Brandon

World-wide Brandon families (and variant spelling)
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This is rather a large document sent to the previous administrator by a gentleman named Steve Brandon.  August 2022.  Sadly, the photos cannot be replicated and some of the "list" numbers have been duplicated.

If anything strikes a chord with you, please contact him at  Steve.brandon  AT  system one.com (but change the  AT to  the symbol).


JOHN BRANDON

 

John Brandon was born abt 1662 in Scotland. There is a Presbyterian church record in 1665 in Forfar, Angus County, Scotland, then the administrative center of Angus County, showing a Robert Brandon with a son John, who most believe was this John Brandon. Some early Brandon researchers say that John married Mary Armstrong about 1685. This is reasonable considering the Brandon and Armstrong interaction throughout the next 150 years.

 

To the union of John and Mary Armstrong Brandon was born at least 5 sons:

1.     Thomas Brandon (abt 1685 - 1756) [Elizabeth ?]

 

2.     William Brandon (abt 1688 - 1753) [Isabella ?]

 

3.     John Brandon (1691 - 15 May 1756) [Ann Cathey, Elizabeth Locke, 17 April 1754]

 

4.     James Brandon (abt 1693 - May 1758) [Mary ?]

 

5.     George Brandon (abt 1702 - 14 December 1772) [Mary Ann (Marian) Armstrong 1725 in Scotland]

 

The Battle of Preston on 9–14 November 1715 was the final action of the Jacobite rising of 1715, an attempt to put James Francis Edward Stuart on the British throne in place of George I. The name Jacobite is derived from the word Jacobus which is Latin for James. 

 


There was support for the movement by the Presbyterians in the Scottish Highlands where some of Angus County is located. Over 20,000 Scots fought for the Jacobites in 1715. The reason most fought was that tenants were compelled to provide their landlords with military service.

 

At the Battle of Preston, the last battle ever fought on English soil, the English routed the Jacobites and 1,468 of the Jacobite’s 4,000 fighters were taken prisoner. John Brandon is listed on the prisoner records of Preston Prison as one of the Jacobites captured. John is shown as being a laborer from Kirriemuir Parish, Angus County, Scotland. 

 

Many ordinary Highland clansmen captured during that battle were deported to the American colonies as indentured servants in the spring of 1716. John Brandon is listed as one of the 639 Jacobites listed to be exiled to the American colonies.

 

John is shown on the prisoner list aboard the Ship Friendship of Belfast sailing from Liverpool on 24 May 1716 and arriving in Annapolis (Baltimore), Maryland on 20 August 1716. John likely would have been an indentured servant working on one of the tobacco farms in the area.

 

All surviving prisoners of the Battle of Preston were pardoned by The Indemnity Act of 1717 thus freeing John from his sentence as an indentured servant. However, his wife Mary and children were still in Scotland and could not migrate until John raised the money for them to come.

 

It is assumed that Mary and the children immigrated to Pennsylvania to join John after 1725 when son George had married Mary Ann (Marian) Armstrong in Scotland. 

 

Based on land records it appears that John Brandon migrated the 100 miles up the Susquehanna River to the area of Pennsylvania which at that time was Indian Territory which later became Lancaster County in 1729. The first white settlers had arrived in 1710 so by 1729 there would have still been few settlers. 

 

The draw to this area was that it was strongly Presbyterian as was the Scottish Highlands where John originated. In this time people strongly believed that uniformity of religion must exist in any given society and that all people in a given community must be of the same religion. Maryland had been established as a place where Catholics could freely practice their religion, and as a Presbyterian John would want to be with other Presbyterians.

 

John was believed to have been in the congregation of either the Donegal Presbyterian Church (est. 1722) or the Octoraro Presbyterian Church (est. 1727), both in the Donegal Presbytery, as Reverend McAden of the Presbytery mentioned the Brandon family in his writings. 

 

The first land record that is found for John in the United States is a land grant in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania on 23 December 1737, where John Brandon received 250 acres and John Brandon Jr. also received 250 acres. It is likely as was the custom of the time that they had been on this land since migrating there, but these grants made ownership official. John Jr. on 21 May 1746 received an additional grant of 100 acres.

 

John died abt 1745 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania and it is not known where he is buried. His death likely precipitated the migration of his sons John and James, and later George, to Anson, now Rowan County, North Carolina in 1747/1748. 

 

 

GEORGE BRANDON 

 

George Brandon was born in 1702 probably in Scotland, the fourth son of John and Mary Armstrong Brandon. With the abundance of George Brandon’s in this timeframe, This George is known to genealogists as George I. In 1725 George married Mary Ann (Marian) Armstrong in Scotland. They migrated to Lancaster County, PA where he was a farmer.

 

In 1743 George is showed as owning two plots of land, 60 acres and 100 acres in the land deeds in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.

 

George and Mary Ann (Marian) Brandon raised a large family, having at least 8 children:

 

1.     Jane Brandon (abt 1729 - ?) [Joseph Silver] 

 

2.     John Brandon (abt 1732 – abt 1827) [Unmarried]

 

3.     George Brandon (abt 1736 – abt 1826) [Wife 1, Rebecca Neely, Mary Luckey, Sally (Polly) Gillespie]

 

4.     Abraham Brandon (abt 1742 – aft 1800) 

 

5.     Eleanor Brandon (abt 1745 - ?)

 

6.     Mary Brandon (1748 – abt 1810) [John McGuire md 16 March 1767]

 

7.     Christopher (abt 1750 – 26 November 1806) [Elizabeth Graham, Sarah Newman]

 

8.     Sidney Brandon (aft 1750 - ?) [James Witherow]

            


In 1747 or 1748, George’s brothers John and James along with several other Scottish families traveled the 500 miles from Pennsylvania using the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road through the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia to Anson (now Rowan) County, NC. With a wagon traveling an average of 10 miles a day the journey would take at least 2 months. His brothers Thomas and William remained in Pennsylvania. William died in 1753 in Lancaster, PA and Thomas died in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, date unknown.

 

Land was selling for 15 shillings per 100 acres in Pennsylvania and 5 shillings per 100 acres in Lord Granville’s section of North Carolina, and the lure of cheap land brought them southward. Although the Brandon family arrived about 1748, their land grants were not dated until 1752. This was typical of many of the early settlers in this area. 

Some of the settlers had petitioned for land but never taken out warrants to survey for clear title. It wasn't that they couldn't afford the land; it was just that they were unwilling to spend the money until it was necessary. In 1752, that necessity arose. The Governor's Council posted the notice that all warrantees had to take out their patents within eight months or forfeit their right and title to the land. Taking out a patent meant paying for the land and paying for an official survey which was then recorded.

 

There were some problems between settlers and surveyors.  In September of 1749 a group of men, including two of the Brandon’s and John Withrow set upon John Edwards, Jr. and James MacManus who were surveying their land and threatened them with drawn swords and rifles.

 

George and his family also migrated down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road from Pennsylvania to Rowan, County, NC sometime between 1748 when he was shown on tax rolls in Lancaster County, PA and 1768 when he is on tax rolls in NC. It is likely that George and family arrived after 1762 as he is not listed on the Granville grant list from 1747-1762.

