William A. B. Branch

William Augustus Blount Branch, (son of Lawrence O’Bryan Branch and great-nephew of John Branch), a Representative from North Carolina; born in Tallahassee, Fla., February 26, 1847; moved with his father to Raleigh, N.C., in 1852; attended Lovejoy’s Academy, Raleigh, N.C., Bingham Military Academy near Mebane, N.C., the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Virginia Military Institute at Lexington; joined the Confederate Army and served as a courier on the staff of Gen. R. F. Hoke; surrendered with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston’s army in 1865; studied law but never practiced; in 1867 took charge of his landed estate near Washington, Beaufort County, N.C., and engaged in agricultural pursuits; elected as a Democrat to the Fifty-second and Fifty-third Congresses (March 4, 1891-March 3, 1895); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1894 to the Fifty-fourth Congress; again engaged in agricultural pursuits on his estate; member of the State house of representatives in 1896; died in Washington, N.C., November 18, 1910; interment in Oakdale Cemetery.