Indian wars and pioneers of Texas Page: 860 of 894

                                
INDIAN WARS AND PIONEERS OF TEXAS.

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cock knew not fear. Fired by the reports of the
wonderful discoveries of gold in California in 1849
he saddled his mule and made the trip overland to
the gold diggings alone, through a trackless wilderness
inhabited only by savage Indians. He spent
two years in California, meeting with indifferent
success in his mining ventures.
Upon his return to Texas, he was unanimously
and almost immediately elected Tax-Assessor and
Collector for Travis County, a position for which
he was eminently qualified. He held the office
until his death, which occurred at Austin, November
22, 1853.
He was a man of strict integrity, fine education,
and great personal pride, and possessed a loyal
heart and business attainments of a high order.
The days in which he lived were the most troublous
and critical of any known to Texas history, and he
interested himself vitally in all issues involving the
good of his adopted country, and in all matters
pertaining to the safety of the young and growing
seat of government he was foremost. He figured
actively in what is known in history as the " Archive
War," the circumstances of which are set forth in
detail in the two-volume history of Texas .by Col.
John Henry Brown, and need not be recounted
here. He, with Col. Brown, participated in the
historic Plum Creek fight in 1840, the last of the
noted Indian encounters which settled the conquest
of civilization in Texas.
Mrs. Mary Philian Browning Glascock, his devoted
wife, still survives and is well known and
highly esteemed in the city of Austin, her life-long
home. There is much in the life and character of
this venerable and estimable lady that would grace
the pages of history. There are few living to-day
who have passed through the hazardous, trying
and exciting experiences that Mrs. Glascock has.
Her father, Capt. C. C. Browning, before mentioned,
came to Texas as early as the fall of 1836,
his family following in the spring of 1837. He
was a native of Greene County, Ga., and was born
February 9th, 1812, on a farm.
He came to Texas with, or at the same time, as
did his father, Daniel Browning, and they rented
land and pursued farming near Old Independence,
in Washington County, for one year, and later purchased
land and lived for three years near Gay
Hill, in the same county. In 1840 he removed to
Austin, and cleared and improved what has for
years been known as the old Goodrich place, near
Barton Springs.
He was reared in Alabama, and there met and
married Miss Penina Gunter, of Gunter's Landing.
Capt. Browning was one of the most intrepid and

daring of Indian fighters, and for years served in the
ranger service under Capt. D. C. Cady and later
under Capt. " Hi" Smith, in which he ranked as
Lieutenant of mounted rangers, and was in his saddle
almost constantly for years. He owned a horse
that seemed as aggressive and as much absorbed in
the warfare against the Indians as its owner, and
never flinched when duty demanded action. It is
said to have been the only horse in all the surrounding
country that would allow the lifeless form of a
man to be laid across its back, and one year Capt.
Browning brought into the town of Austin on the
back of this faithful steed, from various localities,
no less than eighteen victims of the Indian's deadly
arrows or bullets. He lived an active and selfsacrificing
life and died at his home, near Austin,
March 3d, 1871. Mrs. Penina Browning, his faithful
and devoted spouse, survived him for several
years. A lady of most excellent traits of character,
she possessed those qualities of mind and heart that
greatly endeared her to the whole community in
which she so long lived. With Christian fortitude
she patiently endured the many hardships incident
to pioneer life at Austin, having been several times
driven by the Indians from home. On one occasion
she was pursued, with her girl baby in her
arms; hid out of doors over night, and barely
escaped capture, which in those days proved inevitably
far worse than death. Hiding, however, her
child in a vacant house, she evaded capture and
returned at break of day to find her infant girl
safe and sound. This occurred at Austin, in 1846,
when her husband was away from home on ranging
duty.
Mrs. Penina Browning led a spotless life, well
worthy of 'emulation. She was for many years a
devout and consistent member of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, upon which she left the impress
of her many charitable deeds.
A noble woman 
she quietly passed to the life
beyond the tomb, November 13, 1882.
She had but two children, both daughters, who
survive her, viz.: Mrs. Glascock, before mentioned,
and Mrs. Sarah Elizabeth, widow of the late Rev.
J. M. Whipple, both of Austin.
It is fitting that in these memoirs some mention
be made of Capt. McLusky, the venerable stepfather
of Mrs. Penina Browning. He was a native
of Tennessee, and performed the part of a gallant
and efficient officer throughout the Creek War under
Gen. Jackson. After coming to Texas his advanced
age did not prevent him from incurring the dangers
and hardships of aggressive Indian warfare in defense
of Austin and surrounding settlements, when
the removal of the seat of government and other