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This article is from the Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press. Used by permission of the publisher. For personal use and not for further distribution. Please submit permission requests for other use directly to the publisher.

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Branch, William Augustus Blount

by Armistead Jones Maupin, 1979

26 Feb. 1847–18 Nov. 1910

”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” , The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives courtesy of the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. William Augustus Blount Branch, Confederate soldier, planter, and congressman, was born in Tallahassee, Fla., the son of General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, C.S.A., and Nancy Haywood Blount. His father, a North Carolinian, was practicing law in Florida at the time. Branch was educated at Lovejoy's Academy in Raleigh, Bingham Military Academy near Mebane, The University of North Carolina, and Virginia Military Institute at Lexington.

Branch joined the Confederate Army as a courier on the staff of General R. F. Hoke, and surrendered with General Joseph E. Johnston's army in 1865. He studied law but never practiced. In 1867 he took charge of his landed estate in Beaufort County and engaged in agricultural pursuits for the rest of his life.

Branch was elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses and served from 4 Mar. 1891 to 3 Mar. 1895. He was a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives in 1896.

Branch married his cousin, Eliza Blount, daughter of William Augustus Blount, Jr., and Mary Washington. They had four children: Lawrence O'Bryan; William Augustus Blount; Eliza, who married Bayard Whitehurst; and Laura, who married John Stedman.

Branch died in Washington, N.C., and was buried there.

References:

Biog. Dir. Am. Cong. (1961).

Daniel L. Grant, Alumni History of the University of North Carolina (1924).

Ursula F. Loy and Pauline M. Worthy, Washington and the Pamlico (1976).

Additional Resources:

"Branch, William Augustus Blount, (1847 - 1910)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000765 (accessed April 16, 2013).

The early history of Raleigh, the capital city of North Carolina: A centennial address delivered by invitation of the Committee on the centennial celebration of the foundation of the city, October 18, 1892, Volume 1, Issue 1. Edwards and Broughton, printers, 1893. http://books.google.com/books?id=DXEtAAAAYAAJ&dq=william+augustus+blount+branch&source=gbs_navlinks_s&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false (accessed April 16, 2013).

Image Credits:

”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” , The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives. "Branch, William Augustus Blount, (1847 - 1910)." Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Washington, D.C.: The Congress. http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000765 (accessed April 16, 2013).

Subjects: 
Civil War (1861-1865)
Biographies
Military personnel
Planters
Public officials
Authors: 
Maupin, Armistead J.
Origin - location: 
Beaufort County
From: 
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, University of North Carolina Press.

1 January 1979 | Maupin, Armistead J.