Of
Proctor Bonham, another Greenville
attorney.
When the story first became pub
lie here, two weeks ago, Browning
said his attorneys" had assured him