In a single generation, members of the Levi Branch family, in one generation, leave Duplin County, North Carolina in 1823 for west Tennessee, then travel on to Missouri and finally arriving at the frontier of Kansas in 1851. Then the next generation in 1880 migrates farther west to Oregon and the Pacific Coast.
The Levi Branch family of North Carolina has been a puzzle to solve. Sometimes genealogical clues lead us astray and other seemingly minor clues confirm major theories. Such is that with the finding of a Stephen Massey in Tennessee in 1838 court records who was connected to Levi Branch of Duplin County NC and who illuminates that family’s journey.
Levi Branch (1792-1823) of Duplin County, NC
Note that several genealogies link a Levi Branch that married in 1813 North Carolina with a Levi Branch who died in 1849 Missouri. These cannot be the same man. The Levi Branch that married Nancy Branch in 1813, was on the North Carolina Census of 1820 in Duplin, NC and his estate is found in probate court in 1824 in Duplin County, NC. Levi Branch of North Carolina was estimated to be born around 1792 due to his marriage date of 1813 with an approximate age of 21 at his marriage. And Levi died in late 1823 at about the age of 31. This Levi (Sr.) never left North Carolina before his death. It is his son that is found in later records in Tennessee and Missouri with his death in 1849. Neither Levi Jr. nor Levi Sr. have a surviving gravestone.
Levi Branch marries Nancy Branch witnessed by Benjamin Branch
When Levi Branch married Nancy Branch in 1813, it seems that they were cousins of some type. The marriage was held not in Duplin County but in nearby Cumberland County likely near today’s Fayetteville then called Cross Creek. The witness was Benjamin Branch of Cumberland County who owned land at a profitable ferry on Lock’s Creek having purchased it from the prominent William Lord in 1803.
Who was Benjamin Branch? Circumstantial evidence points to Benjamin Branch as being the parent of Nancy Branch in 1813. The evidence includes:
- The wedding was in his location Cumberland County. Benjamin Branch moved there in 1803, and was on the 1810 census.
- Susannah Massey Branch was his wife as they married in 1794. Nancy named her first daughter likely after her mother, Susan Branch.
- Also in Cumberland in 1810 there was a Jesse Branch and son James Branch. Note that in 1823 William Lord, friend of Benjamin, marries a daughter of Jesse Branch, Ann Branch. Her father, Jesse Branch is awarded land as part of the marriage contract.
- Benjamin Branch’s origins are a bit uncertain. Jesse Branch of Cumberland may be his father or Benjamin Branch of Northampton NC may be a candidate.
Who was Levi’s father? Evidence may be set forth that Jesse Branch of Cumberland (1762-1824) had roots in Duplin County before his move to Cumberland. Also in 1776 Jesse was a soldier in the Revolution. After the war, in 1784, Jesse Branch (Sr.) traded land in New Hanover County for land in Duplin. His transaction was with John Swinson who traded the land with Jesse. Another Swinson that lived in the area was Levi Swinson and there may have been kinship there. Bottom line is there are few men named Levi in Duplin County. Levi Swinson may have been the namesake for Levi Branch born 1795.
Levi Branch died in North Carolina in 1823. He was a young man having been married only ten years. Birth dates for his children are approximate and have varied in census records.
These are his five children fathered by Levi Branch before his death in 1823:
- Susan Elizabeth Branch (Rucker): (ca 1814-1868) Not 1822 as reported 1860 census
- Elizabeth Ellen Branch (Lewis) (ca 1816- 1909)
- William Branch: (ca 1818 -1875) (1818 birth, apprenticeship of 1835)
- Eliza Jane Branch (Gadden) (ca 1820-?) Unknown Fate after 183
- Levi Jr. (ca 1823 -1849
Other children born to his wife Nancy but fathered by other men in Tennessee after 1823:
- John Carroll Branch (ca 1830-1896
- Wilson Devalson Branch (ca 1836-1884)
Two sisters with the names Elizabeth and Eliza are a bit unusual but this is correct as evidenced in Madison TN multiple court records.
