Page:Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography volume 5.djvu/722

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VIRGINIA BIOGRAPHY

He acquired a large plantation, surround- ing his residence, "'Willow Hill," and also owned various tracts in Chesterfield and Amelia county, and was a man of promi- nence and wealth. In 1774 he was a member of the Chesterfield county committee of safety, and in the same year was a justice of the peace. During the revolution he served as a captain in the Chesterfield mili- tia, and was awarded two hundred and twenty-nine pounds, four shillings and two pence in 1777 for the pay of his company. In 1780 he was a justice, and in 1786 was sheriff of Chesterfield. He died in the lat- ter year. He married, about 1755, Mary, whose surname is supposed to have been Goode. Children : Benjamin, Edward, Ann, Thomas and Obedience.

The third son, Thomas Branch, was born April 4, 1767, and inherited lands in Amelia county. He acc[uired the plantation "Wil- low Hill" in Chesterfield, and there lived during his later years. He was appointed justice for Chesterfield in 1797, and died September 10, 1818. He married, in 1787, Mary, daughter of Colonel David Patteson, of Chesterfield, and had children : Eliza- beth, Mary, Benjamin, David, Henry, Martha, Obedience, Thomas Turpin, died four months old ; Thomas, John, Wilkin- son, Lucy Frances, Jordan, Julius Caesar, Sarah, died in second year, and Sarah Pat- teson.

The third son, Thomas (2) Branch, was born December 23, 1802, at Willow Hill, in his father's mansion in Chesterfield county. In early manhood he located at Petersburg, where he established himself as a commis- sion merchant and banker. He was the founder and successful manager of several firms of whose titles his name formed a part, the last being Thomas Branch & Company, established in Richmond during the Civil war. In 1871 Mr. Branch founded the Mer- chants National Bank of Richmond, acting as its president until 1880, when he resigned and was succeeded by his eldest surviving son. While a resident of Petersburg, he was a member of the common council, .sev- eral terms mayor of the city, and sheriff of the county. He was one of the signers of the ordinance of secession in 1861, assent- ing to this measure only upon the urgence of his constituents. He had been a Union man until the actual beginning of hostilities, and had voted against Virginia's leaving

the Union. Having cast his lot with his home state, he and his five sons served in the interest of the Confederate government, and much of his wealth was devoted to the support of the cause. After the war, Mr. Branch made his permanent home in Rich- mond, where he died November 15, 1888. In 1848 he met with business reverses, but within a short time discharged every finan- cial obligation, and was later noted for his conservatism as a merchant. The firm of which he was head passed through the great panics of 1857 and 1873 unharmed, and at his death he was in possession of a considerable fortune. At the age of thirty years he united with the Methodist church, and was one of its most active and devoted members through life. He acted as treas- urer of the Virginia Bible Society, and was many years treasurer of the Magdalen As- sociation of Richmond, and president of the board of trustees of Randolph-Macon Col- lege. His financial contributions to the church and various other organizations were very large. He married (first) at Oak Hill, Amelia county, Virginia, October 19. 1825, Sarah Pride, daughter of John Blythe Read, of Wales and Chesterfield. He married (second) in Westmoreland county, April 22, 1857, Annie Adams, daughter of Joseph Wheelwright, of Westmoreland. Children, the last three born of the second marriage : Thomas Waverly, James Read, John Pat- teson, Susan Doggett, Sarah Frances, Thomas Plummer, Mary Austin, Emily Read, Bettie, Rosalana, William Addison, Melville Irby, Eugene, D'Arcy Paul, Carter Wheelwright, Miriam, and Carolina.

John Patteson Branch, third son of Thomas (2) and Sarah P. (Read) Branch, was born October 9, 1830, in Petersburg. He enjoyed the best educational advantages of his city, but was prevented from enter- ing college by frail health, and soon turned his attention to a commercial career, enter- ing his father's office at the age of eighteen years as a clerk. He was not contented to occupy a subordinate position, and immedi- ately turned his attention in spare hours to the study of books on commercial subjects, and thus made himself useful in the busi- ness where he was employed. On the out- break of the Civil war he at once entered the Confederate army, and was subsequently a first lieutenant in the Forty-fourth Virginia Batallion. His service continued until the