San
Joaquin County
Biographies
THOMAS ROBERT BROWNE
No man is better known to the
implement trade of the west than Thomas Robert Browne, who has had broad
experience in this line of business and represents the Cushman Motor Works of Lincoln,
Nebraska, in the states of California, Nevada and Arizona, maintaining his
headquarters at Stockton, California.
The Golden state claims him as one of its native sons, for his birth
occurred at San Francisco, August 24, 1863.
His father, Robert T. Browne, was one of the early pioneers of that
city, to which he came in 1858 by way of Cape Horn, and the son was born in a
house on the present site of the California Market, in the heart of business
district.
In the public schools of San
Francisco, Thomas R. Browne acquired his education and as a boy he entered the
employ of the Baker & Hamilton Company of San Francisco, with whom he
gained his first knowledge of the hardware and implement business. In the early days the farm implements were
shipped to the firm in cases, being sent via Cape Horn, and after reaching
their destination they were taken out and reassembled. This task was assigned to Mr. Browne, who
thus became thoroughly familiar with the mechanism of mowing and threshing
machines and in fact all kinds of farm implements, and this knowledge led to
his being placed in charge of the implement and machinery department. For twenty-eight years he remained in the service
of that house, being one of their most trusted and valued employees, and in
August, 1907, he resigned his place and accepted the position of sales manager
for the H. C. Shaw Company of Stockton and came hither. In 1912 he resigned and opened an office in
Stockton as manufacturers’ agent for various lines of farm machinery, in which
connection he has been very successful.
He acts as agent for the Cushman Motor Works of Lincoln, Nebraska, and
has established agencies at various points throughout California, Nevada and
Arizona. He caters exclusively to the
wholesale trade and handles the famous Cushman gas engine, making shipments to
Alaska, Siam, India, the Hawaiian Islands and South America. One of its principal uses is in the grain and
rice fields as an auxiliary engine on the self-binders and in the towns of
Colusa, Willows and Biggs and other districts in Butte, Glenn and Colusa
counties more engines for binders have been sold that in any other equal area
in the United States. The engine is well
adapted for use in conjunction with hoists for mining and dredging purposes and
in irrigated sections for pumping outfits.
Through the untiring efforts of Mr. Browne the farmers in the Delta
district were finally induced to use the elevating potato digger equipped with
the Cushman auxiliary engine, for which there is now a large demand. He is also agent for a sprayer for trees and
vines and likewise handles the Toro motor cultivator and mower. While connected with the firm of Baker &
Hamilton he spent several years in their spare parts department and is
considered the best informed man west of Chicago in that line.
In 1889, in San Francisco, occurred
the marriage of Mr. Browne when he was united with Miss Mary E. Harrington, a
native daughter, born in San Francisco, where she was reared and educated, a cultured woman who has been a splendid helpmate. Her parents were pioneers of San Francisco,
having emigrated hither in the early days.
Mr. and Mrs. Browne’s union has been blessed by the birth of four children: Roberta; Thomas R., Jr., is with the Southern
Pacific Railroad; Leo L. is assisting his father in business; Berenice is Mrs. C. Edward Tyner of Stockton. Mr. Browne was a member of California
National Guard for three years, serving as first lieutenant of Company E, First
Regiment.
Mr. Browne is a communicant of the
Catholic Church and he is also connected with the Knights of Columbus, the
Elks, and the Kiwanis Club, in which he is a director and is a member and
director of the California Tractor and Implement Club. Through his membership in the Stockton
Chamber of Commerce he does all in his power to promote the welfare and
prosperity of this city and he is in all respects a public-spirited citizen.
Transcribed by Gerald Iaquinta.
Source: Tinkham, George
H., History of San Joaquin County, California , Pages
622-625. Los Angeles, Calif.: Historic
Record Co., 1923.
© 2011 Gerald Iaquinta.
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