John Browne was born in about 1638 and arrived in Virginia in 1659 or 1660. Although he initially resided in Henrico County, he later moved south, settling near the Blackwater River near the Virginia-North Carolina Boundary. There he occasional interactions with Nottoway and Meherrin American Indians. In 1707 he gave a deposition in support of North Carolina's boundary claim with Virginia. He died sometime after October 1710.