Dorcas Ann Williams

Dorcus Ann Morris was born in 1858 in Georgia. In the 1860 U.S. Federal Census, she was living in Barkers, Floyd County, Georgia, with her parents, Gad and Elizabeth Wanslee Morris, who were 30 and 32 years old, along with her older siblings, George, 8, Samuel, 6, and Josephine, 4, and her younger sister Sarah, who was 2 months old at the time the census was taken that July. Her father was a farmer and his real estate was valued at $600 and his personal estate at $300. In the 1870 Federal Census, the family is now living in White River, Prairie county, Arkansas. A few more children have been born since the last census, specifically, John, 5, William, 3, Robert, 2 and one more child listed as D.A. Morris, who is only 1 year old. Gad is listed as a farm laborer and his real estate is valued at $200 and his personal estate at $100. The Civil War years must have been very hard on the family!

Dorcus married Augustus Hamilton Branch in 1877. This was Augustus' second marriage, having married Mary A. Gaddy in Carroll county Mississippi in 1857. Augustus and Mary Gaddy had at least three or four children. According to census records, their children were Penelope born in 1860, and twins, John and Leroy born in 1862. But according to Find A Grave.com, their children were Don Romeo, 1863-1925, an infant son Branch who was born and died in 1865, Jessie M. 1866-1925, and Thomas Elmo Branch, 1869-1943. I'm not sure when Mary died, or if she divorced Augustus, or if Augustus married Dorcus as a plural wife. However, Find A Grave.com says Mary Gaddy Branch died in 1887 in Mississippi, but the headstone shown there appears to have a death date of 1882, so not sure which date is correct.

Dorcus and Augustus had the following children: Leona (or Loney) Idelia in 1878, Augustus Edward in February, 1880, William in December, 1881, Orson in April, 1884, Wallace in November, 1885, Ophelia in September, 1887, Mae Anna in May of 1890, and Augusta in September, 1892, six months after Augustus Hamilton Branch died. William Branch was my second great uncle, having married Louisa Alberta Madsen, who was the sister of my great grandmother, Dortha Roxana Madsen Rollins McKinney.

After Augustus died in December of 1891, Dorcas was on her own supporting her children for a while until she married John Roderick Williams in 1898. John was from Wales and was a photographer by profession. They had a son, William Nephi, in June of 1899. In the 1900 census, they are living in Graham County, Arizona. Dorcus and Augustus' sons, Augustus Edward and William, are working as loggers at a mill, and Orson is working as a farm laborer.

In the 1910 U.S. Federal Census, John and Dorcus are still living in Graham County, and with them are their son Nephi, age 10, a daughter, Mary E. Williams, age 8, and Gustie Branch, which would have been Dorcus and Augustus Hamilton Branch's last daughter, Augusta born in 1892. Dorcus is 53 years old and John is 60 years old, and he is still working as a photographer in a gallery.

In the 1920 U.S. Federal Census, Dorcus and John are living in Safford, Arizona, with their two children Nephi, 20, and Mary E., 18. Dorcus is working as a laundress at home and Nephi is working as a farmer They own their home free of a mortgage. For some reason John is listed as being 80 years old, but this cannot be correct, since he was only 60 years old in the 1910 census.

Three years later, Dorcas Ann Morris has died on September 16, 1923, and is buried in the Safford City Cemetery.

There is a record for Dorcus and Augustus Branch's son, Orson P. Branch, on Find A Grave.com, which reads as follows:

The Arizona Republic, Friday, May 26, 1967, page B-9:

Winkelman - Orson P. Branch, 84, Safford native who died followed mining in Arizona all his life, died yesterday in Gila General Hospital, Globe. Services for Mr. Branch will be at 5 p.m. tomorrow in the Hayden church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Burial will be in Mountain View Cemetery, Hayden. Mr. Branch had worked at Norenci, Silverbell, Bisbee, and Miami, and at one time owned the Dan O'Carroll Mine at Christmas. He was an American Smelting and Refining co. employee here and had served as Winkelman constable until his retirement 20 years ago. Surviving are his wife, Myrtle Tisher Branch of Winkelman; two sons, William O. of Madison, Wisconsin, and George B. of Globe; two sisters, Mrs. Loney Greenhalgh of Safford; a half-brother, Nephi Williams of Safford, and a half-sister out of state.

Another of Dorcas and Augustus Branch's children, Ophelia Branch Bigelow, who was born in 1887, died in 1953 at the age of 66. She was married to Hiram Willis Bigelow (1885-1956) and she passed away from carcinoma of the rectum after having that disease for two and one half years, per her death certificate. Her record does not indicate if she and Hiram had any children. Ophelia was buried in the Old Whitewater Cemetery in Elfrida, Cochise County, Arizona, where her husband Hiram is also buried. He died in 1956, three years after Ophelia, from coronary thrombosis at the age of 70. He had worked in the copper mining business and was the son of Hiram Simeon Bigelow and Margaret Amelia Peck Bigelow of Utah.

Dorcas and Augustus Branch's daughter, Mae Anna Branch, married Jack Mullenaux on December 22, 1906. In the 1910 U.S. census for Graham, Arizona, Mae and Jasper J. Mullinax or Mullenaux, are age 21 and 22, had they been married three years, and were living with their two children, August, age 3, and Rollie, age 1. Jasper is listed as a farmer. When Jack Mullenaux completed his World War I Draft Registration Card on May 31, 1917, he described himself as being of medium height and build with blue eyes and black hair. His birth date was January 26, 1889, he was born in Safford, Arizona, and at the time, he was living in Phoenix, Arizona, working as a Teamster for the B.M. Atwood by the state of Arizona and he had a wife and child. He claimed exemption from service due to the need to support his wife and children.

In the 1920 census, Mae and Jasper (listed here as Jack), have five sons, Gus, 12, Robbie, 10, Marven, 8, Clair, 7, and Norwood, 1-1/2 years old. They are living in Kenilworth, Pinal, Arizona, and Jasper is still a farmer. There is a U.S. City Directory for 1921 showing that Jack J. and May Mullenaux are living at 1231 Laurel Avenue in Phoenix, and Jack is working as a rancher.

In the 1930 census, Mae and Jack are living in Gila Bend, Maricopa County, Arizona with their 5 sons shown above, and 4 more children, two additional sons, Ben, 10, Joe, 8, and twin girls, Marjorie and Margaret, both 6 years old. They have a servant in their home, Tursia Cole, 56 years old. They are living on Martin Avenue, and Jack is listed as a farm laborer on a cattle farm, as are their sons, Gus, Rollie, and Marvin. The home they are renting costs $15.00 per month. How they are surviving with 7 boys and 2 girls is amazing!

In the 1940 census, Mae is living at 11204 S. Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, with her children, Ben, 19, Joe, 18, and her twin daughters, Marjorie and Marguerite, age 16. The record says that Mae had only a 4th grade education. The value of the home they were renting was $18.00 per month. The record says they lived in the same house in 1935. The only one working is Ben and his occupation says "new worker". The record states Mae is married, but where is Jasper or Jack, her husband? Their 5 older boys, Gus, Robbie, Marvin, Clair and Norwood are all living elsewhere as well. Jack Mullenaux does not die until age 80 in October, 1969, and his last known residence was in Gila Bend, Maricopa, Arizona, so Jack and Mae must have been separated from at least 1935-1940 or maybe longer.

Mae died May 24, 1950 in California, and is buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, Los Angeles County, California, Plot: Eventide, Map 1, Lot 2388, Space 3.