7 decorative wall plates that belonged to my Great Grandmother, Therese D. Browning. I have these plates now that my father has moved up to Saratoga. He grew up in Rye, NY. But, he rarely speaks of this childhood home, or the connection to Manursing Island, in Rye. I think the plates came into his possession after my Grandmother, Therese Browning Holmes ("Poodle" to us grandchildren-because of her fondness for standard poodles) passed away. Even then, my father did not mention the history of the Browning family to me, and so what I have learned is mostly from a "Genealogy of the Brownings in America, from 1621 to 1908". It would take too long to go back to the original Brownings that arrived in this country in 1621, but suffice it to say they were farmers originally, and land owners. However, my descendants, (my 3 times great grandfather), moved to New York City in 1833, to make his fortune in the textile business. And my 2 times great grandfather was born there, that same year. His son, William Hull Browning, went into the family clothing business, Browning, King & Co., and his wife Therese Dimick Fletcher built the house on the property on Manursing Island in Rye, sometime around the end of the 19th century. The plates depict the home and the gardens throughout the seasons, painted sometime in the early 1920's. I know my great grandparents were avid horticulturalists, and that my great grandfather was known to have a keen interest in birds, and was said to have a remarkable aviary on the property, with birds from all over the world. 

– Shawn Holmes

Relationship:  Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more Great-grandchild of im/migrant or more