An earlier post discussed the African American soldiers who were selected for officers’ training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa.  ( http://www.kansasww1.org/the-african-american-soldier-kansans-at-fort-des-moines/  ) We return to that list with another brief biography of one of the men.

1st Lieutenant Howard Reginald Manlius Browne was born at Kansas City, Kansas on November 28, 1885.  It’s a little unclear as to what qualified Browne for the officers’ training school; he either had to be or had been a non commissioned officer or a college graduate.  There being no suggestion of previous military service, the assumption here is that he was a college graduate.   He would serve in the 370th Regiment of the 93rd Division, and left the service as a captain.  He served from June 12, 1917 until February 20, 1919.

The 1920 census shows that he was a chauffeur in a transfer company, which appears to have been his own business.  Ten years later he was deputy clerk in the Wyandotte County Registry of Deeds.

Browne passed away August 9, 1961 at the Kansas City, Missouri VA Hospital.  He was buried at the Fort Leavenworth National Cemetery.

Of some interest is that on October 14, 1940, Congress approved a payment to Browne of $137.00, for full settlement of baggage and property lost at La Nue, France, on or about June 14, 1918.  We don’t know what the property was.

Blair Tarr is the Museum Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society. He oversees the three-dimensional collections of the Society, but has special interests in the Civil War, Wichita-made Valentine diners, and Leavenworth's Abernathy Furniture. In the last few years he has also done a lot of cramming on The Great War. He is a past president of the Kansas Museums Association and the Civil War Round Tables of both Kansas City and Eastern Kansas. He is currently a board member of the Heritage League of Greater Kansas City.