James City Virginia USGenWeb Archives Biographies.....Branch, Christopher Cary 1860 - 
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Joy Fisher http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00001.html#0000031 February 28, 2008, 4:44 pm

Author: Leonard Wilson  (1916)

CHRISTOPHER CARY BRANCH

THE Branch family in Virginia was founded by Christopher Branch, born in England
about the year 1600, presumably in the County of Kent. He married there early in
life, and with his wife, Mary Branch, whose maiden name is unknown, came to
Virginia in the ship "London Merchant," a vessel of three hundred tons, which
was despatched from England by the Virginia Company, in March, 1621, with two
hundred Colonists on board. He and his wife survived the great Indian Massacre
of 1622, were among those living when the census was taken after the Massacre in
Virginia, in 1623, and were living in 1624-25. They were included in the Henrico
muster, the records showing Christopher, his wife Mary, and his son Thomas, then
less than one year old, Christopher being given as an old resident, he having
then been in the Colony about four years. In 1634 he obtained patent to lands in
Henrico County, where his estates later came to be known as "Arrowhallocks" and
"Kingsland." The Branch family name is exceedingly ancient. James Branch Cabell,
in his work on the Branch family in Virginia, which he entitles "Branchiana,"
gives a long and most interesting legend showing that the name originated in the
Licinian Gens or family of Rome some three or four hundred years before Christ.
The Branch family, as we know by well authenticated records, is of Norman
origin. The Normans came into France five hundred years after the destruction of
the Roman Empire, and, as their name indicates, were Northmen or Norsemen. In
the one hundred and fifty years which elapsed since their coming into France and
their invasion of England they had, to some extent, become amalgamated with the
earlier French settlers, and their character somewhat modified, but this French
admixture had resulted in little more than getting the Norman imbued with the
ideas which prevailed during the age of chivalry. When they invaded England in
1066, they were more Northmen than Frenchmen.

    Among the followers of William who conquered England was a "Braunche," as
the old name always appeared in the earlier days, and in the Chronicle of John
Brompton, who lived about 1118, or fifty years after the Conquest, in the list
of what he terms the great men who crossed the sea with the conqueror appears
this "Braunche." In various lists the name appears from that day forward. That
the family name may have had its origin in Rome appears reasonable in view of
the fact that in France it was found under the form "Branche," and in Spain and
Italy, "Brance." The form in Normandy has been given; in England it became
"Branche," where the name has been thus spelled for the last four or five
hundred years. Even though the name came from Rome, there is no reason to
believe that the Norman-French family had any connection with that of Rome.

    The Virginia family, descended from the English, has had an authentic
history since 1066, or about eight hundred and fifty years. There is, indeed, a
very small number of families which have borne their present surname for so long
a period. The English Branches first settled in Wiltshire, and later in County
Kent. For the first four hundred years of the Branch family history in England
the records have but little to say. They were born, married, lived and died
among that great mass of people who contributed to the building up of England,
and they evidently did their share, as the possession of seven coats of arms in
different lines of the family would seem to indicate. It is doubtful whether
they would have won this recognition from the government if they had not
rendered real service in the building of the nation.

    In 1485 Sir John Branch was Lord Mayor of London, and he is credited with
being the progenitor of both the Virginia and the Massachusetts families, the
line of descent being from Sir John to his son William, to William's son John,
to Peter, grandson of John, who emigrated to Massachusetts in 1638, and to
Christopher, another grandson, who emigrated to Virginia in 1619. This is the
family from which is descended Christopher Cary Branch, of Toano, James City
County, Virginia, who was born at "Sunny Side" farm, near Toano, on April 4,
1860, a son of Cyrus Adolphus and Mary Eliza (Wilkinson) Branch. Cyrus Adolphus
Branch moved to James City from Chesterfield County, across the river from
Henrico, which section had been the main center of the family since 1634.

    Christopher read law under his uncle, Judge William Stanard, and during a
portion of the time when he was studying he lived with his uncle at his home in
Richmond. The old home is occupied at present by the Westmoreland Club. After
finishing his law course, being still too young to practice law, he went to
James City County and taught school for a year or two. He there met the lady
whom he married, who was the eldest daughter of Cary and Mary McCandlish
Wilkinson. He practiced his profession as a lawyer in James City County until
his death, in 1874. During the Civil War he served as a member of the Virginia
State Senate.