The 1823 Death of Levi Branch Sr. In Duplin County NC
On the 1820 census, the Levi & Nancy Branch family of Duplin County has three small children from the 1813 marriage and likely a fourth and fifth child by the time Levi dies in 1823 or so. 1824 Probate names his widow Nancy. Also indicated on the 1820 census is a large Levi Branch estate of 24 enslaved people with the 5 whites in the family household. This is an anomaly. Few households in the area “possessed” this number of slaves. According to scans of original probate documents on Familysearch.com, a large committee oversees the estate and division of dower land for his widow, Nancy Branch. This is indicative of some degree of land wealth, wealth in slaves, and the very young ages of the five children and a young widow. The estate is processed from 1824 to 1831 receiving debts, harvesting crops, and paying debts.
James Sullivant was the long-time guardian of the Levi Branch minor children from 1825 until his death in 1832. Then the Duplin court appoints Stephen Massey as the guardian in May 1832. Note that this action is in North Carolina but Stephen Massey as well as Nancy Branch are already in Gibson TN and appear on the 1830 census there. And perhaps Stephen is appointed guardian in part for his proximity to the Levi heir’s location. At the court proceedings the amount of $522.86 is reported as the sum for the “minor heirs of Levi Branch” but they are not numbered or named. This is a large sum for an estate in 1833.
Note that debts were collected on behalf of the heirs as late in 1831 by Duplin County court. When assents were sold, Burrell Branch and William Branch were among the buyers, and they are likely cousins or even brothers or uncles.
Nancy Branch and children move from Duplin County NC to West Tennessee
Apparently before 1830, the widow Nancy and her children move to Tennessee along with a large contingent of Branch and other families from Duplin County, NC. In fact, Nancy and family are in west Tennessee before 1827 as she is charged with stealing a horse and the warrant is advertised in the Jackson TN newspaper. By 1830 Nancy has become pregnant with her sixth child as evidenced by later court action. On the 1830 census of Madison TN in West Tennessee, Nancy Branch is found with three sons and two daughters – likely William, Levi, and John (infant of TN birth) and two of the three daughters; the eldest daughter was probably a servant in another household. Other neighbors include Stephen Massey and Rueben Branch. Stephen is Nancy’s uncle twice over and guardian of her children. Stephen Massey was Mother Susannah’s brother as well as married to an Elizabeth Branch. Of significant note is the fact that the Levi Branch children’s estate is not settled before the move and Stephen manages the state by correspondence through the courts of Madison in remote West Tennessee.
Guardianship for the five Levi Branch children
In March 1832, court guardianship papers in Madison TN confirm that William Branch is minor and heir of Levi Branch Sr. with 3 sisters Susan, Elizabeth, Eliza Jane and brother Levi (Jr.). Nancy Branch named as mother, Stephen Massey, guardian. These papers confirm that the estate continues as a case from Duplin Co. NC. I found this unusual but real. Stephen Massey conducts estate matters for these children by correspondence from the court in Madison County, Tennessee to their home of Duplin County, North Carolina.
In 1835, court records, also in Madison County TN, indicate that an apprenticeship has been initiated for the brothers William and Levi who are labeled “orphans” as they are without a father. William is about age 17 and will have a 4-year apprentice with Alexander B. Barnes until age 21. This document places his birth in 1818. William’s apprenticeship ends four years later in 1839. On the same day in 1835, his younger brother, Levy Branch, 11, is placed with John Spivy documenting Levy’s birth as 1824 or so. Levi at some point ran away from Mr. Spivy’s household and the apprenticeship is ended.
Around the age of 24, Susan Branch, the oldest child of Levi, apparently forces Stephen Massey to settle up guardianship accounts with her siblings and the court. Several transactions are for Susan, Elizabeth, Eliza, William and Levi. Stephen Massey gets money from Duplin County NC court for the Feb 2, 1838, settlement.
Nancy Branch has sixth and seventh children in Tennessee.
Meanwhile, in 1830 in court actions for Madison TN, Eli Evans is ordered to pay for the child born of Nancy Branch, age 40. These actions are published and the child’s birth circumstances become public knowledge as Nancy is a widow and unmarried. Eli Evans, age 22, likely occupies his dad, John Evans, house in the same area. Nancy is on page 73 of census and the Evans house is on page 81. (Rueben Branch a likely relative of Nancy, is nearby on the 1830 census page 79 but Rueben moves away at some point to north Mississippi.) So the court actions against Eli Evans correlate with the 1830 birth of John Carroll Branch. Six years later in 1836 Wilson Devalson Branch is also born of Nancy Branch in Tennessee but likely of a different father; no clues have been found about his father.
