Alameda County
Biographies
J. Ross Browne
One of the names that has shed lustre on Oakland is that of J. Ross Browne. Space will not permit more than a very brief reference here to this distinguished deceased gentleman’s career. He was a native of Ireland, and his father one of the race of Protestant patriots who suffered in the cause of human freedom. At the age of eighteen Mr. Browne was engaged reporting at the Capitol at Washington. At twenty-two he had rambled all over the United States; then he went to sea, and on his return published his first book, “Etchings of a Whaling Cruise.” While acting as private secretary to Robert J. Walker, Mr. Polk’s Secretary of the Treasury, Mr. Browne got married. Desiring to visit the old Eastern world, he accepted an appointment in the revenue service and sailed for California. On his arrival here he found that his office had been abolished, and he stood penniless upon our shores. About this time the Constitutional Convention met at Monterey, and he was employed as its official reporter. He afterwards traveled in Europe and the Holy Land. A volume named “Yusef,” was the outcome of his wanderings.
In 1855 he received an appointment as Special Agent of the Treasury Department in this State. It was then that he made his home in Oakland. In 1859 he commenced traveling again, leaving his family in Germany. He roamed over Europe and the northern part of Africa. Then came from his facile pen, in rapid succession, “The American Family in Germany,” “The Land of Thor,” and “Crusce’s Island.” In 1864 Oakland saw him again. He afterwards held the office of Commissioner of Mining; in 1868 he was appointed, by President Johnson, United States Minister to China, a position that gave him no satisfaction nor profit. He was not comfortable under “the dragon’s footstool.” He came back in a short time, $20,000 poorer than when he set out. His experience did not favor Chinese intercourse, and he denounced the Burlingame Treaty as a great humbug. But he could not get a hearing.
In 1869 he sold his property of Fifth street, and built his beautiful residence on Pagoda hill, about four and a half miles north of the center of the city. Here he clustered around him his sons-in-law, in houses of their own, having a strong family attachment.
In December, 1875, death came upon him suddenly. The regret for his loss was wide-spread, for who knew Ross Browne or read his works that did not admire and respect him? His widow and a large family survive him. Oaklanders will ever refer to him with pride and pleasure, for after traversing all lands, looking out for an Eden of his own, he selected this spot as the one most in conformity with his ideal.
The Centennial Yearbook of Alameda County, California - Oakland, Calif., 1876 Pages 537-538
Transcribed by Peggy Allen, April 20, 2006