1849-1928
Judson Hinkle Browning
Farmer/Carpenter KY/AR
Robert Covington Browning (1820-1906) and his wife Mary Eliza welcomed their first son to their old Kentucky home on 1849. This solid Baptist couple were so enamored with the work of Adoniram Judson, they named this new baby boy Judson Hinkle Browning. In fact, Robert and Mary Browning even moved their family from Kentucky to Arkansas in 1871 to enroll their 22-year-old son (and eventually his siblings) in the new Judson University at Judsonia, Arkansas.
Mr. Robert C. Browning was one of the original members of the Board of Trustees of this first Judson University and one of the charter members of the First Baptist Church in Judsonia. He served as postmaster for Judsonia 1873-1878.[1] When the university closed in 1883, members of the Browning family stayed in the vicinity of Judsonia for the next seven generations. Four of those generations would bear the Judson imprimatur.
The servant-leadership of Judson Hinkle Browning is acknowledged through a stained-glass window in the First Baptist Church of Judsonia, Arkansas, that is marked “In Memory of Deacon Judson H. Browning” who served the congregation from 1909 until his death on March 11, 1928. He built the first church house for the First Baptist Church of Judsonia in 1884 that had previously met in the facilities of Judson University. He was the first Judson namesake in this congregation but he would be followed by Judsons in the next three generations.
- +Judson Hinkle Browning and his wife, Mary Ella Marsh, had four children and named their first son Roy Judson Browning who lived only 33 years, October 31, 1880 to August 28 1913. He married Claudia Giles and had a son who was born in 1914 just a few months after his father died.
- +This son, now without a father, was named in honor of his deceased father, Roy Judson Browning (1914-1996). This new son eventually married Lorene Ranes (1915-1977) and they named his first son Judson Browning.
- +Judson Browning, commonly called Jud, was born in 1948 and now lives in Searcy, Arkansas, but like the members of his family for 150 years, he is still active in First Baptist Church, Judsonia. Judson Browning is the great grandson of Robert Covington Browning, one of the founders of Judson University in Judsonia, Arkansas.
If we were living in Old Testament times, we might say: Robert C. Browning begat Judson Hickle Browning; who begat Roy Judson Browning (I); who began Roy Judson Browning (II); who began Judson Browning. Robert C. Browning and many of his descendants named for Adoniram Judson, Jr., are buried in the Evergreen Cemetery in Judsonia, AR, which was a gift to the community from the short-lived original Judson University.[2]
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[1] W. E. Orr, That’s Judsonia: An informal history of a small town in Arkansas (Judsonia: White County Printing, 1957), p. 317.
[2] Short, Elizabeth. So Great a Cloud of Witnesses: A History of First Baptist Church, Judsonia, Arkansas (Winona, Minnesota: Apollo Books, 107 Lafayette Street, 1985) pp. 91, 121, 122, 155.