Browne, William Phineas, 1804-1869

William Phineas Browne was born July 8, 1804 and died January 13, 1869. He was born in Vermont but around the age of 18 he moved to Pennsylvania at the invitation of his cousin John B. Ives who was a contractor on the Union Canal. At the age of 21 W. P. Browne began to study law under Enoch D. Woodbridge and Phillip C. Tucker. When he was 27 he moved to North Alabama where he was a partner once more with John Ives on the Muscle Shoals Canal. Upon completion of the Muscle Shoals Canal he and John Ives moved to New Orleans to build the New Orleans Canal.

In 1835 Browne moved to Mobile where he purchased real estate and became a building contractor. By the year 1837 he was worth over $200,000. The depression of property and defective titles brought him to the verge of bankruptcy.

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