A couple of weeks ago I emptied one of my filing cabinets to use for something else and ran across some genealogy files that I have not worked on for a long time. I thought that enough time has passed that I might just find some new material about the line.
The process was simple enough. I went on line and used Google. I typed a name into the search area and things just began to open up. I looked at a lot of material that has been added to the web in the last few years. I found some branches I have never seen before.
When I say that I found branches, that is just what I mean. I have a Branch line on my family tree. My great-great-great grandfather was a Branch. This is the line that I have the most material on and it has been fun checking it out. After looking at many websites I have been able to find some new things to add to the family tree.
My ancestor was John W. Branch (1822) who married Emily Hook. John W. Branch was the son of William Branch who was a constable in Colleton County, S.C.
William Branch died in 1850. Several generations back, I know one ancestor, who was the first to come to America was a Christopher Branch, who arrived in Virginia in 1620 on the London Merchant along with his wife, Mary Addie, and their small child. He served in the House of Burgesses and lived on a plantation called Kingsland in Chesterfield (later Henrico) County.
I descend from their son, Thomas, and Thomas’s sister, Mary, married Thomas Jefferson, who was the grandfather of President Thomas Jefferson. Now we are getting far enough back to easily find information about the lines.
Christopher Branch was the son of Lionel Branch who lived and died in Abington, England. As luck would have it, there was a lot written about the Branch family in Abington in the Virginia Magazine of History.
Lionel Branch is written about as not being too involved in things, but his father, William Branch was well known in Abington. He was the governor of the hospital of Holy Cross for 44 years and was also mayor of Abington from 1566-1572.
William married Catherine Jennings and from here the ancestry can be traced back further on her lines than the Branch family can, although I do have a few more generations of Branches.
Next week I will tell you some more about these people. It gets very interesting, especially the ones that are listed in Wikipedia.