- Trades & Craftsmen -

Browning Gun Shop & Home
LOCATION: Main Street

Jonathan and Elizabeth Browning first settled in Quincy, Illinois, where Jonathan was a successful farmer, blacksmith, and gunsmith. They accepted the Restored Gospel in 1840 and briefly moved to Nauvoo. Jonathan worked as a blacksmith and gunsmith. The couple had twelve children, ten of whom lived in their Nauvoo home. The family eventually settled in Ogden, Utah, where the Browning Arms company is still based.

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360° Walk-Through

Take a look inside the Browning Gun Shop & Home  right from your computer or smart phone by checking out our 360° Photos. Click on the links during the tour to continue through the house.

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Image Gallery

Peek inside the Browning Gun Shop & Home as you scroll through our Image Gallery.

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Browning Gun Shop & Home
The two-story brick home was originally built by Benjamin and Margaret Bird in 1843, but they sold it to the Browning’s after a few months. Benjamin later settled in Springville, Utah. The home passed through several owners but was eventually acquired by the Church for restoration in the 1970s.
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Parlor
Jonathan and Elizabeth were curious about the Gospel preached by Latter-day Saint refugees arriving in Quincy in 1838, but they wanted to be sure what sort of people they were. Their encounters over time, along with honest opinions of other businessmen, helped them decide to be baptized.
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Parlor
The Browning’s were in this home only about one year, returning for a while to their farm in Adams County, Illinois, before heading west.
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Sitting Room
After the Browning’s left Nauvoo, the Church acquired the house for Lucy Mack Smith to use. While there, she dictated her family’s history, in particular the life and ministry of her son, Joseph.
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Sitting Room
Most women in the 19th century considered sewing an essential skill, one that Elizabeth would have passed on to her daughters.
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Gun Room
When Browning purchased the home, he added the gunsmith and blacksmith portion of the complex, as well as this middle section.
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Gun Room
Guns on display in this room come mostly from the Utah period and were developed by his son and grandsons. They credit his faith, devotion to family, and innovative skills for their own success.
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Gun Room
When the Saints left Nauvoo, the Browning’s joined them on the journey west. Brigham Young assigned them to stay at Winter Quarters to help other migrants by repairing guns and wagons. Jonathan used the time to improve some of his designs, including a repeater rifle.
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Gun Room
In Utah, Jonathan served as a justice of the peace and held other civic positions while he built his gunsmith business. His son, John Moses, is credited with 128 gun patents. Many of his designs and innovations are still in use today.
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Gun Shop
In the gunsmith shop, visitors watch a demonstration of a rifling jig—how rifling lines were formed inside a gun barrel to improve velocity and accuracy.
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Gun Shop
Once a gun barrel was formed, a cutting tool was drawn by hand back and forth inside the barrel about 200 times to create each of seven grooves needed to make the bullet spin.
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Gun Shop
Tools of the trade.
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Gun Shop
A forge was necessary in a gunsmith shop.
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Bedroom
The Bird’s built a log cabin on the site before they built their brick home. This room shows where a bedroom was.
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Kitchen
The rocking butter churn, while not original to the home, is an example of frontier efficiency. A baby could be rocked on top while the butter was made inside.
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Log Kitchen
The log home was reconstructed after excavation work determined the location and size of the walls, chimney, and root cellar.
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