Mary Ann Neal Browning

Mary Ann was married at the age of nineteen to James Green Browning. James was a farmer, cooper, blacksmith, and gunsmith. His brother, Jonathan, is the famous Browning Arms gunsmith.

James and Mary Ann, his brother, Jonathan, and his family joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and moved from Tennessee to Illinois.

As the persecution increased, they, with many of the Saints were driven from Illinois to Council Bluffs. In 1850, Mary Ann and James left Iowa and traveled on the south side of the Platte River. They found an emigrant who had died of cholera, so they buried him. Consequently, out of the one hundred in their company, many were stricken with cholera and eighteen people died from the effects of the disease. At the end of a long tedious journey which took them three months, they arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, 1 Sep., 1850.

After a few days rest, the Brownings went on to the Ogden area where they settled down and spent the remainder of their days. They cleared land, built homes, planted crops, and nourished their testimonies. Their property was approximately where Washington Avenue crosses 34th Street in Ogden.

Ann was to share her husband, because he took plural wives Olive Polly Ann Hills, Harriet Louise Chase, and Ann Wood as wives. Some of Mary Ann's children settled around them and some of her children were called to Southern Utah. Mary Ann raised all of her eight children to maturity. She had seen many births, death, and trying experiences throughout her life, but she continued to carry on the best she could.

She was a true pioneer who made wonderful contributions to the success of her family, her church, and her city. She was a steadfast woman of faith and courage.

From Pioneer Women of Faith and Fortitude

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