Christopher Branch
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "about". Template:Use dmy dates 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
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 2 September 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]Template:Efn They were living at Colledg Land in Henrico by February 1623[3] 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,[4] making him the three times great-grandfather of the president.[5]
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]Template:Efn 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,[5] was located across the river from Arrahattock.[2]Template:Efn 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.[5]
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.[5] 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,[5] likely before 1630.[7]
See also
- The article of Jefferson's father Peter Jefferson § Ancestry
- Ancestry of Thomas Jefferson
Notes
References
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