IMMIGRANT Christopher Branch^[1]

1602 - 1682  (79 years)

• Name	Christopher Branch
  Title	IMMIGRANT
  Born	2 Sep 1602	Kent Co., England
  Gender	Male
  Died	20 Feb 1681/82	Henrico Co., Virginia
  Person ID	I6760	My Reynolds Line
  Last Modified	21 May 2015

  
  

  Family	Mary Frances 'Addie' Standing,   b. Apr 1602, Darton, Yorkshire England ,   d. 1630, Henrico Co., Virginia  (Age ~ 27 years)
  Children	+ 1. Christopher Branch, II,   b. 1627, Henrico Co., Virginia ,   d. Aft 1665, Henrico Co., Virginia  (Age 39 years)
  Last Modified	21 May 2015
  Family ID	F4137	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Histories

  Virginia Heraldica - A Registry of Virginia Gentry Entitled to Coat Armor with Genealogical Notes of the Families Edited by William Armstrong Crozier, F.R.S., F.G.S.A. Virginia County Record Series Volume V. 1908 virginiaheraldic00croz.pdf

  
  

• Sources

  [S48] Ancestry Link, http://www.genealogy.com/ftm/g/o/o/Ron-D-Goodwin/GENE47-0009.html#CHILD22. .CHRISTOPHER6 BRANCH (LIONEL5, WILLIAM4, RICHARD3, JOHN2, JOHN1) was born 02 Sep 1602 in Kent County, England, and died 20 Feb 1681/82 in Henrico Co. Va..He married MARY ADDIE 02 Sep 1619 in St. Peter's, Westcheap, London England.She was born Apr 1602 in Darton, Yorkshire England, and died Abt. 1630. Notes for CHRISTOPHER BRANCH: [29629.ged] Census of 1624-25--There were 680 free people and 457 white servants, and 23 Negroes.Of the freemen 25 left descendants in well-know families which can be traced to the present day.Eight of the servants were ancestors of Virginia families of the same standing.Among the freemen referred to one of these was Christopher Branch, 1620.The father and grandfather of Christopher are styled "gentleman", but his great grandfather was a prosperous merchant of Abington. Christopher sailed on the ship "London Marchment"with his wife Mary Addie and his 9 month old son Thomas. ( Musters of Inhabitants in Va. by Jester Hiden Married at St. Peter's in London England) Christopher and his wife Mary settled in College Land Virginia were they were listed on the town roll in 1623.He also lived on the James River at Arrowhattocks and Kingsland in Henrico, County, Virginia. Grants of land received from the Crown, are shown on Captain John Smith's original map of Virginia.Christopher became a Justice and a member of House of Burgess.His third Great Grandfather was Sir John Branch , Lord Mayor of Abington. (F2027.ged) Due to his father Lionel having been disinherited from the family fortune and because of his "unthriftiness", the financial circumstances of his eighteen year old son, Christopher, were not very favorable.This may have been what led Christopher and his bride to seek a better life in the New World.Christopher and Mary came to Henrico county, near Jamestown, Virginia in March of 1619/20.They came on the ship, London Merchant, which was dispatched by the Virginia Company (also known as the London Company) from Tilburyhope in England with 200 passengers.The settlement in and around Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in America. When Christopher and Mary arrived the population was about one thousand.The first colonists arrived in 1607.In the early days, Christopher was one of the few married men, since women were scarce in the community.In the census "muster" of January 1624-5, Christopher and Mary and their nine month old son Thomas were living at College Land.College Land was a large tract of land in Henrico county which was to be used as a place where the Indians would learn the Christian religion.In the words of the colonists, the land was set aside "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 understanding of righteousness."This plan was abandoned in 1622 after the massacre of about 350 colonists by the Indians, led by chief Opechancanough.Mary died about 1630 and there is no record of Christopher ever remarrying.In October 1634, Christopher patented 100 acres at Arrowhattocks in Henrico county, which includes part of what is now Chesterfield county.Arrowhattoks was on the north side of the James river.It is shown on the map of Captain John Smith, who was the leader of the Virginia settlement.The eventual and permanent home of Christopher Branch was Kingsland, his plantation almost immediately opposite Arrowhattocks, on the south side of the James River, in what is nowChesterfield county.At Kingsland, he patented another 100 acres in September 1636.Christopher was a successful tobacco farmer.He also acquired a large plantation in the extreme northeast part of Chesterfield, bounded on the north by the James River and the south by Proctor's creek.Kingsland Creek runs through the property, and takes its name from Christopher's plantation.He was a slave owner.The first slaves had arrived in Jamestown in 1619, about the time he arrived from England.He represented Henrico county in the Virginia House of Burgesses in 1629, which was the first democratic legislative body in America.In 1656 he was appointed a justice of the peace.He also served as a tobacco inspector for Henrico county.We know that Christopher was literate, for he wrote the will of John Ely. That will left a bequest "To Master Christopher Branch, Sr., for writing my will, 100 good hogshead of tobacco."At the time of Christopher'sdeath, in either December 1681 or January (according to the probate inventory of his estate), two of which were well-worn Bibles.Thomas Jefferson third president of the United States and author of the Declaration of Independence, was the ggg grandson of Christopher and Mary Branch. Notes for MARY ADDIE: [29629.ged] Daughter of Francis Addie and Marie Standing and emigrated on the ship London Merchant to the Colonies in March of 1620 with her husband and son . Children of CHRISTOPHER BRANCH and MARY ADDIE are: 12. i. THOMAS7 BRANCH, b. 1623, England; d. 1694, Henrico Co. Virginia. 13. ii. WILLIAM BRANCH, b. Abt. 1625, Henrico Co. Virginia; d. 1676, Henrico Co. Virginia. 14. iii. CHRISTOPHER BRANCH II, b. Abt. 1627, Henrico County, Virginia; d. Aft. 1665.