 

As George and his family migrated about 10 years later than his brothers John and James, most of the Granville’s better land had already been claimed. The land George and his sons claimed was not as good, nor as many acres as the land of his brothers John and James. As there are no records of George buying land or being granted land before 1768, it is thought that they may simply have surveyed and claimed the land for themselves

 

As settlers continued to pour into the area, Lord Granville’s agents gave up trying to control who got what land and Granville closed his land offices in 1763. Much of the land not granted and paid for up to that point was up for grabs and was taken by those who could settle on it and defend it. The best land was already taken and many of the small parcels were not fought over. It is thought the closing of Granville’s Land Office is what prompted George to migrate to the area.

 

George Brandon Sr. died 14 December 1772 and is buried at Thyatira Presbyterian Church at Salisbury, NC. There is a copy of his will on file in North Carolina naming his children.

 

GEORGE BRANDON 

 

George Brandon was born ca.1736, in Lancaster County, PA the third child and second son of George Brandon I (1702-1773) and Mary Ann (or Marian) Armstrong Brandon. With the abundance of George Brandon’s in this timeframe, this George is known to genealogists as George II.

 

George migrated down the Great Philadelphia Wagon Road with his family from Pennsylvania to Rowan, County, NC sometime between 1748 when his father was shown on tax rolls in Lancaster County, PA and 1768 when his father is on tax rolls in NC. It is likely that George I and family arrived after 1762 as he is not listed on the Granville grant list from 1747-1762.

 

As George and his father migrated about 10 years later than his brothers John and James, most of the Granville’s better land had already been claimed. With the flood of settlers into the area Lord Granville eventually gave up on who got what land and in 1763 closed his land office. The land George I and George II claimed was not as good, nor as many acres as the land of John and James. As there are no records of George I or George II buying land or being granted land before 1768, it is thought that they may simply have surveyed and claimed the land for themselves.

 

By 1772 George had acquired 23 acres land adjacent to his father on Hunting Creek near Salisbury, NC. It is assumed as to the custom of the time that George had married and was living on his own. There is no record of children of this marriage, neither the name nor the fate of this wife. 

 

There are many researchers that historically attributed the birth of War of 1812 Captain George Brandon 1770-1844, or George III as he is known to genealogists, to this marriage. However, that George was the son of Christopher Brandon and Sidney McGuire Brandon. 

                                                                                                

Upon the death of George’s father on 14 December 1772, he received from his father’s estate 100 acres adjacent to his own land.

 

At the start of the Revolutionary War George’s uncles John and James and cousin Matthew on 9 September 1775 joined the Rowan County Minute Men Regiment. James was a Major, John a Captain, and Matthew a Lieutenant. George, presumably at the same time, joined the Quartermaster’s ranks reporting to Joseph Marbury, Quartermaster General as a Wagon Master. Additionally, three of George’s other cousins, William, James Jr., and Benjamin served during the war.

 

The Rowan County Regiment saw significant action in the war with at least 31 engagements including The Cherokee Campaign, Ramseur’s Mill, Kings Mountain, and Cowpens. By 1780 James was promoted to Lt. Colonel, and by 1782 to Colonel commanding the spin off Second Rowan County Regiment. Meanwhile, Captain John Brandon by 1780 commanded the NC State Calvary Western District. It is not known whether George remained with the First or Second Rowan County Regiment. 

 

James Jr. was killed in battle. According to family history, his horse came home a distance of 17 miles and his friends and family went to the battlefield to claim his body. Benjamin was wounded in the knee in the same battle and hid in the bushes until the battle was over and the British had withdrawn from the field. Benjamin survived the war, and later drew a pension for his service.

 


It is known that George, as most quartermasters, survived the war with no injuries. The last record we have of his service is a pay voucher for 20 pounds and 12 shillings in Wake County, NC on 20 May 1784 well after the official end of the war on 3 September 1783. Sometime after the war, some say on the way back to Salisbury, and some say later when in Tennessee, a wagon fell on George leg necessitating amputation below the knee. Throughout history George II has been referred to as “Peg Leg George”. 

 

Drawing to left “Battle of Cowpens”.

 

George returned to Rowan County after the war and is shown on the Rowan County 1788 tax list living next to his widowed mother Mary Ann and his bothers John and Abraham in Captain Reed’s District. On 22 March 1779 George married for a second time to Rebecca Neely. The Neely’s were a Presbyterian gentry family. There is no record of children from this marriage nor the fate of Rebecca.

 

On 4 November 1784 George bought from the government for 50 shillings per acre 458 acres on Hunting Creek, then on 12 October 1785 George bought 318 acres for 100 lbs. on Hunting Creek from John Graham that adjoined his other property. Then on 25 October 1786 George bought from the government, again for 50 shillings per acre, 191 acres on the south side of Hunting Creek, and on the same day 120 acres bought on the South Yadkin River. These government grants are assumed to be due to his Revolutionary War service. With his original 23 acres and his father’s 100 acres left to him in his estate, George owned over 1,200 acres, a large estate at the time.

 

We do know that George was again single by 1787 when George married Mary Luckey, known historically as “Widow Luckey” as his third wife. The marriage to Mary Luckey had a profound effect on George’s life. Mary brought over 1,000 acres also on Hunting Creek to the marriage, plus numerous livestock and household goods. 

 

However, they were just married for a year when they legally separated on 2 August 1788. In the separation agreement Basil Gaither Esq. was appointed trustee to hold George’s 318 acres in trust plus all Mary’s land, household goods, and all livestock that she had when they married. George received only 5 shillings, about $20 in 2020 for the 318 acres of land.  Additionally, Mary was to receive all the land left to her by her deceased husband Robert Luckey, all the household goods, and livestock. Their divorce was finalized in 1790. George also had to pay her brother A. Graham a fee to take her back. 

 

In the separation agreement George speaks of her children, but not their children, so it is assumed that they had no children.  In Mary’s will in 1797 she lists her sons as Robert, James, and George Luckey.

 

One can assume that George was embarrassed by the “Widow Luckey” situation and left Rowan County moving back to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania where he was shown in the summer of 1790 census living adjacent to his cousins who had remained in Pennsylvania.

 

Obviously, George had to raise some cash to cover his travels and divorce so on 5 January 1791 he sold the 196 acres on Hunting Creek and the 120 acres on the South Yadkin River to his previous father-in-law Frances Neely for 100 lbs.

 

In 1791 George is married for the fourth time to Jane or “Polly” Gillespie. By the 1800 census George is back in Rowan County. George is living between his brothers Christopher, John and Abraham and close to the Beal, Davis, and Bean families on Hunting Creek. It is assumed that Polly was also a widow as in 1800 they had a male and female child over 10 years old that she would have brought into the marriage. To this union is thought to be born:

 

1.     Joseph Armstrong Brandon (31 December 1793- 22 August 1875) [Sarah Tenpenny]

 

George and Polly are both now over 45 in the 1800 census and are shown with three males under 10 years old including Joseph Armstrong Brandon who was born 31 Dec 1793, in North Carolina. There is solid DNA evidence that George Brandon (1702-1773) was Joseph’s grandfather. Joseph would have been 6 at the time of the census. This makes it very likely that George Brandon is Joseph Armstrong Brandon’s father. There are also two daughters listed as under 10, that could be Joseph’s sisters. See further explanation in biography of Joseph Armstrong Brandon.

