Thomas Lee Broun was born on December 26, 1823, in Middleburg, Virginia. He graduated from the University of Virginia in 1848 and worked as a teacher in Middleburg for the next two years. He moved to Charleston, Virginia (present-day West Virginia), and studied law under George W. Summers. He was admitted to the bar in 1852 and began practicing law in Charleston. By 1860, he owned $10,000 of real estate and $3,000 of personal property.

 

Broun enlisted in the Confederate army on April 15, 1861, and he mustered in as a private in Company H of the 22^nd Virginia Infantry later that day. On August 15, 1861, he was promoted to major in the 3^rd Virginia Infantry. He fell ill with typhoid fever on October 15, 1861, and officials declared him “unfit for service.” He eventually returned to duty, and he became a quartermaster in 1862. He was severely wounded in the Battle of Cloyd’s Mountain on May 9, 1864.

 

He married Mary Fontaine in June 1866, and they had three children, including Fontaine, who was born around 1870. West Virginia prohibited former Confederates from practicing law for several years after the war. As a result, Broun settled in New York City after the war before returning to Charleston in November 1870. An early biographer declared him “one of the leading members of the [legal] profession in West Virginia.” He also served as president of the Coal River Navigation Company and director of the West Virginia Historical Society. He died in Charleston on March 3, 1914.

 

Image: Thomas Lee Broun (The Biographical Encyclopedia of the United States)

SOURCES