Jefferson B. Browne

Jefferson Beale Browne (June 6, 1857 – May 4, 1937) was a public official and legislator who also served as a justice of the Florida Supreme Court from 1917 to 1925, including service as chief justice from 1917 to 1923.

Born in Key West, Monroe County, Florida, to businessman and politician Joseph Beverly Browne and Anne (Neives) Browne, Browne's "first job after graduating from high school was as assistant keeper on Fowey Rocks Lighthouse". As a lighthouse keeper, Browne was able to dedicate his long hours of isolation to studying the law. He then received a law degree from the University of Iowa. Browne thereafter had "a hopscotch career", including stints as a "county surveyor, postmaster, city attorney, president of the Florida Senate, U.S. Customs collector at the port of Key West, chief justice of the Florida Supreme Court, and chairman of the Florida Railroad Commission". In 1912, Browne wrote a history of Key West, Key West: The Old and the New.

Browne died in Key West.