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           ~~ ABSOLOM BRANSON ~~ ______________________________________________ BRANSON  MOTTO: "While I Have Breath, I Hope."  ______________________________________________ {Please note:   As researchers of Absolom & Jemima Lorton Branson know, this is a work-in-progress!  As new information is learned, it will be added to this page.}   _______________________________ ABSOLOM  BRANSON was born in 1740 @ either Wales or Walesby, England.  He died in 1798 @ Buncombe Co., NC.

He married JEMIMA LORTON in 1764 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA.

JEMIMA LORTON was born in 1744 @ Augusta Co., VA. She died 2 years after her husband's death in 1800 @ Rutledge in the Cracker's Neck Valley of Grainger Co., TN. _______________________________ Here are 3 written accounts of ABSOLOM (1749-1798) in America.

1. A book was written in 1823 by Samuel David Branson (1814-1890), son of "David A. Branson & Susanna Boulton Branson"; they were Alive when he wrote it! It was called "History of the Branson's". He wrote that his Grandfather Absolom was born in America; that he lived in MD for a while & married Jemima Lorton in VA where he lived for many years; that he moved to Buncombe Co., NC where he died; & Grandma Jemima went onto Rutledge, Grainger Co., TN (Cracker's Neck Valley).

2. A document was written by Gaius Branson in 1890 called "Branson History". He stated that Absolom was Welsh; that his parents died & an uncle reared him in England; that when Absolom was 16 he fled to board a ship with his uncle tossing him a purse; that he arrived in MD in 1757; that he moved to VA by 1760; that he met & married an Irish Catholic woman named Jemima & had 8 children.

3. George Branson & John W. Branson wrote a paper in 1936 called "Genealogy of Branson Families in America". They stated that there were 3 Branson Brothers who came from England (after William Penn's Quaker colonists) about 1682 to Philadelphia; the 3 brothers were named: Moses who stayed in the Philadelphia area, Ware who settled in NY, & Absolom who went to Pittsylvania Co., VA.

So, what is true? I think there is truth in each account.

• From loads of research over many years, "I" think that the 3 Brothers: Moses, Absolom, & Ware came to America from either Wales or Walesby, England.* Here are the facts.

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MOSES BRANSON did stay in the Philadelphia area where many descendants moved to other areas.
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WARE BRANSON is on find-a-grave; his burial vault is inside a churchyard that is within NY City proper; he was a British Captain who was arrested but pardoned by Gen. George Washington himself on 8-16-1776 (according to "Writings of Washington", v.5, p. 440-441); he received a pension from England in 1783 for remaining a "loyalist" to England during The Revolutionary War. "Click-on Name" = Ware Branson. 78574764 Name
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ABSOLOM BRANSON lived in MD & VA; he married "Jemima Lorton" in 1764 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA, & had 8 Children.

His wife, Jemima Lorton Branson, died in 1800 @ "Grainger Co., TN" where "6 of her 8 children lived at-that-time" =

~Hezekiah, Sr., following his father's death in 1798 in NC, arrived by 1799 in TN. ~Michael, Sr. died in 1809 in TN; ~Lemuel married in 1806 in TN; ~Jonathan married & died in 1807 in TN; ~David A. married in 1806 in TN; & ~Nathaniel married in 1812 in TN.

Exceptions: Their only daughter, Rebecca Branson Pruett, married in VA in 1793 & moved to IN where she died in 1830. Son, John Branson who married Jane ‘Jennie' Norton, was born, married, & died all @ Pittsylvania Co., VA (although his own children moved to TN & IN except for 1 daughter who remained in VA).

Absolom died in 1798 @ Buncombe Co., NC. _______________________________ JEMIMA LORTON (1744-1800).

HER PARENTS were born in Germany, "Israel Lorton" (1727-1808) & "Sarah ?" (1730-?); they lived in VA around the Pittsylvania Co. area after coming to America. (This is what is most widely thought...although I found one researcher who stated that these were not Jemima's parents but could not offer any definitive alternative.)

JEMIMA died in 1800 @ Grainger Co., TN...where so many of her children then lived (as stated above). (After Absolom died in 1798 @ Buncombe Co., NC, JEMIMA traveled 100 miles NW to Rutledge in the Cracker's Neck Valley of Grainger Co., TN where she died 2 years later.) _____________________________________________________ 8 CHILDREN of "Absolom & Jemima Lorton Branson" were ALL born @ Pittsylvania Co., VA.

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~ HEZEKIAH BRANSON, Sr. (1765-1828); moved to TN by 1799; m: 1789 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA to "Agnes Pready" (1768-1829); 12 Children. He & his wife both died @ Tazewell, Claiborne Co., TN.

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~ MICHAEL BRANSON, Sr. (1766-1809); moved to Grainger Co., TN; m: 10-19-1790 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA to "Mary Hammock" (1762-?); 9 Children. ~After his death in 1809, Mary married William Gray in 1810. Note: Branson Brothers, Michael, Sr. & Jonathan (below), married Hammock Sisters, Mary & Elizabeth.

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~ LEMUEL BRANSON (1768-1838); moved to Grainger Co., TN;

m: 5-20-1806 @ Grainger Co., TN to "Jane Watson" (1782-?);  a Daughter.   They moved to Parke Co., IN where his sister, Betsy Branson Pruett, & her family already lived; & this is where Lemuel died.

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~ REBECCA (Betsy) BRANSON (1770-1830); moved to Parke Co., IN; m : 2-11-1793 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA to "Abraham Pruett (Prewitt)" (1774-1831); 9 Children. She & her husband died @ Parke Co., IN.

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Please Note: regarding the next 2 Children: why these parents named 2 sons, John & Jonathan, is beyond-me! But, these were separate people. One lived a long life to about 80 & had 6 children while the other died @ 31 without having any children. The 2 sons are "often" confused with the children of one son being attributed to the other.

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~ JOHN BRANSON (1772—1850-1855); stayed @ Chatham, Pittsylvania Co., VA; m: 2-17-1800 @ Pittsylvania Co., VA to "Jane (Jennie) Norton" (1785—1849); 8 Children but Only 6 Lived-to-Birth.

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~ JONATHAN BRANSON (1776-1807); moved to TN; m: 5-18-1807 to "Elizabeth Hammock" He died the same year he married Elizabeth in TN. No Children. ~Elizabeth Hammock had 3 marriages. In 1805, she married John Boulton [who was a brother to Susanna Boulton (below) who married David A. Branson]. In 1807, Elizabeth married Jonathan Branson who died that same year. In 1811, she married Moses Gray. (This last husband of Elizabeth's was a brother to the man that her sister, Mary Hammock, married after Michael Branson, Sr. died). So, these 2 Hammock Girls married 2 Branson Brothers who both died; then, they married 2 Gray Brothers!

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~ DAVID A. BRANSON (1781-1830); moved to TN; m: 9-22-1806 @ Grainger Co., TN to "Susanna Boulton" (1779-1860). 8 Children. David died in 1830 @ Union Co., TN where Susanna died 30 yrs. later. ~Susanna was a sister to John Boulton; Elizabeth Hammock (above) married him prior to her marriage to Jonathan Branson.

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~ NATHANIEL BRANSON (1787-1858); moved to TN; m: 1-14-1812 @ Grainger Co., TN to "Mary Pauline Dalton" (1787-1857); 7 Children. _______________________________________________ ~~Lynda, 4-great's-granddaughter to "Absolom & Jemima Lorton Branson" through their son, John Branson. ________________________________________________

• Updated from Find A Grave Memorial via son David Branson by SmartCopy: Jun 16 2015, 8:08:03 UTC