 

On 14 August 1801 George is shown near Carthage in Smith County, Tennessee when he buys land there. He then sells 264 acres in Rowan County for 82 lbs. to Isham Hubbard and is listed on the deed as being George Brandon Jr. of Smith County, Tennessee. 

 

By 1810 George and Polly are living back in Rowan County on Hunting Creek with five children. They are still next to the Beal, Davis, and Bean family and close to brother John. A male child between the age of 10 and 16 is in the household, presumably 16 year old Joseph. However, Christopher has gone to Stewart County, Tennessee, and Abraham is not on either Tennessee or North Carolina census, thought to be in Indian Territory, but is back by 1827 when he witnesses his brother John’s will.

 

By 1820 all the males have left the George Brandon household and Polly and their two unmarried females aged 10 to 26 are in the household. 

 

George Brandon II, or peg-leg George, died intestate in 1827. Apparently, Polly had died since 1820 as there was no mention of her in the court order on 1 July 1826 where George’s land was sold for the benefit of his heirs John Brandon and others. It is not known where George or Polly were buried.

 

JOSEPH ARMSTRONG BRANDON

 

Joseph Armstrong Brandon was born 31 Dec 1793, in North Carolina., likely in Rowan County. There is solid DNA evidence that George Brandon (1702-1773) is his grandfather, whose wife was Mary Ann (or Mariam) Armstrong Brandon, from whom Joseph’s middle name likely originated. 

 

The Will of George 1702 named his sons as:

 

·      John 1732-1827

·      George 1736- aft. 1820 (Peg leg George)

·      Christopher 1738-1806 

·      Abraham b. 1742-aft. 1821[ ? Walker/Walters 15 October 1789]

 

There is very good history on Christopher with his children listed in his will. His son William was born 6 November 1793 so not that line. 

 

A letter from Mary Lazenby of Washington, DC, great granddaughter of Abraham, to a Mr. Swann in October of 1960 mentions her grandfather David Brandon, son of Abraham, and states that David’s sons were William, Lafayette, and John. It also states that “the only other children of Abraham was Hannah Brandon Campbell”. 

 

Hannah (b.11 February 1791) married Thomas Campbell in 1817. Hannah and David as well as possibly another son, George Thomas Brandon (b. 6 October 1818) and daughter, Mary Ann Brandon ( 1806 - 1876), who married David Sharpe on 24 September 1825 have also been mentioned by other researchers, so not that line. 

 

In John’s Will in 1827, attested by his brother Abraham, he mentions wife Sarah but no children. Also in 1800 census, when Joseph was 6, there were no children, so not that line.

 

That only leaves 1736 George Brandon who could be Joseph’s father.

 

The 1800 US Census shows George in Rowan County, with three males under 10 years old, when Joseph was 6. George is living between his brothers Christopher, John and Abraham and close to the Beal, Davis, and Bean families.

 

George Brandon apparently left Rowan County ca. 1801 and was in Smith County, Tennessee according to land deeds of 1801 and 1804. But by the 1810 census 74-year-old George is back in Rowan County with 2 males under 10 and 2 between 10 and 16, still living close to the Beal, Davis, and Bean families. Joseph would have been 16 in this census. Joseph is still in Rowan County in 1818 as evidenced by him appearing on the records of Rowan County as bondsman for the marriage of William Brandon and Jane Brandon on 9 Feb 1818. 

 

The 1820 US Census does not show either Joseph in North Carolina, or Tennessee. 84-year-old George is shown with no males other than himself in the household. It could have been that Joseph was enroute to Tennessee or living with some relatives in Tennessee as the 1820 census only enumerated heads of household. 

 

Circa 1820 Joseph Armstrong Brandon married Sarah (Sallie) Tenpenny. Their first child, Elizabeth is born in 1823. Their second child, John, was born in 1825 and likely is named for his Uncle John who is thought to have helped raised him. Family history states that after marriage Joseph then worked for “old man Tenpenny”.

 

In 1826, George dies intestate, and his land is sold to benefit brother John Brandon plus other unnamed heirs. Then in 1827 Joseph’s Uncle John dies in Rowan County and leaves his entire estate to his wife Sarah with direction that all property is to be sold with the exception of slave Sampson who is to stay with Sarah until her death and then be set free. Sarah is to use the money for her upkeep.

 

Joseph then on 21 December 1828, likely with his inheritance from George and/or John, buys 50 acres of land from Solomon Brents for $500 on Rush Creek on the Rutherford County line in Warren County. However, Joseph didn’t register his deed until 20 March 1837, in the nearby town of Woodbury, seat of the recently created Cannon County.  In effect, he waited for the Courthouse to come to him, or very nearly so.

 

His land was adjacent to Cornelius Brandon and just down the road from Richard Tenpenny who had bought 224 acres from Solomon Brents on 15 November1820 with his daughter and Joseph’s future wife Sarah (Sallie) Tenpenny attesting. There is no record of close kinship between Cornelius and Joseph which has been confirmed by DNA testing.

 

Joseph has an interesting history with money as a farmer. Although never learning how read or to write as evidenced by his X mark on all legal paperwork, he bought and sold several large tracts of farmland in Cannon Co., TN.  

 

In June of 1835 Joseph bought 73 acres on Owl Creek from Cornelius Brandon for $237, which still was bordered by Cornelius’ land on the west and east. His original 50 acres does not appear again in any existing records, so it is likely that those 50 acres were sold for the purchase of the 73 acres.

 

In August of 1836 there was an interesting court case involving Joseph. The county had marked out a road adjoining Joseph as well as Benjamin Hay, and Robert George. The landowners thought the grade was too steep for wagons of the day and went to court to have the road moved to a more level area. The landowners prevailed and the road was moved.

 

By 1840 Joseph is living on the 73 acres with Cornelius’ son Hiram in a house on the same property but not showing property ownership for Hiram. In 1850 Joseph remains on the property, living next door to son John who also shows no property ownership, but Hiram has moved on. Cornelius, his son John Ellis, and Tobias Tenpenny are close neighbors.

 

Joseph also bought an additional 96 acres adjoining he 73 acres before 1851 but no deed of that transaction exists.

 

One of the more interesting transactions involved Joseph, his father-in-law Richard Tenpenny and his brother-in-law and next-door neighbor and Richard’s son Tobias Tenpenny.

