Gordon Browning

Browning's path to the governor's office ran through E. H. Crump. The Memphis boss backed Nathan Bachman against him in the 1934 Senate primary, and Browning lost by about 166,000 votes to 121,000. In 1936 Crump endorsed him once it was clear he could win without Shelby County. As governor, Browning signed the 1937 Debt Reorganization Act, which consolidated a state debt that had passed $100 million; over ten years it fell by 40 percent. He also created a Department of Conservation and a civil service merit system, and his 1948 comeback helped break Crump's power.

What the plaque says

Gordon Browning 1889-1976 Governor Browning was born in Carroll County. After graduating from Cumberland Law School in 1915, he began practicing in Huntingdon. He commanded Battery D, 114th Field Artillery in France in World War I. In 1922 he was elected to Congress and served six terms, and in 1937 he was inaugurated as governor. During World War II Colonel Browning served in Military Government in the Belgrum - Luxembourg Mission and in Germany. Reelected governor of Tennessee in 1948, he held office until 1953.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Big Cypress Tree State Park — 20 mi
  A small floodplain park on the Middle Fork of the Obion River, named for a bald cypress that stood 175 feet tall before lightning destroyed it in 1976.
• Davy Crockett Cabin — 20 mi
  A restored cabin and museum in Rutherford for the last Tennessee home of David Crockett, who broke with Andrew Jackson over Indian removal.
• Natchez Trace State Park — 28 mi
  A New Deal state park built on worn-out West Tennessee farmland, where the Fairfield Gullies show what erosion did and kudzu was planted to stop it.

More markers nearby

• Hale Junior High School — 15 mi
• Bethel College — 16 mi
• Isaac R. Hawkins — 16 mi
• Samuel Cole Williams — 16 mi