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.

Edward Arthur Branch Buried in Good Hope Cemetery, Madison County, Mississippi

Photo by J. Tracy

The Entrance to Good Hope Cemetery, established 1851, near the Good Hope Baptist Church in Madison County, Mississippi.

Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery is located across a well-built and maintained wooden footbridge from the church. From the footbridge, a visitor can see deep down into a wooded ravine that is part of the heavily timbered countryside that provides a beautiful, serene setting for this old church and deceased members of its community who lived during the 1800's.

To get to the church and cemetery from Highway 51 North, turn right onto Highway 17 East, and travel about 6 miles to Rocky Ridge Road, a paved and scenic county road. Stay on Rocky Ridge Road for about 5.5 miles, passing Schrock Road on the left. Turn left onto Mullinville Road and travel approximately 500 yards to the church and cemetery directly ahead.

The cemetery is fenced, and on each side of the gate are engraved stones dedicating the cemetery to the memory of Barrett family who were instrumental in its establishment in 1851. The actual location of Good Hope Baptist Church and cemetery is in Madison County, Mississippi, but it is very near the line that separates that county from Attala County.

The tombstone you see here is located in the cemetery at Good Hope and was erected for Edward Arthur Branch, my paternal great-grandfather. Ed, as he was known to his family and friends, was born on November 15, 1874 in Madison County, Mississippi, and he died on November 2, 1915, in Jackson, Mississippi. The inscription on the tombstone states simply "Gone Home."

Ed Branch was only 40 years old when he was diagnosed with cancer. Two days before his death, he was admitted to a hospital in Jackson for surgery that doctors believed might save his life. He died of complications from that surgery, barely two weeks away from his 41st birthday. He left a widow and five children under the age of 18, and his only son, my grandfather, had just turned 16 years old.

Before he died, Ed Branch had been a member of an organization known as "Woodmen of the World," founded in Omaha, Nebraska in 1890 by Joseph Cullen Root. According to "Wikipedia," the organization's purpose was to help its members "clear away problems of financial security....," and one of the benefits of membership was the organization's free tombstones for its members.

My great-grandfather's tombstone, one of three present in the Good Hope Cemetery, and one of many in cemeteries across the state of Mississippi and the the country, is a reminder of the other men who worked in one of the earliest occupations in the United States, the wood and timber industry. Use of these tombstones, unique and shaped like stumps of wood that bore the Woodmen of the World logo, was discontinued by the organization sometime around 1920.

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.

Good Hope Baptist Church

Left: Good Hope Baptist Church, established circa 1851

Last week, we traveled to several places in North Central and Central Mississippi, by way of Memphis, Tennessee. We arrived in Memphis late in the afternoon and stayed overnight. At five o'clock sharp, we began the evening by watching the well-trained and now famous ducks leave the fountain in the lobby of the beautiful and old Peabody Hotel for their penthouse home there.

Later on, we took a ride on the trolley down Main Street and on its Mississippi River Loop trip. After dinner, we walked over to Historic Beale Street, where we admired music notes, inlaid in the sidewalk, that bear the names of many famous blues musicians. Before leaving Memphis the next day, we made a trip out to the STAX Recording Studio/Soulsville USA on McLemore Avenue. Along with walls and walls of famous 45 rpm rhythm and blues records in mint condition, we saw the 1973 peacock blue Eldorado Cadillac with 24K gold-plated trim that belonged to Isaac Hayes. A new exhibit of Otis Redding memorabilia, recently donated by his wife, was also on display. The museum was well worth the trip and the time it took to see everything there.

In the afternoon of Day 2, we began driving south, venturing off the beaten path to stop in Oxford, Mississippi, where the Ole Miss campus had some of the best fall color we saw on the trip. Along the way, we stopped to visit relatives, including my aunt and uncle in Lexington, my oldest brother and his wife, and finally, my parents, who live north of Jackson.

However, when one is a "Graveyard Rabbit," one must always "brake for cemeteries." And that is just what we did, not once, but several times. And we took many pictures that I plan to use on The Graveyard Rabbit of Attala County blog.

Attala County, Mississippi has dozens of family cemeteries, some that are easily accessible on paved roads and located next to churches, but many that require a long, off-the-road trek, sometimes over the creek, across a pasture, and through the woods. Since last week's rain made it less than appealing to hike into the woods, during this trip we opted for visiting cemeteries that were located near paved roads.

One of those cemeteries was the one located next to the church pictured here, Good Hope Baptist Church, established in 1851. The location for the old, but very well-maintained church and its cemetery is atop a hill, surrounded on two sides by deep ravines. The dense foliage seen from the church grounds and the cemetery consists of tall pine trees and large hardwood trees brilliant with their fall colors.

It was there at the Good Hope Baptist Church Cemetery, where my paternal great-grandfather, Edward Arthur Branch, is buried, that we ended our trip. A picture of my great-grandfather's Woodmen of the World tombstone can be found on the The Graveyard Rabbit of Attala County blog site located at http://graveyardrabbitofattalacounty.blogspot.com/.

Buried in the Good Hope Cemetery beside my great-grandfather are two other Branch ancestors, Mattie Allen Branch, who died in 1870, and Mamie R. Branch, who died in 1900. The cemetery gates bear a memorial marker for two Barrett families buried in this cemetery. Along with the Barrett family, Good Hope Cemetery is the resting place for the loved ones of several other families, including members of the Brewer, Cobb, Leslie, Linn, and Parker families.

In the weeks ahead, I plan to write posts about each of the families named above. If you have information and pictures that relate to these families, and you would like for me to include them as part of these posts, please contact me at attalacountymemories@gmail.com.

I hope to hear from you.

Baldridge Family - Ireland>PA>NC>TN>MS

This is a picture of my great-grandmother, Claudia Mae Baldridge Branch, and one of her grandsons, my father, James Branch. The picture was taken by his parents, Lelia and Clark Branch, after he had driven them over from the Delta in his 1936 Ford Coupe. He apparently was showing off his first car to his grandmother. Grandsons showing off new cars to grandmothers will never change. It is a rite of passage from grandson, the child, to grandson, the adult.

This is the oldest picture I have of one of my Baldridge family relatives. I do not know the names of Claudia's brothers and sisters. By the time this picture was taken, most of them had either moved out of the State of Mississippi, or they were deceased. Claudia Mae Baldridge was born in Madison County, Mississippi, the daughter of Martin Baldridge and Huldy Catherine Smith.

Claudia Mae Baldridge and Edward Arthur Branch, my paternal great-grandparents, were married in Madison County, Mississippi, on December 21, 1896. They had five children, including four daughters, Ezma, Catherine, Stella, and Laura, and one son, my grandfather, Clark Commander Branch, born August 8, 1899. After their marriage, "Ed" and "Claudie" lived in the Newport area of Attala County, Mississippi, where their children attended McAdams schools. Ed farmed,  and Claudy, as she was called, was a wife, mother, and housekeeper. For a time, Ed's widowed father, who was blind, lived with the family. When my grandfather was only 15 years, his father died, and he became the "head of the household" for his widowed mother and four sisters. Farming was the only livelihood he would know for many, many years.