 

Joseph borrowed from Richard $450 with a due date of 16 February 1842. It is assumed that was to buy the aforementioned 96 acres. Joseph could not pay on time the $450, so he mortgages the 73 acres that he purchased from Cornelius Brandon in 1835, his home, all his household furniture, plus all crops and livestock, for a guarantee that if Joseph defaults on the loan to Richard, that Tobias will liquidate the property and livestock and pay the debt to Richard and then to Joseph the remainder of the proceeds. The payment due to Richard was extended to 1 January 1844. Joseph apparently paid off the debt because he still owned the property in 1851.

 

In 1851 Joseph sold to his son John the combined 73 acres and the 96 acres totaling 169 acres for $500. The 1850 census shows Joseph and John both with houses on the 169 acres but with John not showing any property ownership. 

 

In 1853 Cornelius dies and Joseph buys 229 acres from Cornelius’ estate. By 1860 Joseph and son William are living next to each other on a portion of the purchased Cornelius’ property. William is shown as not owning any property so is working for Joseph. Cornelius’ widow Mary and son Abraham are living just down the road.

 

At Joseph’s death in 1875, Sallie and unmarried daughter Mary lived on the property until Sallie’s death in 1889.

 

Joseph A. and Sarah Brandon raised a large family, having at least 10 children:

 

1.              Joseph Armstrong Brandon (1793-1875) [Sarah Tenpenny]

 

            2.         Elizabeth Brandon (1823-?) [Unmarried]

 

            2.         John Brandon (1825-1890) [Roxanna Gannon]

                        3.         Rebecca Jane Brandon (1850-1900) [James David Grimes]

                        3.         William Andrew Brandon (1852-?) [Mary Ann Brandon]

                        3.         James Thomas Brandon (1855-1855)

                        3.         Joseph Brandon (1856-? [Sarah ____]

                        3.         George H. Brandon (1859-1912) [Did not marry]

                        3.         Richard Brandon (1863-1864)

                        3.         Alfred T. Brandon (1865-1865)

 

 

 

 

            2.         Richard Tenpenny Brandon (1827-1895)

                        [a. Martha Byford b. Josephine Todd Robinson]

                        3a.       Anna Caroline Brandon (1857-?)

                        3a.       John A. Brandon (1859-1937)

                        3a.       Sarah Brandon (1862-1895)

                        3a.       Dennis Brandon (died as infant)

                        3b.       Caleb Andrew Brandon (1869-1941) [Nancy Clementine Hollis]

                        3b.       Elizabeth Amanda Brandon (1872-?) [William W. Starnes]

                        3b.       William Todd Brandon (1872-?) [Emaline Ramsey]

                        3b.       Tilden Malloy Brandon (1878-1949)

                        3b.       James Dennis Brandon (1880-ca1915)

                        3b.       Richard Dixon Brandon (1881-1941)

                        3b.       Serena Mary Brandon (1884-1940)

 

            2.         Andrew Jackson Brandon (1829-1910) [Melissa Palestine Lowe]

                        3.         Alfred J. Brandon (1866-1947) [Addie Lyon]

 

            2.         William James Brandon (1834-1912) [Elizabeth Burk]

                        3.         Roxanne Brandon (1858-?)

                        3.         Isham G. Brandon (1862-1907) [a.Lou West b.Jennie West]

                        3.         Joseph Brandon (1865-?)

                        3.         Nancy (1872-1958)

                        3.         Andrew J. (1872-1958)

                        3.         Alfred (1877-?)

 

            2.         Martha Jane Brandon (1835-?) [Arch T. Brandon]

 

            2.         Mary A. Brandon (1837-?) [Never Married]

 

            2.         Joseph A. Brandon, Jr. (5Apr 1838-2Jul 1905) [Melinda E. Todd]

                        3. Alford Brandon (1 Mar 1872- 6 Aug 1892)

                        3. Almarinda Brandon (2 Aug 1874 – 28 Aug 1926) [Willie Prater]

                        3. Ludie Brandon (26 Aug 1876 – 15 Oct 1962) [J.F. McKee Sr.]

                        3. Thomas Armstrong Brandon (5 Sep 1880-28 Oct 1955 [Ellen Pearson]

                        3. Wiley Brandon (19 Jan 1881 - 1929) [Betty Williams]

                        3. Hexie Pearl Brandon (13 Sept 1885 – 16 Jan 1962) [George William

                                        Smith]

 

            2.         Alfred George Brandon (1840-1915) [Ann B. Elizabeth Cates]                       

                        3. John Edgar Brandon (16 Feb 1871-27 Nov 1950)

                        3. Elvis Nash Brandon (14 Aug 1873-6 Mar 1960)

                        3. Jennie Quixie Brandon (20 Jun 1876-6 or 9 Aug 1903)

                        3. Sally Maybelle Brandon (17 Apr 1879-24 Apr 1922) [Mitchell]

                        3. Charlie Joe Brandon (8 Nov 1881-10 Jan 1973) 

                        3. Nancy Josephine "Nannie" Brandon (17 May 1884-21 May 1966)

                        3. Lucious Lamar Brandon (30 Nov 1886-28 Mar 1970)

                        3. Harry Cates Brandon (8 Nov 1890-6 Mar 1939)

                        3. Florence Ella Brandon (3 Oct 1893-17 Dec 1985) [James Mitchell]

 

            2.         Nancy M. "Nannie" Brandon (1844-?) [Mort Bragg]

 

Joseph A. and Sallie each lived to a ripe old age, (he b.31 Dec1793, d.22 Aug 1875, aged 81: she b.17 Aug1804, d.23Aug 1889, aged 85) and are buried together in the Simpson Cemetery near Burt in western Cannon County, TN.

 


WILLIAM JAMES BRANDON

 

William James Brandon was born 12 September 1834 near Woodbury in Warren County, Tennessee. That part of Warren County soon became Cannon County, TN. William was the 4th son and 5th child of Joseph Armstrong and Sarah “Sallie” Tenpenny Brandon. 

 

His parents were “plain, honest, laboring people” and William was raised to the work of a farmer, a profession he followed throughout his life, with the exception of a few years in the Army during the Civil War.

 

On 12 January 1856 William married Mary Elizabeth Burk. To this union were born 6 children:

 

Roxanah Brandon (1858-aft 1880) [Perry Stubblefield]

Isham Green Brandon (15 January 1862-14 October 1907) [Lou West, Jennie West] 

Joseph Brandon (1865-?)

Nancy Brandon (14 April 1868-26 February 1931) [John Thomas Napier]

Andrew Thomas Brandon (4 November 1872-19 September 1958) [unmarried]

Alfred B. Brandon (1 December 1876-6 December 1954) [Annie Newman]

 

By 1860 Joseph and son William are living next to each other on a portion of the purchased Cornelius’ property. William is shown as not owning any property so is working for Joseph. 

 

With the outbreak of the Civil War in April of 1861 a call went out for volunteers for the confederacy. The 18th Regiment of the Tennessee Volunteers was comprised of 10 companies of 685 men was being formed at Camp Trousdale at Portland, TN with mustering in being on 11 June 1861 from volunteers from the central Tennessee counties of Rutherford, Bedford, Davidson, Wilson, Cannon, Sumner and Cheatham.

