In a message dated 4/24/01 8:24:56 AM, [email protected] writes: << Do any of your Brownings connect with the poet, Robert Browning? I was told many years ago that my line does, but I have no evidence. I was also told that the reason Elizabeth Barrett's family opposed her marriage to Robert was because of his mixed-race heritage. Anyone else have any information? >> Hello, My great-grandma, who was the granddaughter of William and Ellen Browning of eastern KY (in the mid 1800s) claimed their family was related to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, but i have never found any evidence that it was so. She also said that Ellen Browning, wife of William, and her grandmother, was a full-blooded indian. When my great-grandma's parents married (James Monroe Browning and Mary Ann Cooper), there were no family present (or no evidence of such, since none of the witnesses of the wedding- or bondsmen- were family members) and the wedding took place at a friend's home. I have wondered if that was because James Monroe was of mixed blood. My great-grandma admitted that her family on the Browning side were not really close, and that seems to be evidenced as they (according to the records i've found so far) seemed to have split apart and gone their separate ways in the late 1800s. That's all i know about mixed races among my Brownings, tho. I have not been able to find the parents of either William Browning or his wife Ellen (maiden name unknown). Donna in MT