    Christopher C. Branch was educated in Hickory Neck Academy, Toano, Virginia,
and at William and Mary College, Williamsburg. Arriving at manhood, Mr. Branch
elected to become a farmer. This was a very natural choice. The majority of his
family for generations, indeed for ail the generations in Virginia, had been
farmers. It was in the blood. They had belonged to that old ruling class which,
prior to the Civil War, had made of the Southern planters the most notable class
of men of equal numbers anywhere in the history of the world. In becoming a
farmer, therefore, he was but following out the traditions of his forbears, and
showing the influence of heredity. But he was not content to sit down and be
just an average farmer, and so, bringing into play both intelligence and
education, he has developed a splendid estate, which is conducted according to
the most improved business methods. Both the production and the marketing of
crops arc given consideration, and this has yielded handsome returns for the
time and effort expended. He lives on what is called the "Peninsula," and the
"Peninsula" is known as a great potato section. Among growers of this necessity
of life he is one of the most successful.

    In addition to being successful in business Mr. Branch is a well informed
man on all questions of public interest and one who is mindful of the
obligations of good citizenship. He has served as Supervisor of his County, and
as School Trustee. He is a Master Mason, which means that he recognizes the
demands of human brotherhood. He is a Trustee of Olive Branch Christian Church,
which shows that he is not unmindful of the claims of religion. He was married
in the Olive Branch Church on Ocotber 27, 1897, to Laura Octavia Hammond, born
in New Kent County, Virginia, August 4, 1866, daughter of Francis Ward and Mary
Octavia (Henley) Hammond. The children of this marriage have been Gary Ward,
born July 31, 1900. and died May 30, 1902; Mary Mowbray, born in May, 1903;
Christopher Hammond, born September 15, 1905; Margaret Brewster, born July 8,
1907; and Catherine Taliaferro Branch, born February 3, 1909.

    The Virginia Branches have, as a rule, avoided holding public office, one
notable exception to this rule having been Anthony Martin Branch, born in
Buckingham County, Virginia, July 16, 1824, son of Samuel. His father, a
prominent lawyer, served in the War of 1812 as an ensign. He was a son of
Samuel(2), of Chesterfield County, who was a son of Samuel(1), who was descended
from Christopher, the emigrant. Anthony Martin Branch was a strong lawyer and a
finished orator. He went to Huntsville, Texas, in 1847; there practiced his
profession, and became an intimate friend of General Sam Houston, who made him
executor of his will. He served in both Houses of the Legislature, was for two
years a captain of cavalry in the Confederate Army, and for the rest of the war
was a member of the Confederate Congress.

    The North Carolina family, generally believed to have been descended from
Christopher, though one writer claims that they were of Scotch-Irish descent,
furnished very prominent figures in the public life of that State. There is no
evidence to bear out this statement of Scotch-Irish descent, and it is
distinctly not a Scotch-Irish name. Governor John Branch served as Governor of
North Carolina, as United States Senator and as Secretary of the Navy under
President Jackson. His son, Lawrence O'B. Branch, resigned from the Federal
Congress to enter the Confederate Army, rose to the rank of brigadier-general,
and fell at Sharpsburg, in 1862, while gallantly leading his brigade.

    Alpheus Branch was a merchant and banker who contributed largely to the
building up of Eastern North Carolina after the Civil War, when it had been
prostrated by the destruction caused by that great struggle.

    J. H. Lea, who prepared a pedigree of these early Branches, concludes that
Christopher Branch, the immigrant to Virginia, was a son of Lionel Branch (born
in 1566 and died about 1605), a grandson of William Branch, Gentleman, of
Abingdon, Berkshire, England. If Mr. Lea is correct in this, it disposes of the
contention that Christopher Branch was a grandson of William Branch, a
Protestant martyr under Queen Mary, and a great-grandson of the old Lord Mayor.
The lands patented by the original Christopher Branch then laid in Henrico
County, but in the later division of Counties it fell into what is now
Chesterfield. Christopher was a man of standing in his generation; he was
Justice of the Peace in Henrico, a much more important position in those days
than at present, in view of the fact that none but the most reputable citizens
were appointed to that position and their powers were larger than now. The
standing and good citizenship of the family is in evidence all through the
years, and in the course of two or three generations its ramifications became
very extensive, so much so that it would be impossible, within the limits of
this sketch, to even mention all the marriages and children of the various
generations so far as record can be found. One very interesting marriage worth
noting is that of Mary, daughter of William Branch (who was a son of
Chris-topher(2), and who, by her marriage with Thomas Jefferson, became the
grandmother of Thomas Jefferson, President of the United States.