 

William left his wife Elizabeth and three-year-old daughter to answer the call for volunteers and walked 10 days to cover the 70 miles to Portland, TN. Elizabeth would have only been only 2 months pregnant with her son Isham at the time. It is likely that as her pregnancy progressed, and with her husband off to war, that she and her three-year-old daughter Roxy would move in with her parents in Christiana for his birth.

 

William enlisted in the Confederate Army as a Private in Company D of the 18th Regiment of The Tennessee Volunteers with Colonel Joseph B. Palmer commanding. Other field officers included Lt. Colonels A.G. Carden and William R. Butler, and Majors Samuel W. Davis and W. H. Joyner. Private William J. Brandon served under Captain H. J. St. John as a member of Company D, the “St. John Guard”.

 


On 17 September 1861 The Eighteenth Tennessee Regiment moved to Bowling Green, KY, and on 8 February 1862, advanced to the relief of Fort Donelson, TN. At the siege the 18th Tennessee was the first to engage the enemy. After 8 days of hard fighting the regiment was surrendered 16 February 1862 and was sent to the Union Prison at Camp Butler, Illinois, just outside Springfield. 

 

Drawing “Surrender of Fort Donelson”

 

After the battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi, on 16 September 1862 Private Brandon was sent to Vicksburg in a group of Confederate prisoners to be exchanged for Union prisoners. The 18th Regiment of the Tennessee was reorganized at Jackson, Miss., with J.B. Palmer remaining as Colonel.

 

The 18th was soon transferred to Knoxville to invade Kentucky, but instead was moved to Murfreesboro, TN. On 31 December 1862-2 January 1863 at the Battle of Stones River under command of General John C. Breckenridge it participated in one of the most famous charges of history against the flank of Union General William S. Rosecrans sustaining severe losses of 246 men including three wounds received by Colonel Palmer. The charge ranked second on to Pickett’s charge at the Battle of Gettysburg as the bloodiest of the Civil War. Private William J. Brandon survived the charge with no injury.

 

On 18-20 September 1863, at Chickamauga, it distinguished itself by its furious fighting and desperate heavy losses of 144 men. Colonel Palmer was again dangerously wounded, but again Private William J. Brandon was unscathed. The 18th at Chickamauga was on the left wing under command of Lt. General James Longstreet in Major General Alexander P. Stewart division. The 18th then participated in the battle of Missionary Ridge.

 

The 18th Regiment wintered at Dalton, GA and in 1864 headed to Atlanta where Colonel Palmer was promoted to Brigadier General. In a heroic encounter at Atlanta against vastly superior numbers the regiment was outflanked, and a majority of its members captured. Private William J. Brandon escaped becoming a prisoner for the second time.

 

The remnants of the 18th Regiment were consolidated with the 3d and 4th Tennessee under Col. Butler and General Joseph E. Johnston. It fought at Jonesboro, GA then moved to the Carolinas where it fought at Bentonville, NC and finally surrendered at the end of the war at Greensboro, NC on 26 April 1865. At that time of the 685 men who volunteered at Fort Trousdale on 11 January 1861 only 12 remained including Private William J. Brandon. 

 

The 12 were paroled at Greensboro, North Carolina, on May 1, 1865, and William J. Brandon began the long walk back to Christiana, TN.

 

William bought for $775.00 from his brother Andrew J. Brandon 31 acres in the Southern portion of Rutherford Co., TN. on 12 Jan 1880.  $500.00 came from his inheritance of his father, and $275.00 from the estate of his in-law’s, Samuel and Christine Burke. These 31 acres comprised his entire estate.

 

William and Elizabeth lived their lives on their farm, with Elizabeth passing away first (19 Sept 1837-19 Jan 1912), and William next (12 Sept 1831-21 Dec 1912), and are buried in Christiana Cemetery in Rutherford County, TN.

 

 

 

 

ISHAM GREEN BRANDON

 

Isham Green Brandon, also known as Sam, was born likely in the Christiana Community, Rutherford County, TN on 15 January 1862. He was the son of William James and Elisabeth Burk Brandon. 

 

At the time of Isham’s birth his father was serving in the Confederate Army as a Private in Company D of the 18th Regiment of The Tennessee Volunteers.

 

The Eighteenth Tennessee Regiment was formed at Camp Trousdale June 11, 1861, of companies from Rutherford, Bedford, Davidson, Wilson, Cannon, Sumner and Cheatham Counties, with J B Palmer, Colonel. Private William J. Brandon served under Captain H. J. St. John as a member of the “St. John Guard”.

 

With the founding of the Regiment on 11 June 1861, William’s wife Elizabeth would have only been only 2 months pregnant with Isham at the time. It is likely that as her pregnancy progressed, and with her husband off to war, that she and her 3 year old daughter Roxanne would move in with her parents in Christiana for his birth.

 

The pro-Confederate sympathies of the family were evident as Elisabeth named her newborn son after Isham Green Harris, the staunch secessionist and Governor of the State of Tennessee.

 

Isham spent his earliest years amidst the high drama of the Civil War in Middle Tennessee with his father serving in the army until his return when Isham was 3 ½ years old.

 

At the age of 18, young Isham was working as a farmhand for his Uncle Andrew J. Brandon at his farm a few miles from his parental home. Uncle Andrew was a Baptist preacher with an excellent reputation who also served as Superintendent of Schools for Rutherford County.

 

At the age of 22 on Christmas Eve of 1884 Isham married Louellen “Lou” West of Franklin County, TN with his Uncle Andrew J. Brandon officiating. 

 

Isham and Lou then moved to Lou’s hometown of Huntland, TN where he found work as a teamster hauling logs with mules out of the woods for the sawmill, later becoming a farmer, renting land at Huntland. 

 

To this union were born 3 children:

 

            Mary Day Brandon (15 January 1886-February 1985)

 

            Lucy McLeod Brandon (17 October 1887-16 November1916)

 

            Willard Carter Brandon (12 January 1890-7 July 1963)



Lou died in the early 1890’s. Isham then married Lou’s older sister Manerva “Jennie” West on 24 March 1893. To this union were born 3 more children:

 

            Grace Porter Brandon (26 January 1894-26 January 1968)

 

            Sue Lipscomb Brandon (18 November 1896-19 September 1919)

 

            George Moseley Brandon (23 August 1898-14 January 1979)

 

Photo of Isham and Jennie Brandon, date unknown.

 

Mary Day Brandon married Andrew Jackson “Jack” Thurmond of West Helena, AR on 4 July 1907 and resided there. Her husband was a car salesman for West-Horner Chevrolet. Jack and Mary had 4 children, Hazel, Francis, Jeannette, and Jack Jr.

 


Lucy McLeod Brandon was afflicted with Pernicious Anemia, a condition where the body does not produce enough red blood cells, never married and died of the disease.

 

Willard Carter Brandon married Clara Lucas and was a hardware merchant in Winchester, Franklin County, TN. He was of slender build as was his father.

 

Grace Porter Brandon married Emmett G. Keith, a farmer, and lived her life in Huntland, TN.

