Great-grandma found, as well

I was named for my father's mother's mother: Katherine Browning. She married James E. Markham on June 4, 1889 in St. Paul, Minnesota. I do not know where they met, but it is recorded in several places that she was born in Illinois in about 1868, that her mother (maiden name Harlow) was born in Massachusetts, and her father was born in Pennsylvania (or New York -- not clear). Apparently she had limited education: Katherine went to school through the 10th grade, and her sister graduated from high school.

Dad used to tell us that her father was a big-wig on the railroad and owned his own Pullman car. I have no idea which railroad, though of course St. Paul was the home of J.J. Hill, whose Great Northern railroad went through St. Paul. Owning a Pullman Car spoke of wealth, status and luxury far beyond our humble existence. I've been told by other people with the last name of Browning that all the Brownings in the USA are related, somehow. I'm sure it's true; it's true of the Lufkins, as well. But the connections are not close.

Katherine had two daughters: Arline (1890) and Leila (1892). Though by 1910 her marriage to James E. Markham had ended (whether in divorce or simply separation, I could not tell from the records), she kept the Markham name. I never met her, and she died on Feb 9, 1955, shortly after I was born. But for some years into my childhood I and my two sisters regularly received gifts from "Aunt Jessie" in mysterious California. It turns out that Katherine B. Markham had spent the end of her life with her (apparently never-married) sister Jessie Browning in Laguna Beach, California. They show up together on the 1940 Census. I vividly remember three black lacquer jewelry boxes we received one year. [Correction: My older sister Anne and Suzi say that those jewelry boxes were actually from Leila B. Markham.] Those were wonderful gifts, and I'm sure our mother thanked her very nicely for them. But I wish I could do so myself, now. Jessie was taking an interest in her closest relatives: her nephew James (named for her former brother-in-law), his wife Rosemarie (called "Friday") and three -- soon to be five -- children.

Because she is my namesake, I wish I could find out more about Katherine Browning Markham. Perhaps I can find her and her larger family in another family tree on Ancestry.com. I can see Dad making his French "that's too much money" gesture as I write this.