Anthony Martin Branch

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Anthony Martin Branch (born July 16, 1823 in Buckingham County , Virginia , † October 3, 1867 in Huntsville , Texas ) was an American lawyer and politician . He also served as an officer in the Confederate Army .

Career

Anthony Martin Branch, one of ten children of Winnifred Guerrant and Samuel Branch III., Was born and raised in Buckingham County approximately eight years after the end of the British-American War . He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in 1842 . His student days were overshadowed by the economic crisis of 1837 and the following years by the Mexican-American War . In 1847 he moved to Texas and settled in Huntsville ( Walker County ). There he founded a law firm with Henderson King Yoakum (1810-1856) and associated with Sam Houston (1793-1863) a lot in the following years. After Houston's death, he served as his executor of his last will and guardian of his children. Branch married on March 18, 1849 Amanda Melvina Smith (1829-1867), daughter of Sarah Jane Long (1790-1874) and Samuel Smith (1785-1840). He was elected District Attorney in the Seventh Judicial District in 1850. In 1859 he represented his district in the Texas House of Representatives . A contemporary biographer described him as follows:

"He well sustained his reputation for eloquence and ability."

In November 1861 he was elected a Democrat to the Texas Senate and served there until his resignation on March 20, 1862. Although he was a unionist, he then enlisted in the Confederate Army. A month later he was promoted to Captain in the company A in the 21st  Cavalry - Regiment of Texas under Colonel George Washington Carter appointed (1826-1901). On August 3, 1863, he was elected to the Second Confederate Congress for the Third Constituency of Texas . He defeated Peter W. Gray (1819–1874). During his time in Congress he sat on the following committees: Committee of Elections, Committee of Military Affairs, and Territories and Public Lands Committee. Branch was extremely interested in exporting cotton through the Mexican ports. Although he was an ardent supporter of Jefferson Davis (1808-1889), he was uncompromising for state rights. In this context, he fought to keep the Texan forces in Texas and against Confederate interference in the Texas economy. After the end of the Civil War , he returned to Huntsville, Texas. Branch was elected to both the 39th and 40th Congresses , but both times his seat was stripped of his seat by the Radical Republican majority. In 1866 he helped found the Central Transit Company. Branch practiced as a lawyer until his death. He died of yellow fever during an epidemic in Huntsville in 1867 and was buried there in Oakwood Cemetery near the grave of Sam Houston.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Henderson King Yoakum on the Texas State Historical Association website
  2. ↑ Sam Houston on the Texas State Historical Association website
  3. ↑ Amanda Melvina Smith Branch in the Find a Grave database . Retrieved February 5, 2015.
  4. ↑ George Washington Carter on the Texas State Historical Association website

Web links
personal data
SURNAME Branch, Anthony Martin
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American lawyer and politician and officer in the Confederate Army
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1823
PLACE OF BIRTH Buckingham County , Virginia
DATE OF DEATH October 3, 1867
Place of death Huntsville , Texas