This is the first edition of the Branson / Cook Genealogy Newsletter.  We appreciate your interest and participation in our research efforts.  Our mission is to assist all those who are looking for information on Branson, Cook and allied families.  It is very rewarding when a researcher locates information on an ancestor who has remained mysterious for any length of time.  It is our hope that many of you will experience this sense of elation.  If our web site can contribute to that accomplishment, so much the better! 

Please contribute to the newsletter.  We are hoping to receive notices of births, deaths, marriages, photographs, research tips, web site links and other items of interest to our researchers.

Thank you again for your help and participation.

Sandra Branson Young  (http://bransoncook.systemaxonline.com)
 

Newsletter Table of Contents

Bransons in America

Wherever frontiersmen ventured, there seem to have been Bransons. Some followed their Carolina neighbor, Daniel Boone, into Kentucky. Some went to Tennessee, perhaps along with the Crockett family, who were also neighbors back in Virginia. One of four Branson cousins who left North Carolina to settle in Tennessee about 1789 was John Branson, a great-grandson of Thomas. John's grandson, born just west of Chattanooga, Tennessee, in 1819, was named for the hero of the Battle of New Orleans of the War of 1812 (in which we also find Bransons fighting), and became Andrew Jackson Branson. According to Mr. Joseph M. Branson of Kansas City, Missouri, this was the branch of the Branson family which moved to Gasconade County, Missouri in 1829, when that area was the nation's westernmost frontier. Most of the Bransons had large families, and Andrew Jackson Branson was no exception. He married in 1841 and he and his wife had eleven children.

Among the children of Andrew Jackson Branson, we find several who, fascinated as their ancestors had been by the magic of the words "Go west", headed across the plains and the mountains to California, Nevada and Colorado, establishing branches of the Branson family in the far west, where they are still well represented today. In the years that A. J. Branson's children were growing up, there were other Bransons journeying to California in the fever of the Gold Rush.

Research Tips

One of the most useful methods for locating information on ancestors is searching the US Federal Census records.  The LDS web site offers free access to the indexed 1880 Federal Census.  In the main search engine, enter an ancestor's first and last name.  A list of all pertinent links will be displayed.  Find the 1880 census listings and search the names for those whose birthdates and birth places look close.  Once you find your ancestor, click on the "Household" link.  A complete listing of all individuals in that household will be displayed.  If you think other relatives may have lived in the same town, click on "Next Record" or "Previous Record" to view all individuals who were living in that town.  You might be surprised as what you find!

If you subscribe to ancestry.com you can perform a name search of any town, county or state for most census years from 1790 to 1930.  The 1860 census is only partially indexed so, even if your ancestor does not appear on the results list, this does not mean he/she was not included.  Census images are available for most vicinities.  Prior to 1850 the household members were not listed - only the head of household.  However, some of them do list the number of males and females in the various age brackets.  The search engine at ancestry.com is more user-friendly.  On the LDS web site you cannot enter only the last name, you must also enter a first name or initial.  On the ancestry.com web site, you can search with only the surname, or even no name at all!

When you locate an ancestor in a census record, be sure to check the listings of those who lived nearby.  Often, family members lived next door to one another, or very close by.  Farmers often had more than one home on their land and each home is listed separately. 

Note:  I've noticed, when searching the 1850 census records, clicking on the image link will sometimes take me to the wrong page.  In every case, going to the next image will take me to the correct page.  I'm not sure why this happens, but at least it's been consistent.  If you're a serious genealogy researcher, subscribing to ancestry.com is well worth the cost.

More on census records in future issues.

 

Helpful Web Sites

BRANSON / COOK GENEALOGY

BRANSON, Albert William, born 8 May 1875, Titchmarsh, South Australia

BRANSON, Annie, born 3 April 1868, Greenock, SA

BRANSON, George James, born 6 August 1872, Titchmarsh, SA

BRANSON, Sarah Ann, born 8 Sept 1873, Titchmarsh, SA

BRANSON, David Arthur, born 1 May 1877, Titchmarsh, SA

BRANSON, Alfred Charles, born 16 Jan. 1879, Titchmarsh, SA

BRANSON, Walter Herbert Roger, born 16 July 1881, Greenock, SA

BRANSON, Hervey Joseph Ernest, born 12 March 1883, Greenock, SA

BRANSON, Clara Kezia Emily, born 7 May 1885, Greenock, SA