 

Sue Lipscomb Brandon never married and was a schoolteacher. She died of tuberculosis as did her father. 

 

George Mosley Brandon at about 21 years of age moved to Arkansas near his half-sister Mary and became a large landowner and farmer.

 

Photo right to left is George, Mary, Grace, and Willard in 1965 on front porch of Mary and Jack Thurmond home.

 

Isham died of tuberculosis at the age of 45 on 14 October 1907. He is buried in Mt. Carmel Cemetery in Huntland, TN, being survived by both parents and 6 children.

 

Two of his children, Lucy and Sue would both die before the age of 30.

 

His wife, Jennie West Brandon continued the family farm after Isham’s death and lived a long life dying on 8 January 1944 age 84.

 

            1. Isham Green Brandon (15 January 1862-14 October 1907) [Lou West, Jennie West]

 

                        2. Mary Day Brandon (15 January 1886-February 1985) [A. Jack Thurmond]

 

                                    3. Hazel Thurmond (4 November 1909-19 May 1983) [Allan Keesee]

                                    3. Frances Lucille Thurmond (20 May 1912-8 May 1989) [Harold Sartin]

                                    3. Jeannette Thurmond (2 June 1919-?)

                                    3. Andrew Jackson Thurmond Jr. (1 March 1921-20 September 2005) [?]

 

                        2. Lucy McLeod Brandon (17 October 1887-16 November 1916) [Unmarried]

                        2. Willard Carter Brandon (12 January 1890-7 July 1963) [Clara Lucas]

 

                                    3. Mary Elizabeth Brandon (1 September 1918-24 July 1977) 

[George Washington Nichols]

 

                        2. Grace Porter Brandon (26 January 1894-26 January 1968) [Emmett G. Keith]

 

                                    3. Emmett Brandon Keith (2 June 1919-3 June 2005) [Rubye Dawson]

 

                        2. Sue Lipscomb Brandon (18 November 1898-19 September 1919) [Unmarried]

2. George Moseley Brandon (23 August 1898-14 January 1979) [Nina Mae      Moody, Chanoy Shockley]

 

3. Willard Cassius Brandon (13 June 1927-13 April 2001) [Dorothy Elizabeth Gladin

 

 

 

 

GEORGE MOSLEY BRANDON

 

George Mosley Brandon was born 23 August 1898, the third child and only son of Isham Greene Brandon and Jennie (West) Brandon of Huntland, Franklin County, Tennessee. George and his two sisters, Sue and Grace, had three older half siblings, Mary, Lucy, and Willard from their father’s previous marriage to Jennie’s younger sister, Lou West. As Isham’s 2 wives were sisters, the two sets of children were not only half brothers and sisters, but were also first cousins as they shared the same 4 grandparents.

 

In 1919, George moved to Marvell, Phillips County, AR near his older sister Mary and her husband A. Jack Thurmond. Jack was a salesman for West-Horner Chevrolet in Helena, AR.  

George worked for Davidson Brothers, farmers, merchants, and cotton brokers, in Marvell from 1919 until 1927. During this time George met and subsequently married Nina Mae Moody (b. 28 December 1899) of Blackton, AR, daughter of Cassius and Dove Moody. George and Nina Mae were married 22 December 1922 in Pine Bluff, AR where Nina was attending Draughn’s Business College majoring in accounting. 

 

To this union was born one son:

 

            Willard Cassius “Bill” Brandon (b. 13 June 1927, d. 13 April 2001)  

 


In the first month after the birth of their son in Blackton, AR in 1927, George and Nina Mae moved 40 miles south of Helena, AR to Lundell, AR where George became the shop manager for Lundell Plantation working for his brother-in-law, Plantation Manager Cassius Moody. As Lundell Plantation encompassed the entirety of the community of Lundell, AR, both the plantation and community were known as just Lundell. Photo to right shows George and Nina in a rare snow in 1934 in front of their home.

 

When Cassius Moody left his position in 1933 to farm his own land, George was promoted to positon of Plantation Manager, where he served for 35 years until Lundell was sold in 1968 to Hill Brothers of Greenville, MS. 

 

Lundell Plantation was established in 1916 by Paul and Ed Lundell of Rockford, IL to supply furniture grade hardwood lumber for their Lundell Furniture Company of Rockford. Logs were harvested at Lundell then were shipped 40 miles north by rail to Helena, AR to the Lundell Sawmill to be cut into furniture squares. Furniture squares are blocks of wood sawn in specific sizes before then being milled into furniture parts. After drying, the furniture squares were sent to Rockford to be milled and assembled into high grade furniture.

 

 

 

 


As the Mississippi Levee System to protect Lundell Plantation from the annual floods of the lower Mississippi River had not yet been built, Lundell Sawmill was located at Helena, AR in an area of higher ground that did not flood. Logs were stockpiled during times that Lundell Plantation was not flooded which insured a steady supply of furniture squares to Lundell Furniture, even in times of flooding. Photo to right shows George, Nina, and 5 year old son Bill in 1933 flood in front Lundell’s hay barn going to church in a boat.

 

As land was logged to supply the sawmill, George cleared the land for farming. George supervised the farming operation and Nina Mae was the farm’s accountant. With a peak of 600 families working as sharecroppers, there was a United States Post Office established at Lundell and Nina Mae also served as Postmaster. George and Nina Mae also ran a company commissary which served the families living on Lundell. It was widely recognized that Nina Mae was the business planner of the couple where George was the implementer.

 

The manager’s home at Lundell was a very large two story structure. George and Nina Mae renovated the largely unused upstairs into a 10 room boarding house which for 20 years served the salesmen calling on the area farmers who traveled primarily by train, and many days could not get home due the train schedules. Photo shows George to left during the 1933 Mississippi River flood in front of his house.


Lundell’s principal crops included cotton, rice, corn, alfalfa, soybeans and grain sorghum. During construction of the White River Levee portion of the Mississippi River Levee System in 1937, the plantation contracted to furnish labor, mules, and equipment to construct 2 miles of levee.

 

When George became manager of Lundell Plantation in 1933, the plantation size was 1,836 acres, a major operation when at the time the average US farm was 157 acres. During his tenure, by 1968 an additional 2,240 acres of timber were bought from the profits of the farm, harvested, cleared, and put into the farm operation making the total acreage of Lundell Plantation 4,076 acres at a time when the average US farm was less than 400 acres. 

 

Additionally, in 1937 George bought 1,554 acres for his own account which he and his son Willard Cassius “Bill” Brandon farmed.


During World War II, George bid and was awarded a contract by the US Army to build a Prisoner of War camp at Lundell in December of 1943 to house 1,400 German prisoners being transported to the US. The prisoners initially were planned to be farm labor for Lundell and neighboring farms. After a tornado on 10 April 1944 destroyed Lundell’s large hay barn, George realized that there were excellent carpenters in the German prisoner population. The majority of prisoners were then put to work building barns and outbuildings for area farms as well as sharecropper houses where needed instead of being farm laborers. Photo shows German prisoners removing roof decking from the tornado damaged barn.

 

One of the projects the Germans built was a 60’ wide and 160’ long barn for Lundell’s 600 mule teams, replacing the tornado damaged barn. The barn had an adjacent 20 acre mule lot. A Monette, MO based mule trader, Raymond Davidson in the 1980’s was quoted that when he first visited Lundell in the 1950’s to buy mules from George, that he went back to Monette and told his friends that he had gone to Arkansas and saw a barn and mule lot bigger than his whole farm.

 

At the beginning of World War II there was a lack of whiskey available to the public due to the alcohol needed for the war effort. George and his friend Phillips County Sheriff Chief Deputy Edgar Hickey built what has been reported to be the largest non-government licensed still ever constructed in the State of Arkansas. 

 

The still was located on the river side of the White River levee on a parcel of Lundell land. To furnish water for cooling the still’s condensation coils, a canal was dug to the still from the White River. This canal is still known today as “Whiskey Chute”.  

 

As the duration of the war was unknown, rather than put the whiskey in glass jars as was common to unlicensed operators, the decision was made store the whiskey in white oak barrels, similar to the commercial distilleries of the time. 

 

The main ingredient for whiskey is corn which was in plentiful supply being grown at Lundell. Another main ingredient is sugar, and sugar was heavily rationed during the war. Nina Mae in her role as Postmaster of the Lundell Post Office would pull the sugar coupons from the monthly ration books that had been mailed to the 600 share cropper families and later to George for the 1,400 German prisoners. When the remaining ration coupons were distributed, Nina Mae included a quart of whiskey, and a gallon of molasses and a quart of honey from the plantation’s store. Nina Mae said she never had a complaint about the missing sugar coupons. 

 

At the end of the war, the still was immediately shut down and scrapped, but there continued to be barrels of whiskey from the still available for Edgar Hickey’s successful campaign for Sheriff in 1946 and until the 1960’s in George’s basement for his friends and family.

 


Lundell is in an area with boundaries of the Mississippi and White Rivers which until the 1960’s had only one gravel road which went the 40 miles to Helena. Due to the confluence of the rivers and the remote area, the hunting and fishing were outstanding. Photo shows George and Nina to the right along with 7 year old Bill in 1935. Nina fished every chance she got.

 

With the closest bank being that 40 miles and during wet weather a 3+ hour round trip away, the area farmers in the late 1940’s developed what they thought was a good idea. Due to the annual flooding and few early settlers, there were no average sized farms in the area, in fact Lundell at 4,076 acres was one of the smallest of the 10 farms there. Thus each farm was big enough to have its own farm commissary to serve its share cropper families. 

 

The 10 farmers met to discuss how to cut down on the number of trips to Helena for banking. They decided that each farm would design and print its own paper money (script) to be used as payment to the each farm’s share croppers. The script would be accepted at face value at every commissary, general store, and bar in the area. At the end of each month the farmers and merchants would meet, exchange each farm’s script for US dollars. The plan was more workable as there was little to no travel by sharecroppers at that time except to visit friends at other farms on Sunday or at a bar on Saturday night.

 

The script idea worked well for several years until the road to Helena was paved and cars became more prevalent. In 1961 a share cropper made his way to Helena and attempted to use his script to make a purchase. 

 

He was sent to one of the local banks to get US dollars for his script which would normally not have been an issue as all the banks had those farmers as customers and would have honored the script until the farmer came to town to redeem. However, there happened to be a Federal Bank Examiner in the bank that day. He found out about the program, and alerted the US Secret Service which is responsible for counterfeit money in the US. The Secret Service declared the script to be counterfeit money and had US Marshalls Office arrest the 10 farmers for counterfeiting. 

 

After negotiation by Little Rock’s Rose Law Firm, the state’s best, the farmers were let off with a warning and a small fine. However the legal fees exceeded $64,000 and with good delta land at the time selling for $55/acre, it was an expensive lesson.

 

Always active in business affairs, George served on the Board of Directors of Farmers Oil and Supply, Delta Fertilizer, and Chaired the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Philips County. 

 

George was also a prominent shareholder and Director of Phillips National (now 1st National) Bank of Phillips County, AR). George also operated a modern cotton gin ginning Lundell’s and surrounding farmer’s crops. 


For recreation, George hunted deer and fished locally and vacationed each year in Hot Springs, AR where he bathed in the thermal baths, subscribing to the belief that the waters from the Hot Springs would rid one of various ailments. George was also a fan of mule racing and sponsored several teams in the annual mule races at Elaine, AR. George is pictured second from right at deer camp at Lundell in 1942.

 

George and Nina Mae were members of the Methodist Church in Elaine, AR. In 1949 George and Nina Mae bought 10 acres in the West Acres area of Helena. The land had a 2,400 square foot brick home to which George and Nina Mae moved her parents. They built for themselves a 7,000 square foot house and moved there from Lundell. Later, Nina Mae built a 1,800 square foot house on the property they used for rental income. They transferred their membership from Elaine Methodist to West Helena Methodist at that time and were active members of that church.

 

Upon the sale of Lundell in 1968, George then 69 years old accepted a position with Planters Service Company, a fertilizer and implement company owned by Pat Burks to serve as “Customer  Ambassador”, his job title from Pat Burks, for the company to local farmers.

George for several years had been a partner along with Dr. Pat McCarty and Loyall Barr in Helena Rice Drier, Inc., a rice and other grains storage facility in Helena. The manager of the facility was John Burney. The CPA and auditor for the company was Pat McCarty, Jr, Dr. McCarty’s son, and John’s best friend. John was a respected member of the Helena community, and was married with two children

John had a gambling addiction unknown to his family and employers. John had systematically been selling other farmer’s soybeans which he did not own from Helena Rice Drier under his own name. On 7 May 1976 John called a meeting with farmers who had stored crops at Helena Rice Drier to tell them that there was no money to pay them for their crops and there were no grain left to sell.

Several lawsuits totaling $1.3 Million were filed by farmers against George and his partners to recover their losses and there were several death threats against John. The CPA, Pat McCarty, Jr. admitted that due to his friendship with John that he had not done a physical audit in over 3 years, relying on John to furnish the numbers.

On 11 June 1976, John’s pickup truck was found running in the middle of the Mississippi River Bridge at Helena. Everyone assumed John had committed suicide. The river was dragged and searched but no body was found. The Arkansas State Police officer who headed the state’s investigation of the case advised John’s wife that in his opinion John was dead, and a private investigator came to the same conclusion.

John was declared dead by the court and the family held a memorial service including placing a headstone at the cemetery. George and his son and grandsons attended the funeral.

Three years later between funds collected from John Burney’s Key Man life insurance, Pat McCarty Jr’s. Errors and Omissions Insurance for his lack of audit, sale of the facility, and cash contributions from the 3 owners, Helena Rice Drier, Inc. paid the farmers 80% of their losses, which most were happy to recover.


