In the Tops of the Mountains: Jonathon Browning

Technique & Style

Figurative, Painting

Figures

Jonathon Browning

Symbols

gun, mountain

Notes

“This is one of a series of paintings I have created about my ancestors who settled in the ‘top of the mountains’ (Isaiah 2:2). Jonathan Browning, my third-great-grandfather was born October 1805 in Tennessee. When he was 14, he bought a broken gun from his neighbor, fixed it, and sold it for four dollars. This began his career as a gunsmith and an inventor. He joined the Church in Quincy, Illinois, after meeting Joseph Smith. He soon moved to Nauvoo and set up a gunsmith shop. Later, when Browning wanted to join the Mormon Battalion, Brigham Young asked him to help prepare the pioneers to travel west. He himself emigrated in 1852, settling in Ogden. In addition to being a gunsmith, Jonathan had a gristmill, a tannery and a shoe store, a brickyard, and two farms. He was the town judge and also a state representative.” —Rob N. Adamson

Exhibition History:

• “Our Heritage of Faith,” Church History Museum online exhibition, 2005

Church Name

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints