Revision as of 20:36, 3 December 2007

Immigrant 1776-1783

"William Brannan" was born in England, and fought with Cornwallis in the American Revolution. He was taken prisoner by the Americans, probably at Yorktown, VA. At the time, the Americans had no money for feeding and supporting the prison population, so during the planting season they were loaned out to area farmers to assist on the farms. This arrangement pleased the farmers and they complained when government officials decided a stricter watch and re-imprisonment was needed. It is not known whether William Brannan was on some such work release program, but he did escape from prison and made his way to the relative wilderness of western Pennsylvania. He changed his name from whatever it had been, to William Brannan. The spelling is seen also as Branand, and his daughter Elizabeth spelled her name Brandon. Whether any part of this name reflects his original name, perhaps his given name or some surname from his ancestry, is unknown.
He moved from place to place in western PA , finally settling in Slippery Rock Twp., Butler County when he was of rather advanced age, probably 60 to 70 years.
Sources: ^[9][10]

Ancestry chart segment

 Generation 6             Generation 7          Generation 8
 
                                            +-- [unknown]
                                            |   (????-????)
                      +-- William Brannan --+ 
                      |   (<1760-1843)      |   
 Elizabeth Brandon ---+                     +-- [unknown]
 (1792-1879)          |                         (????-????)
                      +-- Susannah Hines
                          (????-<1840)     

Sources:

Children

(all children with Susannah Hines)

Places of Residence

Photos

Gravestones of William Brannan and wife Susannah, Wolf Creek Cemetery, Worth Twp Butler Co PA

