Christopher Branch (circa 1600-1681) was an early English settler in Colonial Virginia, tobacco planter, and a member and justice of the House of Burgesses. He was a three times great-grandfather of United States President Thomas Jefferson.

Early life and marriage

Coat of Arms of Christopher Branch

Branch was born in England around 1600.[1] or 1602. His parents were Lionel Branch and Valentia Sparks of London.[2] He married Mary Francis Addie, daughter of Francis Addie of Darton, Yorkshire, on September 2, 1619 in St. Peter's, Westcheap, London.[2]

Christopher and Mary Branch sailed to Virginia on the London Merchant in March 1621 and survived the Powhatan attack of 1622 the following year.[1][lower-alpha 1] They were living at Colledg Land in Henrico by February 1623[4] when their son Thomas was nine months old.[1][2] According to the William and Mary Quarterly, Thomas was born in 1623. They then had two more sons. William was born in 1625 and Christopher was born about 1627.[2] His granddaughter Mary became the great-grandmother of President Thomas Jefferson,[5] making him the three times great grandfather of the president.[3]

Career

Branch acquired land in Henrico (now Chesterfield) County on the south side of the James River and north of Proctors Creek beginning in or before 1634[2][lower-alpha 2] and established the Kingsland and Arrahattock Plantations.[1] Branch first settled at Arrahattock on the north side of the James River. The Kingsland Plantation, which grew to 450 acres by 1639,[3] was located across the river from Arrahattock.[2][lower-alpha 3] Branch operated a tobacco plantation[2] and due to a glut in the market, a limit of the tobacco crop to a percentage per planter was established by the Virginia General Assembly. The remainder of the tobacco crop was to be destroyed.[3]

In 1639 he was a member of the House of Burgesses from Henrico County[2] and was named a tobacco inspector that year. He was a member of the House of Burgesses again in 1641.[3] In 1656, he was the Justice of Henrico County.[6] He died in 1681[2] while living on the Kingsland Plantation. His wife, Mary, died many years earlier,[3] likely before 1630.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Or they may have sailed in March 1619/1620.[3]
  2. ↑ In 1634 Branch patented 100 acres (0.40 km2) of land in Henrico County, Virginia.[1] In September 1636, he patented land in the same section as the first patent, and on December 18, 1636, he patented 250 acres (1.0 km2) known as Kingsland Plantation.
  3. ↑ Remnants of Kingsland Plantation can be seen from Kingsland Road, which runs from Highway 5 across old Kingsland plantation to the James.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Wilson, Leonard (1916). Makers of America: Biographies of Leading Men of Thought and Action, the Men who Constitute the Bone and Sinew of American Prosperity and Life. B.F. Johnson. p. 471.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Tyler, Lyon Gardiner; Morton, Richard Lee (1917). The William and Mary Quarterly. William and Mary College. pp. 61–62.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "379 Years Ago in 1640..." Jamestowne Society. 4 February 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019. This site is a blog for a historical society, and the submissions are reviewed by the society's historian (i.e., there is an editorial function not commonly found on blogs).
  4. ↑ Colonial Records of Virginia. Genealogical Publishing Com. 28 August 2012. p. 37. ISBN 978-0-8063-0558-5.
  5. ↑ Randall, Willard Sterne (1994). Thomas Jefferson: A Life. Harper Collins. p. 3. ISBN 978-0-06-097617-0.
  6. ↑ The Era: An Illustrated Monthly Magazine of Literature and of General Interest. Henry T. Coates & Company. 1901. p. 570.
  7. ↑ Branch, C. J. (2018) [1907]. Branchiana. Franklin Classics Trade Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-5-87514-778-4.
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