Christopher Branch

Add links
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the filmmaker, see Christopher Branch (filmmaker).

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.

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][a] 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

James River. The Kingsland Plantation, which grew to 450 acres by 1639,[3] was located across the river from Arrahattock.[2][c] 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. ^ a b c d e 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tyler, Lyon Gardiner; Morton, Richard Lee (1917). The William and Mary Quarterly. William and Mary College. pp. 61–62.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "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. ISBN 978-0-8063-0558-5
    .
  5. 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. ISBN 978-5-87514-778-4
    .
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Christopher_Branch&oldid=1175038622"