Sources

Ref. Num.	Description	Image of original
1	1820 United States Federal Census, Slippery Rock Twp., Butler Co. PA, Ancestry.com pg.3. Family of William Brandon: 1 male 45 & over, 1 female 16-26, 1 female 45 & over. May corresponds to William Brannan & wife Susannah, & probably youngest daughter Susannah Brandon.
2	1830 United States Federal Census, Slippery Rock Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 5. Family headed by Richard Hanes: 1 male <5, 2 males 5-10 , 1 male 10-15, 2 males 15-20, 1 male 40-50, 1 male 70-80; 1 female <5, 1 female 40-50, 1 female 70-80. Corresponds to the family of Richard Hines Jr.: sons Isiah, Elijah & George, Thomas, (Alexander absent);Richard Hines Jr.; daughters Mary E., Eleanor,& an unknown female age 20-30; wife Elizabeth Brandon. The older couple ages 80-90 are perhaps the Brannans (William Brannan & wife Susanna, parents of Elizabeth Brandon.)
3	1840 United States federal Census, Slipperyrock Twp, Butler Co, PA, page 5. Census is not dated. Family of Thomas Brandon: 1 male <5, 1 male 10-15, 1 male 40-50, 1 male 80-90, 1 female <5, 2 females 5-10, 2 females 10-15, 1 female 40-50. This corresponds to the household of Thomas Branand, son of William Brannan, as follows: son Thomas D. <5, son William 10-15, Thomas Branand 40-50; male 80-90 see below; dau. Margaret E. <5, dau.s Rebecca & Elizabeth 5-10, dau.s Mary & Jane 10-15, and wife Mary Ann Reed. Notes: 1)The older male age 80-90 may be William Brannan, father of Thomas Brannan/Brandon. (If so, William was born in the 1750's and his wife, Susannah Hines, would have died before 1840). 2)However, see also in Slippery Rock Twp, 1840 census, the household of Richard Hines, Jr. & wife Elizabeth Brandon. The older couple living with them is possibly her parents, William & Susanna Brannan. It is apparently not Richard Hines, Sr.,as he is apparently in the 1840 census living with his unmarried son & daughters George, Jane & Eleanor Hines.) 3) This leaves the father of Mary Ann Reed, (wife of Thomas Branand), as possibly the older male in their household.
4	Gravestone transcription, Wolf Creek Cemetery, Worth Twp, Butler Co. PA. by Helen McCandless Staiger, 1988, and by Elizabeth Wilson Williams, June 2007. "W. B.". "Sus.....nnan; W.....d; t.....e." (The stone of his wife Susanna has the center area spalled away.) These two stones stand next to the plot of their son Thomas Branand Directly behind these two stones is the plot of the Thomas Brannan family: Thomas Brannan died Oct 13, 1872 aged (77?) yr, (*8?) m, 14d. Mary Ann Reed wife of Thomas Brannan died (Mar?) 10, 1866 aged (67y 7m 9d). Thos. Brannan died Mar. 1, 1856 aged 20 yrs 3 mos. William Brannan died July 9, 18(15), Aged 18y 10m 24d.
5	1880 United States Federal Census Mortality Schedules, Brady Township, Butler County, PA, Enumeration district 30, Page 1, Line 4, lists Elizabeth Hines as having died in Oct 1879 at the age of 87. She was a widow. She was born in PA, her father was born in England, her mother was born in Ireland. She lived in Butler County for 80 years. The cause of death was suide[?] gangrene
6	20th Century History of Butler and Butler County 1909, by McKee, p. 659 biographical sketch. William Brannan was born in England in 1775, member of the King's Life Guard Regiment under Cornwallis, taken prisoner at York, PA, escaped to Westmoreland Co. There he married Susannah Hines. In 1800 moved to Scott Township, Lawrence Co.	(See complete text)
7	20th Century History of Butler & Butler County PA1909, by James McKee, p. 861-862, biographical sketch of George W. Hines, gives his grandparents Richard Hines and Elizabeth Brandon	(Complete text)
8	History of Butler County PA, 1883 by Waterman, Watkins & Co, Chicago, p. 331. William Brannan, an Englishman, came from Washington County to the northeastern part of Lawrence County in 1803, thence he removed to farm in Worth Township, and in 1845 his son Thomas settled in the northern part of this township, on a farm which William Carter had been occupying for some years. Thomas Brannan married, in this county, first Mary Burrows, and second, Mary Ann Reed. Names of children - Susan, Jame, William, Mary Elizabeth, Rebecca, Thomas D., Margaret E., Alzira and Isaac R. Mary, Elizabeth, William and Thomas D. are dead.
9	Personal correspondence from Patricia Moser Whereas the 1909 Butler County History had William Brannan fighting at York, PA, Cornwallis fought at Yorktown, VA. This is probably the correct site of William Brannan's capture. Family tradition is that when the person we know as William Brannan escaped as a prisoner of war to western PA, he changed his name to William Brannan. This means that his original name is now untraceable.
10	PA Archives Series I vol. 8,p. 343 Letter of 1780 to Pres. Reed of the Board of War, regarding the practice of allowing prisoners of war, both British & German, to work with local farmers during the past winter, as rations were scarce at the prison. All had at time of writing been ordered back into confinement, but the farmers were unwilling to relinquish their services, and other prisoners "have escaped from their places of confinement and are scattered thro' the country, where some of them doubtless mean to fix their abode."	(See full text)
11	Will of Mary Cornelius extract. Mary Cornelius of Worth Twp., Butler Co., PA, names sisters Susannah St. Clair & Elizabeth Hines, sister-in-law Margaret Cornelius. Executor S. M. Cornelius. Signed 3 July 1868, filed 16 Feb. 1870. Contributed by personal correspondant Ann Badger.
12	Will of William Branand, Butler Library Wills Abstract Series B-267 1843. William Branand, Slippery Rock Twp., Butler Co. PA names son Thomas, daughters Betsy Hines, Polly Cornelius, Susannah St. Clair. Executor, son Thomas Branand. Witnesses James I. Hogue, Joseph Kelly, William McNees. Signed 5 Dec. 1840. Filed 11 Dec. 1843. Full text: daughters receive one dollar each; son Thomas receives all real estate and remainder of personal property.	(See full text)
13	Butler County Cemetery Invertory, Wolf Creek Cemetery Cornelius, Isaac died 05-03-1836, Maryland Minute Co. Reg.; Mary Cornelius, no dates. Thomas Brannan died 10-13-1872 aged 75y 8m 14d; Mary Ann Reed, Wife of Thomas Brannan, died 08-30-1866 aged 65y 5m 6d
14	Personal correspondence from Elizabeth Wilson Williams	N/A
15	Book: West Liberty Cemetery,Brady Township, Butler County PA, 1966 by Dwight Cooper, RD #1 Box 100, East Harlansburg Rd., New Castle PA 16101. "West Liberty was surveyed Feb. 13, 1829. In 1845 John and Jacob Covert resurrected the village. When the plat was recorded in 1847 the lot owners were James Vogan, James J. (sic) Hoge (see source notes), Charles Coulter, Robert Campbell, Conrad Snyder, John Stephenson, John Fagan, John Craig, John Covert, William McCanon, William McClymonds, David McJunkin, John Boyle, Thomas B. Evans, and Isaac Cornelius. The place at one time was known as Bulger which was the name of the post office."

Source notes

• The middle initial of James I. Hoge has been miss-transcribed by various researchers. In the census and other script of that era, letters "I" and "J" are written identically. His name was James Irvin Hoge/Hogue; his mother was Mary Irvin.

Conjecture

• Is Susannah Hines Brannan, from Westmoreland Co., related to the Richard Hines family? Elizabeth Brandon, daughter of Susannah Hines & William Brannan, married Richard Hines, Jr., so the two families knew each other. It is possible there was some degree of kinship, not yet established
• Inconclusive Census search results:
  • 1810 census, Butler Co., Slippery Rock Twp p. 32 - W. Brannan age 26-45; no others listed in household.
  • 1810 census, Mercer Co., Slippery Rock Twp - Wm Brannon, 1 M age 10-16, 1 M age 45 or+, 1F age 16-26, 1 F age 26-45
  • 1800 census, Mercer Co, PA, no Twp. William Branen 1 male <10, 2 males 10-15, 2 male 16-25, 1 male >44, 1 female <10, 1 female >45.
  • 1790 Census William Brannon in York Co (Mixed Twps) 1 male >16, 1 male under 16, 2 females

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