The Monroe County Board of County Commissioners held a dedication ceremony for the Judge Jefferson B. Browne Courtroom Complex on Thursday afternoon, February 10, 2005 at 500 Whitehead Street, Key West. Many dignitaries from Monroe County were on hand to celebrate the event. Speakers included Mayor Pro Tem Sonny McCoy, Harry Knight, Chief Judge Richard Payne, and Judge Browne’s great granddaughter, Beverly Lynn Browne Marinaro. An invocation was given by Reverend Steve Torrence, Key West Police Department, and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office Honor Guard was on hand for the presentation of colors. Jacque Jordan sang the Star Spangled Banner.
The courtroom complex is named in honor of Judge Jefferson B. Browne.
Born: June 4, 1857, Key West
Died: May 4, 1937, Key West
Married: in 1889 Francis A.
Children: Joseph F. Browne, Susan Browne Keating
Jefferson Browne attended school in Key West and Brookville Academy in Maryland. He graduated from Kenmore University High School in Amherst, Virginia in the mid 1870s. He became a lighthouse keeper at Fowey Rocks lighthouse for fifteen months. He left to attend the law school of the University of Iowa.
In 1880, Browne returned to Key West where he became the City and Monroe County Attorney: Browne resigned these posts in 1886 to become postmaster of Key West He left the post office in 1890 to run for the Florida Senate where he served until the 1893 session. During the 1891 session Browne was elected president of the Senate.
Jefferson Browne was a delegate to the Democrat National Conventions of 1888, 1904 and 1908, hi 1912 he was chairman of the Florida Electoral Delegation to the Electoral College. His only political failure was for the Democrat Gubernatorial Nomination in 1892.
From 1893 to 1897 he served as collector of customs in Key West. From 1904 to 1907 he was chairman of the Florida Railroad commission. He served on the Florida Supreme Court from 1916 to 1925 and was chief justice from 1916 to 1923. From 1923 to his death he served as judge in the twentieth judicial circuit in Miami and Key West.
Browne was a member of the Elks, Rotary Club and Knights of Pythias. Founded the Key West Rotary Club. He was president of the Florida Bar Association in 1910. Browne did legal writing and verse but today he is best known for his history of Key West “Key West The Old and The New.”
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