Christopher Branch

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.^[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][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 Henrico (now Chesterfield) County on the south side of the James River and north of Proctors Creek beginning in or before 1634^[2][b] 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][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

• The article of Jefferson's father Peter Jefferson § Ancestry
• Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson

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. 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. Tyler, Lyon Gardiner; Morton, Richard Lee (1917). The William and Mary Quarterly. William and Mary College. pp. 61–62.
3. "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.