Branson, Jr., John

Born: 1795-10-15 Charleston, South Carolina

Died: 1882-04-15 Sangamon County, Illinois

Flourished: Sangamon County, Illinois

Branson grew up in Ohio. He was married three times and widowed twice and had eight children total. He married Ann Cantrall in 1817 in Ohio; he married Miriam Thomas in 1822 in Ohio; and in 1840, he married Mary McKinnie Humphreys in Sangamon County, Illinois. By 1830, Branson had moved his family to Sangamon County, where he purchased land in the northern part of the county. In 1860, Branson was a farmer living near Williamsville, and he owned $6,600 worth of real estate and a personal estate of $1,000.

John Carroll Power and S. A. Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, IL: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), 133-34; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Sangamon County, 68:85, 245, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Sangamon County, IL, 302; Gravestone, Salisbury Cemetery, Salisbury, IL.