    The family has never held back when the sons of the country were needed for
its defense. The Virginia records show that James, Edward and Benjamin Branch
were respectively ensign, first lieutenant and captain of the Chesterfield
company in the Revolutionary War. Benjamin Branch was a very prominent man in
his day. His son, Colonel Thomas Branch, was born in 1767, and had thirteen
children. The second Benjamin was an officer in the War of 1812, and E. H.
Branch appears as an officer in the regular army in 1820 credited to Virginia.
Of the sons of Colonel Thomas, David Branch, of Petersburg, was a member of the
Virginia State Senate; Dr. J. C. Branch was a physician of Petersburg; Thomas
Branch was a member of the Secession Convention of 1861; James R. Branch was a
lieutenant-colonel in the Confederate States Army; John P. Branch, of Richmond,
and Thomas P. Branch, of Augusta, Georgia, were prominent citizens of their
respective cities.

    Going back for a moment to the older time we find that Matthew Branch, Jr.,
was a Justice of Chesterfield in 1750, that Benjamin was a Revolutionary captain
and Sheriff of Chesterfield from 1780 to 1786, that Thomas Branch was a Justice
of Chesterfield in 1707, that Matthew was a Justice of Buckingham in 1793, that
Edward was a Justice of Chesterfield in 1801, and that Samuel Branch was a
Justice of Buckingham in 1S41. This recital is not without purpose. It is to
show to the reader that these men in the prosaic duties of civil life, which are
the very foundation stones of our civilization, did not hold back or shirk their
duties because there was a lack of emolument. They recognized the obligations
resting upon them as citizens, and discharged those obligations.

    In his immediate line, Christopher Cary Branch is the son of Cyrus Adolphus
Branch, who married Mary Eliza Wilkinson. Cyrus Adolphus Branch was the son of
Christopher and Catherine (Stanard) Branch. Cyrus Adolphus Branch was born July
10, 1825. His father, Christopher Branch, was the son of Christopher and Mary
Fleming Branch. This Christopher, born in 1788, was the son of Christopher and
Mary Archer Branch. Between this Christopher and Christopher(3), son of
Christopher, the immigrant, there is a break of two or three generations, which
no records, so far shown, seem to bridge. The old family Bible, something more
than one hundred years old, shows the full line of this branch of the family
from Christopher and Mary Fleming Branch down to Christopher Cary Branch, and it
is here appended as a matter of interest and future reference.

    Mary (Fleming) Branch, who died at Somerville January 31, 1807, in the
fifty-seventh year of her age, had three children: Christopher, Maria V. and
Cyrus Adolphus Branch.

    Cyrus Adolphus Branch was killed in a duel at Havana, Island of Cuba, on May
15, 1821, in the twenty-fourth year of his age. He was a midshipman in the
United States Navy and was attached at that time to the United States Schooner
"Enterprise."

    Christopher Branch married Catherine Yates Stanard, daughter of Larkin
Stanard, of Spottsylvania County, Virginia, on December 10, 1823. He died on
November 6, 1842, in the fifty-fourth year of his age. His illness was of short
duration. In the month of September he was seized with an attack of bilious
fever, from which he nearly recovered, but being imprudent he experienced
repeated relapses, and finally, on the above-mentiond day, breathed his last,
leaving the much-desired consolation to a bereaved family, of his acceptance
with God.

    Maria V. Branch died at the residence of John C. Stanard, her first cousin,
on East Franklin Street, Richmond, Virginia, in December, 1857, in her
sixty-eighth year.

