The Branch DNA Project.....Is Your Surname Branch?

If your surname is Branch, and you are searching for your ancestors, you may want to consider joining the Branch DNA Project affiliated with FamilyTreeDNA. The Houston, Texas-based company is offering its FamilyFinder test kit for the reduced rate of $99 this week. First off, I am not affiliated with the company, but I have had my own DNA tested by FamilyTreeDNA and was quite satisfied with the results of my FamilyFinder test. My DNA results, however, cannot be used for the Branch DNA Project - samples must be from male members of the Branch family who are willing to submit a sample for y-DNA testing. 

If you are wondering why I am writing about the Branch DNA Project, my answer is a simple one. I have searched unsuccessfully for years trying to determine the names of my 5th great-grandfather's parents. Here are the facts:

Edward Branch, born circa 1750, married Martha Tilman in 1797 in Amelia County, Virginia. Martha Tilman was a daughter of Richard Tighlman/Tilman. Edward had been married twice before, to Martha Botte and to Sara Goodrich, and according to most researchers, he had as many as ten children by the two women.  My own family line is descended from Edward's marriage to Martha Tilman, a relationship that allegedly produced only one child. Edward Tillman Branch, born in 1798 in Brunswick County, Virginia, was the youngest son of his father's children. He served as a rather young man in the Virginia Militia in the War of 1812, and later, he migrated, possibly with other family members, to Mississippi. In 1830, Edward Tillman Branch married Winiford Ragland in Hinds County, Mississippi, and from that point on, my lineage is clear. If you are interested in reading more about the descendants of Edward Tillman Branch, who married Winiford Ragland Branch, in Hinds County, Mississippi in 1830, you may want to grab a copy of my new book, The Juke Joint King of the Mississippi Hills: The Raucous Reign of Tillman Branch, scheduled for publication by The History Press on March 11, 2014. 

But in the meantime, I'm still searching for my 5th great-grandfather's parents. So if your surname is Branch, and you are male, and if you are related to Branch family members who lived in Tidewater or Southside Virginia in the 1700s, North Carolina, Tennessee, or Mississippi, please consider participating in the Branch DNA Project. Once you have purchased the test kit, the rest is easy.......you are only a cheek swab away from helping Branch researchers place some more branches on their family trees.

Finding the Raglands

Searching for the graves of a few of my ancestors, including members of the Ragland Family, has been like an Easter egg hunt - especially for those who died before 1850.  Although I knew where they lived in Mississippi at one time, often based on a marriage date, I often had virtually no information about where they lived at the time of their deaths.  


One of my own rules for research, regardless of the situation, has always been "Go with what you know." And it was with this philosophy, that I began my search for the grave sites of Ragland family members in Hinds County, Mississippi, since I already knew that Winiford Ragland and Edward Tillman Branch, my third great-grandparents, were married there in 1833.  With a little luck, I found the graves of three Ragland family members buried in Palestine Cemetery, in Hinds County, near Raymond, Mississippi. Buried in this small rural cemetery are Elizabeth Smith Ragland, my paternal great-great-great-great-grandmother, who died in 1850, and two of her children, Arthur S. Ragland and his sister, Mary V. Ragland. 

As was the case then, and now, as well, parents named their children for sisters and brothers.  And this was exactly what Winiford and Edward Branch did when they named two of their children for Winiford's brother, Arthur S. Ragland, and for her sister, Mary V. Ragland. According to the U.S. Census recorded in 1850 for Attala County, Mississippi, "Auther" Joseph Branch (Arthur Joseph, later known simply as "Joe") was 12 years old.  Later, Joe would become the father of Clark Commander Branch, my paternal grandfather, and over one hundred years later, one of my brothers would be named for him. In 1860, the U.S. Census shows that Winiford and Edward had a daughter, Mary V. Branch, likely named for her mother's sister who died before the six year old was born.

For photos of these Ragland family members' grave stones, please visit Cemeteries of Dancing Rabbit Creek.  


Source Information:
Ancestry.com. 1850 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch; Accessed 10/31/2010.
Ancestry.com. 1860 United States Federal Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2009. Images reproduced by FamilySearch. Accessed 10/31/2010.
Find-A-Grave, Palestine Cemetery, Hinds County, Mississippi; Site accessed on 10/30/2010.

Ragland Family Book

Thanks to a little internet research, I have discovered Charles Ragland's book, entitled "The Raglands:  The History of a British American Family," that traces that family's origins back to England.  Actually the book is two volumes and can be found in most genealogy libraries.  According to what I have read so far, the book traces the lineage of the Ragland family in America through Evan Ragland, the emigrant.  Now I need to locate a copy to read more about the "Mississippi Raglands, " William Ragland, Jr., Joseph Ragland, and John Ragland (Winiford Ragland's father, and my ancestor.)  More later......

Ragland Relatives - The Search Continues

This is yet another installment about my search for Ragland ancestors, and unfortunately, I still have not determined the names of Winiford Ragland's parents.

Since I have been unable to locate Arthur C. Ragland on a census record in Mississippi between 1820 and 1880, I can only assume that he was counted under another name that I would not recognize, possibly one that began with his middle initial of "C." Another possibility, of course, is that he died sometime after 1841, the date he was issued patents for land in Attala County.