1838 Eliza Branch as her share of the “Levi Branch” estate
In Madison, TN 1838, Stephen Massey disperses a payment of $90 to Hardy Gaden on behalf of his wife Eliza Branch Gaden as her share of the “Levi Branch” estate and the record notes that Stephen Massey was the guardian for the “heirs of Levi Branch”. Eliza Branch Gaden is, in 1838, apparently of age to receive her inheritance; perhaps she is 18 and born in 1820. It is unclear if the name Gaden is correct as other evidence of Hardy Gaden or Eliza Branch Gaden cannot be found.
Where is Stephen Massey when Levi Branch dies? Stephen Massey is only 4 households away in the Madison TN census of 1830. Stephen Massey is significant as he is married to Elizabeth Branch of Duplin County, NC on April 1, 1807. Levi and Nancy were married in 1813. However Stephen moved to Tennessee earlier and likely learned of Levi’s death by post letter. It is documented that Stephen Massey and Elizabeth Branch are in Tennessee in 1820, but Levi Branch and Nancy Branch are still in Duplin County, NC. Stephen is found in TN in 1820, 1830, 1840, and 1850 censuses. Levi Branch is only found in the 1820 NC census.
In 1840 on May 22, in court papers with the boys, Stephen Massey makes settlement with William L. Branch and Levi Branch (Jr.) for portion of their estate from father Levi Branch (Sr.) who died in Duplin NC 1823. Court Documents in NC parallel this action. The next year in 1840 court documents again detail payments for minors William Branch and Levi Branch from the estate of Levi Branch (Sr.) of Duplin NC. Stephen Massey is the guardian in Madison TN. The sisters are older. This appears to be the last estate action.
Nancy Branch nor her seven children cannot be found in the 1840 census but those records turn up 40 records of Branch households in Tennessee. The Levi & Nancy Branch family has dispersed with the older girls married and Nancy as well as the sons moving on to Missouri.
The Branch family moves to Missouri before 1849
Nancy Branch nor her seven children cannot be found in the 1840 census, but those records turn up 40 records of Branch households in Tennessee. The Levi & Nancy Branch family has dispersed with the older girls married and Nancy as well as the sons moving on to Missouri on some date. There seems to be some fracturing of the family unit.
Ten years later, William, John C. and Wilson D. were in the 1850 household alone and indicated the move to Franklin County, Missouri. Their ages are listed as 28, 20, and 17 and a bit inaccurate. William is closer to 32, John C. is 20 and Wilson is perhaps as young as 14. Their sister, Susan Branch Rucker, also resides in Franklin MO with her husband, Ambrose Rucker, and stepfamily.
Multiple Marriages of Nancy Branch in Missouri and Iowa
There are not many good records about Nancy Branch but in 1840 she apparently marries Timothy Hughes, in Franklin County Missouri on March 19. Five years later marriage records say “the widow Nancy Hughes” marries third husband, Robert Basket, in Howard MO circa 1845. By 1850 Mr. Basket is living alone. When Levi dies in Franklin, Missouri in 1849, Nancy Branch, age 59, is there at the sale of the estate buying his sheep. Then the next year, we find Nancy in yet her fourth marriage record. In August 1876, she, Nancy B. Basket, marries James B. McIntyre in Marion, Marshall, Iowa (near Cedar Rapids) and, four months later, by December 1876, she is dead and buried. Her Iowa tombstone records her age as 86 which aligns with her North Carolina birth year of 1790.
The 1849 Death of Levi Branch Jr. in Franklin MO
Levi Branch was apparently in Missouri by the early 1840’s and marries an Elizabeth Ellen Bruck. Their child Huldah A. Branch was born in 1848. Levi Branch (Jr.) died in Union, Franklin County, Missouri in 1849. William Branch, the older brother, is his administrator. At the estate sale in 1849, Nancy Branch, age 59, is at the sale of the estate buying his sheep so she is still alive. And the next year William Branch is in the 1850 census with a household of three including John Branch and Wilson Branch alone without his mother or sisters. Susan is in Missouri, but we don’t know the location of sisters Elizabeth or Eliza Jane. In Missouri the story of Levi Jr. has ended but we will pick up the next chapter of this Branch family in the Kansas Territory in Part Two.
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