Jane (Watson) Branson (1782-1859) is the farthest back I know about my motherline. Jane’s father was David Watson, but I don’t know her mother’s name.
Jane Branson’s Legacy
Jane (Watson) Branson (1782-1859) Born in Virginia in 1782, before there were States, before the nation had a president, Jane Watson married Lemuel Branson in Grainger County, Tennessee, among the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains. Their six children, three sons and three daughters, were loaded them up with their belongings to trundle four hundred miles to Parke County, Indiana, coaxed there by Lemuel’s only sister. There Lemuel built a log church and meeting house, which he called Rocky Fork. Twenty by twenty-eight feet, a wood stove at its center, a tall pulpit at one end. Among the worshipers were Levi and Elizabeth Moore. Jane was in her mid-fifties when Lemuel died. Not long after, Levi lost his wife. Jane married Levi, but was widowed again only four years later. She ceded her portion of Levi’s estate to his sons. Son John Branson and his family were lured west. Jane watched their wagons disappear in the distance, then those of daughter Lucy Branson Moore’s family, to join her brother in the young State of Iowa. Jane Branson’s granddaughter Emilia was just 8 years old when her folks left Indiana with seven children in two wagons on May 6, 1855, along with recollections of Rocky Fork, and of a grandmother’s legacy of faith and integrity.
And what a legacy it is!
Thanks, GP. It’s amazing what you can find on findagrave!
Very true!
How great that you can go back that far. Fascinating.
Thank you, Darlene. Findagrave has yielded some amazing tidbits!
Facinating, Joy 🙂 I love exploring family history.
The fascinating tidbits in this one came from her findagrave page. Because Jane never made it to Iowa, I hadn’t planned to include her, but those details! Thank you, Denise.
Isn’t it interesting that you found this level of detail on Findagrave!
Usually it’s not that much, unless someone included an obituary.
It’s great that you found this much information on your family history, Joy. Thanks for the educational post.
I haven’t done genealogy since my son was born (50 years ago this December), but I’ve added several photos to findagrave. The details about Jane Branson I found on her findagrave page were too good not to include!
Great history
Thank you, Don. I hadn’t planned to include Jane until I found those compelling details on her findagrave page!
Thank you so much for sharing, Joy. The stories of trudging across the wilderness in wagons will never NOT amaze me. I cannot imagine the courage and strength required to deal with so many unknowns, so many dangers of all sorts. xo to you, dear one! 🥰
Thank you, Vicki. If I were better at imagining and writing fiction, I’d love to see some of these stories done for children!
Oh my goodness! What a terrific idea! 🥰
[…] and Jane (Watson) Branson and Levi and Elizabeth Moore were some of the members. Lemuel Branson died in 1838. Five years […]