Yesterday, I decided to review again Edward Branch's War of 1812 records that I obtained from the National Archives. Although I had some information about Edward Branch to begin with, photocopies of the documents in his war and pension file have given me data and insight into his life that, otherwise, I would not have.

Included in the pension file was a copy of the Application for Widow's Pension filed by Winiford Ragland Branch after Edward's death on October 28, 1874. It appears from the documents, that when the pension office in Washington, D.C. requested proof of her marriage to Edward, Winiford was unable to provide a copy of the document. Apparently, the record of her marriage to Edward was either lost or destroyed during the Civil War, and all that remained at the Hinds County Courthouse in Raymond, Mississippi, was a copy of a marriage bond that was posted.

Edward's file documents show that Bryan Tyson, Esq., representing the pension office in Washington, wrote to Winiford's attorneys in Kosciusko, Mississippi, Butts & Scarborough, requesting a signed affidavit from two individuals who could attest to the fact that the marriage had actually occurred. A copy of the affidavit submitted, signed by Robert W. Ragland and Sarah Haxall, who stated they were each present and saw the couple married, is among the pension file documents. Now I have another Ragland name to include in my search. In addition, other members of the community who had known the couple for many years submitted separate affidavits attesting to the public's knowledge of the existence of the Ragland-Branch marriage. Two such individuals were Charles R. McNeal and Thomas W Evans.

Here is a look at the affidavit, signed by Robert W. Ragland and Sarah Haxall, that bears the seal of an Attala County Justice of the Peace, R. N. Ousley:




So now it's back to census searching, this time for Robert W. Ragland. Apart from the affidavit, one othe item of interest I found yesterday was that a member of the Ragland family in Hanover County, Virginia, Evan Ragland, alledgedly married Susannah Pettus. If you have been following this blog, you may recall that my maternal line includes the Pettus family, who lived in Kent County, Virginia before migrating south. Possibly, a connection between these two families existed in Mississippi, as well, since I have now found a Pettus family and a Ragland family living in 1860 near Paris, a community in Lafayette County, Mississippi. I am anxious to see where this research leads me.

Searching for Ragland Ancestors

Someone once told me that if we trace our family tree back as far as the beginning of time, each of us is related to 1, 011,001 other individuals. Although this is a fascinating story, the number is not an even one, and I simply don't understand the math. But you will have to agree, it certainly explains why a genealogist's search is never complete.


Recently, I began a serious search for my Ragland ancestors. When I say "serious" it means that I have searched before, several times before, in fact, but each time I ran up against those so-called "brick walls." This time, I hope to be more resourceful, more productive, and end up with several Ragland family members that I can add to my tree.

One of the first bits of genealogical data that I discovered when I began to research my family history was that Edward Tillman Branch's wife was named Winiford Ragland. Edward and Winiford were my fourth great-grandparents. Shortly after I found Winiford's name, I searched Mississippi marriage records for the date of her marriage to Edward Branch. According to Hinds County, Mississippi marriage records, Edward and Winiford were married in 1830, when Winiford was barely 18 years old. Born in 1798 in Virginia, Edward was almost 15 years older than his bride.

According to the 1850 U. S. Census taken in Attala County, Mississippi, "Winney" Ragland was born in "LA," but ten years later, her birthplace was shown as "Mississippi." Further research at that time was fruitless, and I was unable to determine neither Winiford Ragland Branch's place of birth nor the names of her parents. I put the information aside, vowing to continue the effort when time allowed.

Later, I was fortunate enough to locate Edward's records of his service in the War of 1812, and to obtain photocopies of the documents from the National Archives. Based on affidavits that Edward submitted in connection with Edward's application for a pension, I found names of some Ragland family members. I put those documents aside for later reference and more research.

Sometime later, while examining deed records for the mid-1800s in Attala County, Mississippi, I accidentally found that Winney Ragland Branch's father may be Arthur S. Ragland. Ironically, Arthur is a name that has been passed on to male Branch family members for several generations now, beginning with one of the sons born to Winney and Edward, Joseph Arthur Branch, my third great-grandfather, and to one of my own brothers. At this point, I knew I was on the right path. But I didn't follow-up. There were other ancestors whose information qualified as "low hanging fruit," and I followed those research paths, instead.

Today, I made a promise to myself that I will complete the Ragland family research that has been started for so long. And I began with a search of Mississippi Land Patents Database. What I discovered was that almost 400 acres of Attala County lands were transferred to Arthur S. Ragland on February 27, 1841. These lands were described as the following:

02/27/1841, 158.88 acres in Section 17, T12N, R5E
02/27/1841, 79.44 acres in Section 17, T12N, R5E
02/27/1841, 159.4 acres in Section 8, T12N, R5E
Now I know that Arthur S. Ragland lived in or near Attala County in 1841, and tomorrow, I plan to begin a search of census records. In a few days, with some diligence and hopefully, some good luck, I may know the name of Arthur S. Ragland's wife, and the name of my fifth great-grandmother.