Attn: Jim Burgess The book, TRACKING THE PIONEERS II: A History of Browning Families of Southern West Virginia, is still available for purchase. This volume was researched and compiled by Stanley C. Browning of Salt Lake City, Utah, and is one in a series by the author dealing with the pioneer settlers of Wyoming County and Southern West Virginia. The book may be purchased on line at www.LULU.com for a price of $37.50 plus shipping charges. To place an order, go to <http:// www.lulu.com/content/284490> and follow the instructions. You can also link to a preview of the book from that page. To visit Stan Browning's Storefront, go to www.lulu.com/stanbrowning. The book may also be purchased directly from the author, at a cost of $37.50 plus $6.00 for handling and shipping. For those purchases, please submit your check or money order for $43.50 to: S. C. Browning P.O. Box 71314 Salt Lake City, UT 84171 For further information, please contact the author at: e-mail: [email protected] Phone: 801-944-3538 Proceeds from the sale of this book are being used to place copies in selected libraries throughout the USA. Readers should submit suggestions for candidate libraries to the author. BOOK PREVIEW TRACKING THE PIONEERS II A History of Browning Families of Southern West Virginia This book focuses on the early Browning settlers who originally came to Logan County, (West) Virginia and who, with their descendants, became the main progenitors of Browning families primarily in present-day Logan, Mingo, Wyoming, Lincoln, Wayne and Boone Counties, West Virginia. The study encompasses two main groups: (1) those who came from Russell County Virginia, and were descendants of Enos Browning, and (2) those who came from Caswell County, North Carolina, and were descendants of William Browning, Sr. A theory as to how the two may be related is also given. Enos Browning’s sons, Francis and Edmund, and their families, settled on Island Creek and tributaries in Logan County about 1823. Betsy Browning, daughter of Enos, probably accompanied her two brothers to Logan County and her descendants figured prominently in the settling of the region. In 1850, a third son of Enos, John W. Browning, and his grown son, Edmund Browning, came to Wyoming County from Russell County via Mercer County, (West) Virginia. About the time that Enos Browning’s sons arrived on Island Creek, sons of William Browning, Sr. of Caswell County came to the Guyandotte River and established farms adjacent to the river and on tributaries near the present towns of Gilbert and Justice, West Virginia. Descendants of William Browning, Sr. quickly branched out to Buffalo Creek near present-day Man, Logan County, West Virginia, and to the Clearfork drainages of Wyoming County. Subsequently, the sons and grandsons of the original Logan County settlers expanded into areas of present Lincoln, Boone, and Wayne Counties, West Virginia. Most of those in the Gilbert area became a part of Mingo County when it was formed in 1895 and others became inhabitants of the “lower end” of Wyoming County. John W. Browning families located principally on Rockcastle Creek and Turkey Creek in Center District near the present city of Pineville in Wyoming County. This book is the result of many years of research by the author to gather credible data, traditional views and conclusions relating to his Southern West Virginia Browning ancestors and relatives, and to consolidate the results into a single reliable Browning family history research reference book. The principal sources of information were the federal, state, county and parish records, such as are available, from regions where the Browning families are known to have lived. Where no such records are known to exist, it was necessary to resort to more traditional sources. Early contemporary writings were favored over the myriad of recent Internet compilations to determine the course of the investigations. A critical evaluation was made of currently favored theories that have been proposed to explain the origin of the “Southern Line of Brownings,” and thus the Southern West Virginia Families. The book traces the history of the southern West Virginia Browning families from Gloucester, Bristol, England, to Logan County and beyond according to the contemporary theory that they descend from Robert Thomas Browning, who first settled in Virginia and later in Cecil County, Maryland. The crux of this approach is whether the first Francis Browning recorded in Virginia can be credibly linked to John and Thomas Browning of Maryland. The proposed connection between the English Ancestors and the first Francis Browning in Virginia was analyzed and circumstantial justification for the premise is given. Extensive pedigree charts and discussions are presented that show the straight-line ancestry from the first settlers in early Logan County to Thomas Browning and his wife Hester of early Virginia, Maryland and England. The charts and associated interpretation extend to the children and many other descendants of the original Browning settlers in Southern West Virginia. Conclusions are given concerning potential family connections between the various Browning settlers of early Southwestern Virginia (Now West Virginia). This necessarily broadened the analyses to other members of the Southern line of Brownings in early Virginia and North Carolina. Many of the actual Browning marriage, birth, death, tax, census and land records, recorded on microfilm by the Utah Genealogical Society at county courthouses and state archives, were transcribed and are presented in the book as reference charts. Many of the desired records never or no longer exist, and, in such cases, information from other accepted sources may have been used. Several photographs of Browning ancestors in early Southern West Virginia are exhibited as a “Photo Gallery.” Other exhibits include computer-enhanced copies of selected actual historical documents. This approximately 450-page reference book was researched and compiled by Stanley C. Browning, a fifth-generation descendant of Revolutionary War veteran Enos Browning whose descendants were among the first to settle in what is now southern West Virginia. Stanley grew up at Matheny and attended high school at Oceana, Wyoming County, West Virginia. He attended West Virginia University where he received Bachelors and Masters degrees in mechanical engineering and taught in the Engineering Mechanics department at WVU for three years. Following college, Stanley worked in the aerospace industry engaged in rocket propulsion design and research. He is retired and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he devotes much of his time to family research and studies and investigations of the pioneer families of Wyoming County, West Virginia. On Oct 25, 2007, at 9:06 AM, Jim wrote: > Dear Logan County, Virginia Genealogist, > > > > Since the list is so quiet I am wondering if you might be willing > to share > information on Logan > > County ,Boone, Mingo and Wyoming County Family Histories that have > been > written. > > > > Can you provide all the information? > > Book Title > > Author, > > Year Published > > Publisher > > # Pages > > 10 Major families mentioned in the book > > Is it still available? > > If so where can the book be purchased. > > > > Is the author living or deceased? > > > > Also please list books that are in the process of being written. > > > > I will compile the list and share it with the group. > > > > Stan Browning, > > > > Can you please help us with a format for listing this information? > > > > Also please send us the information on the books that you have > written. > > > > Thanks > > Jim Burgess > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to WVWYOMIN- > [email protected] with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes > in the subject and the body of the message