Branscomb Genealogy - Children of Richard Branscomb and Sarah Proctor

Branscomb/Branscum Genealogy

The Genealogy of
Richard Branscomb
of Brunswick County, Virginia,
and a Number of his Descendants

by Fred Tubbs

The Children of Richard Branscomb and Sarah Proctor

Only four children were named in Richard's will; other sons may have left home to “seek their fortunes” as the frontier expanded westward, and other daughters may have married and may have left the area with their husbands. The Brunswick County court did not appoint guardians for the unmarried children when Richard Sr.'s estate was probated, so it is likely that all of them were of legal age by 1775. The children:

Thomas Branscomb, born probably before 1747; his will was proven in January 1815. His wife was Tabitha; surname unknown. Their known children were Isaac (b. ca. 1765), Edmund (b. ca. 1769-1770), Frances (md. 1793), and Robert (b. 1777). See also The children of Thomas and Tabitha Branscomb.
Richard Branscomb; his will was proven in December 1829; the name of his wife is unknown. Their known children were Zachariah, William, Abraham, Enoch, Polly (=Mary), Lucy, Anne, and probably Patsy (=Martha).
John Branscomb, d. 1821. His wife was Olive E., surname unknown. Their known children were Thomas, Rebecca, Wesley and Isaac (named in John’s will), but strong evidence exists for other children: Roland, Elizabeth, Mary, David, Edmund and Henry. Perhaps there were others who have not yet been identified. See also The Children of John and Olive Branscomb.
Sarah Branscomb. Information about Sarah is extremely limited. Her name is found in her father’s will; she received a feather bed and a loom. Upon the death of her mother, she was to receive one-third of the estate. She was probably of legal age by 1775 when her father died, because no guardian was appointed for her. She was undoubtedly the Sarah Branscomb who in 1778 witnessed a deed in which her mother and brother sold land to William Richardson (she made her mark, “+.”). One other record in Greensville County probably applies to Sarah: when Nancy Branscom married Gaskins Ingram on 8 August 1799, Nancy’s mother Sally Branscom gave consent. The only other known Sarah/Sally Branscomb was this Sarah's mother, who by 1799 would have been at least 70 years old and would not have an underage daughter for whom consent was required; at any rate, she had already named a daughter as Sarah. It is possible, but not likely, that some as yet unidentified daughter or widowed spouse of a Branscomb was Nancy’s mother Sally.
A genealogy compiled by Iona Ingram Sowa and posted on the Internet by her niece Gerri Ingram states that Joseph Ingram (Sr.; d. in Brunswick Co. 23 December 1793) married Frances Gaskins. The genealogy lists Gaskins Ingram as their tenth and youngest child (b. 19 April 1770). Gaskins' name does not appear in Joseph's will, written in October 1793, but evidence is found to show that he was in Greensville County subsequent to that time: in 1800 Gaskins Ingram was a witness to the will of James Rawlings (Deed Book One, p. 408, as cited by Ray Sasser, Greensville County, Virginia, Abstracts of Wills: Will Book 1). He was also a witness when on 5 December 1802 Henry and Susannah Williamson executed a deed for 153 acres of land to Edmund Branscomb in Meherrin Parish (Greensville Deed Book 3, p. 206). Ingram made his mark with an ""X."" He was also one of the witnesses who proved the deed at court in April 1803. See further under Edmund Branscomb, whose wife Ann/Joanna was a daughter of Joseph Ingram, presumably Joseph Jr., and therefore Gaskin's niece, assuming the accuracy of the genealogy which Iona Sowa compiled for Joseph Sr.

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