John Thomas Browne was an Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic

Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...

 Mayor of Houston, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

. He was instrumental in starting the Houston Fire Department

Houston Fire Department

City of Houston Fire Department is the agency that provides fire protection and emergency medical services for the city of Houston, Texas, United States, the fourth largest city in the United States...

 as a paid force. He served in that post from 1892 to 1896 and then in the Texas House of Representatives

Texas House of Representatives

The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...

 from 1897 to 1899 and again in 1907. He married Mollie Bergin on September 13, 1871 and was also known as "The Fighting Irishman" and "Honest John". He was a member of the Ancient Order of Hibernians

Ancient Order of Hibernians

The Ancient Order of Hibernians is an Irish Catholic fraternal organization. Members must be Catholic and either Irish born or of Irish descent. Its largest membership is now in the United States, where it was founded in New York City in 1836...

 and the Knights of Columbus

Knights of Columbus

The Knights of Columbus is the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization. Founded in the United States in 1882, it is named in honor of Christopher Columbus....

. He died of pneumonia

Pneumonia

Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...

 and was buried at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston

Glenwood Cemetery (Houston, Texas)

The Glenwood Cemetery is located at 2525 Washington Avenue in Houston, Texas. It was the first cemetery in Houston to be professionally designed and opened in 1871. The cemetery is situated between Washington Avenue on the North side and Memorial Drive on the South side, the latter overlooking...

.