Branchscapes, The Bookshelf

Bibliography on Branch

…the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Information is good and bad. True and false and somewhere in between. I love a good research book that is rich with information. I love finding classic genealogical sources scanned and available online. Recognize that not everything is scanned and online so you must try out libraries and archives to unearth those gems that may unlock the past. In particular, we now have access to an ever growing plethora of scanned original documents that are challenging to decipher but which may hold the key to a genealogical search. However note that every resource may not be “good”. Some had limitations of time and place and may present information that is not factual or correct. Genealogical research always will have limitations and imperfections. This is what I have found:

 

1. SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS REVOLUTIONARY WAR PENSION STATEMENTS AND ROSTERS. https://revwarapps.org/ .

This is an absolutely wonderful website where you can search for your Rev War ancestor. The statements often illuminate wonderful life details you’d never find elsewhere. I salute the diligent researchers who have volunteered to transcribe these applications. Note that every soldier is not here or mentioned. These are the long lived veterans like Burrell Branch of Duplin that lived until a pension was passes by Congress in 1832 some almost 50 years after the Rev War ended; Burrell was close to 80 years old. Or these are widows like Elizabeth Branch who was much younger than Col John Branch and needed that pension benefit.

2. NC GEN REGISTER: Online genealogical reference books are hugely helpful. “The North Carolina historical and genealogical register” by Hathaway, James Robert Bent, 1831-1904, [from old catalog] ed; Ray, Worth Stickley, 1877 can be found at https://archive.org/stream/northcarolinahi00hathgoog/northcarolinahi00hathgoog_djvu.txt

It’s especially useful when you do a “find” text search. Just keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive collection of records. Its just one part of the pie so to speak. So if your relative is not in here, just look more diligently elsewhere. The transcriptions to the website have errors sometimes, the original book has errors but it is useful. Use it as a starting point and try to find original documents. Also note that when I search for “Branch” a ton of stream name popup. Every name has challenges.

3. NC ARCHITECTS WEBSITE: North Carolina Architects & Builders, A Biographical Dictionary. NC State Libraries Website: https://ncarchitects.lib.ncsu.edu/ Useful info on Issachar Branch of early Perquimans County NC that is not found anywhere else. Issachar Branch is mentioned from the 1700’s.
4. NCSU BUILT HERITAGE: NC State University Libraries, Rare & Unique Digital Collections, Built Heritage: The Cellars in Enfield NC, the seat of Gov. Branch’s family. https://d.lib.ncsu.edu/collections/catalog/bh1224pnc001#?c=&m=&s=&cv=&xywh=-619%2C166%2C5871%2C3159
5. GRIMES NC WILLS: Grimes, John Bryan. North Carolina. Secretary of State. Abstract of North Carolina Wills: Compiled from Original and Recorded Wills and published 1910. Very useful for NC Genealogy but don’t think that this is complete by any means. If you find a will here, try to find the original scanned image to check the information. My two Branch wills have serious errors in this book that I will discuss on the blog. It is a very useful resource but check all the information that you find here. Transcription errors abound. In East Carolina University’s digital archives: https://digital.lib.ecu.edu/13766.
6. TAYLOR & BRANCH of NASHVILLE: Ford, Ethel Taylor. Thomas Taylor and Benjamin Branch of Nashville, Tennessee and related families was written by Ethel Taylor Ford in 1972. A lot of this book is fantastic but the Halifax Branch family is wrong. Very useful for Branch families with early Tennessee ancestors. Digital Version is at https://www.familysearch.org/search/catalog/154989? I found this online but now its on Ancestry and searchable.
7. “WITHIN THE LINES” BOOK: Branch, Mary Polk Memoirs of a Southern Woman “Within the Lines,” and a Genealogical Record Chicago: The Joseph G. Branch Publishing Co., c1912. Mrs. Branch wrote a fascinating book but it is based on the only info available to her and she purports that Christopher Branch founded the line that led to her family. WRONG WRONG WRONG. BUT she did the best with what she had at the time. At the time James Branch Cabell had written in 1907 “Branchiana” which was his history of the Virginia Branch family that originated with Christopher Branch of London. So Christopher Branch was a Jamestown era figure available to contemporary readers without alternatives for their genealogies. Unknown in the courthouses of Southampton VA or Isle of Wight VA were clues about George Branch. Mrs. Branch tried to connect with the only southern Branch immigrant to Virginia that she knew of. It was almost logical given the geographic proximity. But today we have far more resources to review and we have DNA. Using DNA, we have determined that colony era men such as Christopher Branch and George Branch were not in fact related. Nonetheless, Mrs. Branch’s book is worth a read. You can read it online at UNC’s fabulous website: https://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/branch/menu.html
8. UNC HISTORIC MAPS: UNC libraries North Carolina Maps. https://web.lib.unc.edu/nc-maps/ Extremely useful maps that you can zoom in on. You can find details and names that are very illuminating to understanding your ancestor’s context. I use this all the time. However, just check on lots of locations as I once found a Pitt County map for the Civil War in another county. Civil War maps are especially useful as some locations have a lot of family names on the maps.
9. COUNTY FORMATION MAPS: http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nc/state2/amap/nccf.html You are missing out if you don’t consult these maps. I am a native of NC and I still have to remind myself of the changing county boundaries that relates to genealogy. A county in the early 1700’s such as Craven or Bladen or New Hanover is often the super mother-county of many other counties. Note: These changing county boundary animations are also available for other states. Super useful.
10. COLONIAL RECORDS ONLINE: See this UNC website. Documenting the American South: Colonial and State Records of North Carolina. https://docsouth.unc.edu/  Excellent way to search NC colonial records which are transcribed. When you can check other sources to verify. However, one record pertaining to Branches is wrong. George Branch is listed in the index as receiving a grant in Onslow of 300 acres in 1750; upon further investigation it is a “George Brack” or Brock. The lesson here is if it sounds wrong investigate other sources.

