page_title: John T. Browne
section_title: Rise to the Merchant Class
hierarchical_section_title: John T. Browne / Rise to the Merchant Class
caption_attribution_description: English: Browne is standing without coat, wearing light vest. Bollfrass is in black coat and hat with hand on hip.
context_page_description: John Thomas Browne was an American merchant and politician. He served on the Houston City Council, served two terms as Mayor of Houston, and served three terms in the Texas House of Representatives.
context_section_description: 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.
  Browne married Mary Jane "Mollie" Bergin on September 13, 1871.  They were the first marriage to be recorded at Annunciation Catholic Church.  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.
  He was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians and the Knights of Columbus.
caption: Browne and Bollfrass Building
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