    Christopher Branch married Catherine Y. Stanard, third daughter of Larkin
Stanard. They had four children. Cyrus Adolphus Branch, their first son, was
born July 10, 1825, and married on December 27, 1854, to Mary Eliza Wilkinson,
daughter of Gary Wilkinson, of James City County, Virginia, by his second
marriage. Christopher Branch died, supposedly of apoplexy, November 13, 1874. He
was returning from a session of New Kent Court, and his body was found in the
road between Barhamsville and Burnt Ordinary P. O.

    Hugh Beverly Branch, his second son, was born on October 5, 1827. He died
unmarried in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1848 or 1849. He was seized with yellow
fever on his return from Vera Cruz, Mexico, which terminated fatally.

    Victor Moreau Branch was born November 3, 1830, and was married to Julia H.
Bulkley, daughter of Captain William Bulkley, of Southport, Connecticut, on
October 4, 1860. He died January 13,1876, after many days of suffering from a
broken leg and rheumatism, in the City of St. Louis, and was buried in Greenwood
Cemetery, in that city, where a tombstone marks the grave. Julia H. Branch died
December 25, 1868.

    Henry Bernard Branch, the fourth son, was born September 5, 1833, and died
October 5, 1834, aged one year, one month.

    Catherine Y. Branch, the widow of Christopher Branch, died in the town of
Manchester, January 25, 1854, at half-past one A. M., in the fifty-eighth year
of her age. The deceased was stricken with paralysis on the night of the
twenty-first, which terminated fatally on the twenty-fifth.

    After the tragic death of Christopher's uncle, C. A. Branch, Victor was
named V. M. Randolph Branch, in honor of his uncle's friend, V. M. Randolph.

    Cyrus Adolphus Branch, the first son of Christopher and Catherine Y. Branch,
was married to Mary Eliza Wilkinson, December 27, 1854. They had five children:
Catherine Stanard Branch was born at "Merry Oaks," James City County, March 29,
1856, and was married October 17, 1882, to William B. Lamb, son of Junius Lamb,
of James City County. She was married at "Sunny Side."

    Mary Wilkinson Branch, the second child, was born at "Merry Oaks," James
City County, Virginia, May 15, 1858. She was married to Howard Gregory Spencer,
son of William L. Spencer, of James City County, February 5, 1879. One child was
born, March 5, 1880.

    Christopher Cary Branch was born at "Sunny Side," James City County,
Virginia, April 4, 1860.

    Cyrus Adolphus Branch was born August 9, 1862. At the time of the birth of
this child the country was in possession of the Yankees, and his father, a
member of the Virginia Senate, was compelled to flee from home. He was born at
"Sunny Side," James City County.

    Matilda Taliaferro Branch was born July 4, 1865, at "Sunny Side," James City
County, Virginia.

    Victor Moreau Branch, who married Julia Howard Bulkley, had four children:
William Randolph Branch, the first son, was born July 16, 1861, at North Ross
Street, Richmond, Virginia, a boarding house kept by Mrs. E. M. Duval; Aubin B.
Branch was born at Richmond, Virginia, Northeast Cary St., on January 19, 1865;
Charlotte Stanard Branch was born October 1, 1867, at Cary St., Richmond,
Virginia, and died on December 17, 1868. Julia Howard Branch, the youngest
child, died on December 25, at three o'clock A. M., 1868, aged thirty-five
years, twenty-five days.

    The Coat of Arms of this family, as brought to Virginia by Christopher
Branch, is as follows:

    Arms: Argent a lion rampant gules armed azure oppressed with a bend sable.

    Crest: Out of a ducal coronet or, a cock's head azure combed gules holding a
branch vert.


Additional Comments:

Extracted from:

MAKERS OF AMERICA
BIOGRAPHIES OF LEADING MEN OF THOUGHT AND ACTION

THE MEN WHO CONSTITUTE THE BONE AND SINEW OF AMERICAN PROSPERITY AND LIFE

VOLUME II

By
LEONARD WILSON,
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

ASSISTED BY PROMINENT HISTORICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL WRITERS
Illustrated with many full page engravings
B. F. JOHNSON, INC.
CITY OF WASHINGTON, U. S. A.
1916

Copyright, 1916
by
B. F. Johnson, Inc.

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