11. THE WASHINGTONS OF WESSYGTON PLANTATION:This book by John F. Baker, Jr. in 2009 traces enslaved persons and the families that enslave them on a 1796 journey from Southampton Virginia to White Creek, Tennessee north of Nashville.  Some of the families are related to the Benjamin Branch/Nancy Niblett.  This is an excellent book and I was interested in the bit about the trip walking to Tennessee over a three month period.

12. HISTORY OF EDGECOMBE COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA:Classic book by John Luther Bridges and Joseph Turner Kelly. 1920. Text is available at Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/20011651/ The operative term here is 1920 and remember we have info available now that was not available to Bridges.
13. THE BUILDERS OF THE OLD NORTH STATE:This 1968 book is by Marshall Delancey Haywood.  Chapter 3 is about “John Branch, Jacksonian Statesman”.  Haywood offers one of the longest, most complete short biographies of Gov. Branch short of a separate book. It has excerpts from his speeches and quotes from his letters or his children’s letters offering insight into his politics and personality.
14. TWELVE NORTHTAMPTON COUNTY , NORTH CAROLINA FAMILIES, 1650-1850. Rebeeca Leach Dozier wrote this in 2004. While the contents are about families other than Branch, I did find a few valuable tidbits in the Parker section.  Don’t discount a genealogy book or website as an obscure transaction with another family might yield key knowledge. In this case, Peter Parker purchased land from John Branch early in the colony.  240 acres was sold when Bertie (on west side of the Chowan River) was called Chowan.  The time period was before Parkers 1720 will.  So this was likely the John Branch who married Ann Browne and sold her dower land in 1718.
15. STEVEN BUTLER’S FAMILY HISTORY WEBSITE: Very well written website about Christopher Branch of London that settles in Colonial Virginia in 1620. Helpful transcriptions of wills and a direct link to James Branch Cabell’s 1911 book Branch of Abingdon.
16. BRANCH FAMILY HISTORY: Excellent website with lots of opulent photographs of the Branch family of Richmond VA.   This is worth a read to understand the descendants of this Branch group.  https://branchfamilyhistory.com/genealogy/  These are descendents of the gentleman colonist, Christopher Branch.  *** Note that the item below on their website is not correct but is found in several publications:

17. BRANCH OF ABINGDON:  Online text for 1911 book by James Branch Cabell.  Website is LOC, Library of Congress.  “Branch of Abingdon, Being a Partial Account of the Ancestry of Christopher Branch of “Arrowhattocks” and “Kings’land” in Henrico County, and the Founder of the Branch Family in Virginia.  https://www.loc.gov/item/12025798/  Abingdon is in England near the college town of Oxford.

18. Branchiana; being a partial account of the Branch family in Virginia: By James Branch Cabell, 1907.  Online copy of this book:  https://archive.org/details/branchianabeingp00cabe/page/n9/mode/2up

18. Br

Written by Dawn Branch King, Ayden, NC.

(Additional info, March 12, 2025)