Mary Branch

MARY BRANCH (ADDY/ADDIE)

Find A Grave Memorial ID # 115974776

Jamestowne Society Qualifying Ancestor # A9662

Biography

Mary Addie, daughter of Francis Addie a husbandman of Darton, Yorkshire, England was married at St. Peter's, Westcheap, London, in the city of London by virtue of a marriage license from the Bishop of London on 02 Sept 1619, to Christopher Branch. (See attached copy of their marriage document). Christopher’s notice of his intent to marry Mary Addie, was posted at St. Peter’s Westcheap, London in 1619.

In March 1620, Christopher and Mary (Addie) Branch embarked on the "London Merchant" of 300 tons burden dispatched from the Port of London for Virginia. This ship was commissioned by the Virginia Company and carried 200 passengers, mostly single men, and arrived with only the loss of one soul. Christopher and Mary first settled in present Henrico Co., in an area called "ye Colledg Land" (the College Land) circa 1623/24 and in the muster, 1624/25, he, his wife and their 9 months old son, Thomas, were listed there (Ref: See page 7 source #1 below which is also attached to this memorial). The Virginia Company offered inducements for new colonists to settle on the College Lands at this time to replenish the population decimated by the recent (1622) Indian massacre. The precise location of the Branch home during this period is indeterminate as the College Land was a very extensive tract set aside by the Virginia Company whereon "to erect and build a college in Virginia, for the training and bringing up of infidel's children to the true knowledge of God and the understanding of righteousness".

Shortly afterward, Christopher patented land and lived at or near Arrowhattocks on the North side of the James River and finally settled at "Kingsland", their plantation on the South side of the James River almost opposite Arrowhattocks near Proctor's Creek (see map for location of "Kingsland"; NOTE: The dates on the map associated with Christopher Branch are land patent dates). Their son, Thomas, born May 1624 was listed as the only Virginia born child in the county (Henrico) at the time. "Kingsland", just west of "Farrar's Island", was also near "Osborne", home of the Jeffersons (see accompanying historical marker).

The children of Christopher and Mary (Addie) Branch were:

• 1) Thomas Branch b. May 1624 Henrico Co., VA, d. 1694, m. Elizabeth (Gough?)
• 2) William Branch b 1626 at "Kingsland". The first husband of Jane "Hatcher", daughter of William and Mary (__?__) Hatcher.
• 3) Christopher Branch. born about 1628 at "Kingsland". His wife is reported to have been Sarah Almond.

Mary died in 1630 and was buried at "Kingsland", her husband's plantation, in a now unidentifiable grave site.

Mary (Addie) Branch and her husband, Christopher Branch, Sr., were the earliest American ancestors of record (3rd great paternal grandparents) of POTUS Thomas Jefferson through their son, Christopher Branch, Jr..

As of 2015, Mary Addy [A9662; (Muster of 1624/5), wife of Christopher Branch] has been added as a qualifying ancestor for membership in the "Jamestowne Society".

Bio by Gresham Farrar.

References

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Branch “His wife, Mary, died many years earlier,[3] likely before 1630.[7]”
  • 3. Jamestowne Society. February 4, 2019. Retrieved December 27, 2019. This site is a blog for a historical society, and the submissions are reviewed by the society's historian (i.e., there is an editorial function not commonly found on blogs). link
  • 7. Branch, C. J. (2018) [1907]. Branchiana. Franklin Classics Trade Press. p. 31. ISBN 978-5-87514-778-4. GoogleBooks
• Brayton, John Anderson. "Notes on the Ancestry of Mary (Addy) Branch, Wife of Christopher Branch," The Virginia Genealogist, Vol. 46, No. 4 (Oct.-Dec. 2002):299-305 https://www.americanancestors.org/DB285/i/12767/299/24542757 extract
• 1. "Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5", by John Frederick Dorman, 4th Ed., 2004, pp7, 367.
• 2. "Acts of the General Assembly Jan 6 1639/40", William & Mary Quarterly(series 2) Vol. 4, pp 16-35
• 3. Henrico County, Virginia Deeds 1677-1705, Compiled by Benjamin B. Weisiger III, Richmond, VA, 1986
• 4) "Branchiana" by James Branch Cabell, 1907, pp107-110.
• 5) "Branch of Abingdon" by James Branch Cabell, 1911, pp75-84.
• 4) "Virginia Immigrants and Adventurers, 1607-1635" by Martha W. McCartney, 2007, p154.
• 5) "Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography", Lyon Gardiner Tyler, Vol. 5, 1915, p1055.
• Branchiana: being a partial account of the Branch family in Virginia by James Branch Cabell.  Published 1907 by Printed by Whittet & Shepperson in Richmond, Va . Written in English.  Page 41
• http://us029844.home.mindspring.com/pafg219.htm#5752
• http://www.yourfamilybackground.com/myfamilybackground/
• http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=115974776
• 1 "Mary Addy - Christopher Branch Family, m. 1619 Eng", The Virginia Genealogist, Oct 2002, Vol. 46, Issue 4 .
• 2 Genealogies of Virginia Families: from the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Vol. 1, Adams-Chiles, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company (1981), 223.
• 3 Dorman, John Frederick, Adventurers of Purse and Person, Virginia, 1607-1624/5, 4th ed., Vol. 1, Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Publishing Company (2004), 366-367.
• 4 Roberts, Gary Boyd, Notable Kin, Volume 2, Santa Clarita, California: Carl Boyer, 3rd (1999), 159-160.
• 5 Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Royal Descents of 600 Immigrants to the American Colonies or the United States, Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co. (2008), 507.
• 6 Roberts, Gary Boyd, The Royal Descents of 900 Immigrants to the American Colonies, Quebec, or the United States (2 vols.), Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company (2018), 822.
• 7 Tyler, Lyon G., ed., William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine, Vol. 25, Richmond, Virginia: Whittet and Shepperson (1917), 61.
• 8 Virginia Historical Society, The Virginia Magazine of History and Biography, Volume 67, No. 1, January 1959, Richmond, Virginia: Whittet and Shepperson (1959), Pedigree foldout between pages 96 and 97, JSTOR (Digital Library).
• PHASE III INVESTIGATIONS AND HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE SPRING HILL PLANTATION CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, VIRGINIA PDF. Page 7-1 BRANCH FAMILY OWNERSHIP (1631-1814) Anglo ownership of the land on which the Spring Hill house is located can be traced back as far as the early seventeenth century when it was part of several land grants issued to Christopher Branch (b.1598 d.1681). Christopher Branch was born in London in 1598 and first came to Virginia in 1619 aboard the vessel London Merchant (Cabell 1907: 26). By the first census of Virginia in 1623 he and his wife Mary were residing in Henrico and by 1625 they were reportedly living on the “College Land,” a large area adjacent to the City of Henricus that had been set aside for the first educational institution in the colony but abandoned and opened for public settlement following the Indian Massacre of 1622 (Cabell 1907: 26). Christopher Branch ( -1681) By 1634, Branch was residing at “Arrowhattocks,” an area located up the James River from the former City of Henricus and College Land. …