Biography
California labor agitator, illustrator, and chief lieutenant of Coxey's Army — known within the Commonweal of Christ as 'the Marshal.' A veteran of California Workingmen's Party agitation in the 1870s and a Greenback-Labor party stalwart, Browne joined Jacob Coxey in Massillon, Ohio in early 1894 to organize the 'petition in boots' march on Washington. He designed the Army's banners, uniforms, and ritual; preached the 'Reincarnation of Christ' theology of the Commonweal; and managed the daily logistics of the 500-man column on its 35-day walk to D.C. Arrested with Coxey and Christopher Columbus Jones at the U.S. Capitol on May 1, 1894 for carrying banners on the Capitol grounds and walking on Capitol grass. Convicted May 8, 1894 in police court before Judge Thomas Miller; sentenced May 21, 1894 to 20 days in the District of Columbia jail. Released June 10, 1894. He continued organizing labor protests until his death in 1914.