Six years later, John shocked his wife, children and parents by resurfacing. He had been alive and well the entire time, living under an assumed name in Florida. Several lawsuits were then filed but as everyone had signed settlement agreements, no more money was forthcoming. The insurance companies then sued to recover their Key Man policy payouts but the court ruled that since John did not receive any money he was not guilty of fraud and therefore the insurance companies could not recover their money.

After years afflicted with Alzheimer’s disease, Nina Mae Moody Brandon died 6 December 1976, a few weeks before her 77th birthday. Nina Mae Moody Brandon is buried next to her parents at Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena, AR.

George was a widower for just a year when on 2 December 1977 he married Chanoy “Connie” Lee Shockley (b. 19 January 1927), a woman 29 years his junior who had been an employee of Nina Mae’s at the Lundell Commissary and more recently had been renting a house from Nina Mae at the West Acres property.

George Mosley Brandon died 14 January 1979 of stomach cancer and is buried at Maple Hill Cemetery in Helena next to Nina Mae and her parents.

Chanoy Lee Shockley Brandon died 15 February 2006 is buried in Sunset Memorial Park Cemetery near Barton, AR.

1.     George Moseley Brandon (23 August 1898-14 January 1979) [Nina Mae Moody, Chanoy Lee Shockley]

            

2. Willard Cassius Brandon (13 June 1927-13 April 2001) [Dorothy Elizabeth Gladin]

 

                         3.         Son 1

 

                        3.         Jeffrey Keith Brandon (13 October 1953-28 May 2004) 

 

                                    

 

WILLARD CASSIUS BRANDON

 

Willard Cassius (Bill) Brandon was born 13 June 1927 in the Blackton Community, Monroe County, Arkansas near Marvell the only child of George Moseley and Nina Mae Moody Brandon. Within a month after his birth, George and Nina Mae moved 30 miles to Lundell, Phillips County, AR where George became the shop manager for Lundell Plantation working for his brother-in-law, Plantation Manager Cassius Moody.

 

Bill grew up on the farm hunting and fishing with his father and working in Lundell’s commissary serving the needs of the farm’s sharecroppers. In September of 1941 with war raging in Europe, Bill then a rising junior in high school, along with 2 sons of neighboring farmers was sent to Tennessee Military Institute (TMI) in Sweetwater, TN to finish their high school education.

 

While at TMI, Bill was active in sports lettering as running back in football, shortstop in baseball, and running the 100 and 220 yard sprints in track. Bill also was the manager for the TMI boxing team.

 

Upon graduation from TMI on 28 May of 1944 Bill returned to Lundell, and in the fall of 1944 went to Fayetteville, AR where he enrolled at The University of Arkansas majoring in Agriculture. On 6 January 1945 Bill was initiated in Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity.


At summer break in May of 1945, 17 year old Bill and his good friend Buron Griffin decided to enlist in the Navy. They together joined the Navy, mustered in at Memphis, TN and were sent to Camp Elliott, outside of San Diego, CA for basic training. Camp Elliott was later made famous in the movies as it was the training area for the Navajo Code Breakers.

 

On 12 June 1945 Bill was shipped to Pearl Harbor Hawaii and was assigned as a Fireman Second Class on the 512 foot long Escort Carrier USS Corregidor under the command of Captain R. L. Bowman. Bill’s Second Class rank was due to his having graduated from a military high school. His duty was working as a machinist mate in the engine room maintaining the ship’s engine. Bill also played on the ship’s baseball team.

 


Since 4 May 1945, the Corregidor had been assigned duty as a training ship at Pearl Harbor, conducting carrier pilot qualifications. From 2 October 1945 to 10 January 1946, she alternated this duty with three voyages from Pearl Harbor to San Diego to return homeward-bound servicemen. Corregidor cleared San Diego on 18 January 1946 sailing through the Panama Canal for Norfolk, Virginia, arriving there on 4 February. Here she was placed out of commission in reserve on 30 July 1946. 

 

On 3 August 1946 Bill was sent to Memphis, TN where he was honorably discharged from the Navy.

 

In September of 1946 Bill re-enrolled in the University of Arkansas again majoring in Agriculture.

 

In May 1947 Bill left the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville for Lundell and played professional baseball for the Helena Seaporters of the Cotton States League, a farm team for the St. Louis Cardinals, in the summer of 1947 and the next summer of 1948.

 

For the fall term of 1947 Bill enrolled at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro, again majoring in Agriculture, this time under the sponsorship of Phi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. 

 

There was a local fraternity at Arkansas Sate which was interested in becoming a Phi Kappa Alpha Chapter. Bill’s job was to be the liaison between the Phi Kappa Alpha National Fraternity to charter the local group. Under Bill’s leadership the local fraternity became a Phi Kappa Alpha Chapter on 13 March 1948.

 

Due to many of his academic credits from the University of Arkansas not transferring to Arkansas State and his work being finished for Phi Kappa Alpha, plus the year lost to service Bill decided to return home in May of 1948 to begin a career as a farmer, as well as playing another summer of professional baseball.

 

In 1937 Bill’s father George had bought 1,747 acres of land, the majority of which was located just outside West Helena, AR, in the West Acres community, at the time up to a 3 hour drive away from Lundell. Bill in partnership with his father began farming that land.

 


On 14 August of 1949 Willard Cassius Brandon married Dorothy Elizabeth (Dot) Gladin of Helena. To this union was born 2 children:

 

1.     Son 1

2.     Jeffrey Keith Brandon (13 October 1953-28 May 2004)

 

Initially Dot and Bill lived in his parent’s new home in the West Acres community outside of West Helena, AR. With his parents move to West Acres in early 1951, Dot and Bill remodeled a large frame house on the farm where they lived until their home on the farm was built in 1956-1957. They lived in that home for the next 44 years.

 

Bill expanded his farming operation, leasing 440 acres of land outside of the Oneida community in Phillips County and 1,200 acres in Desha County, AR, just south of Lundell. In 1959 Bill was selected to be the Southeast US Farmer of the Year by The Farm Bureau.

 

Bill enjoyed hunting, primarily deer and duck. For 30 years was a member of the exclusive Sandy Bayou Duck Club along with his friend Buron Griffin, as well as hunting deer with his friends Bobby and Edward F. (Sonny) Kalb at Jake Lake and Hardin Point Deer Clubs.

 

He was very involved with his children coaching Little League and Pony League Baseball and being a 4-H Club Leader. Each year his sons had calves entered in 4-H competition and in 1962 in the Fat Calf competition Steve’s calf won County and Regional competitions, and was the Reserve Grand champion at the Arkansas State Fair. 

 


During his farming years, Bill was President of the Phillips County Farm Bureau, Chaired the USDA Soil Conservation Service in Philips County, Vice President of Wycamp Cooperative, Board of Woodruff Electric Cooperative, Board of the Phillips County Fair, and Chairman of the Draft Board of the Eastern Arkansas District of the US Selective Service during the Vietnam War.

 

After the death of his mother Nina Mae, his father George re-married Chanoy (Connie) Shockley on 10 February 1978, Bill was not pleased but did his best to get along with Connie. George’s will of 22 July 1959 had been amended on 10 August of 1978 to bequeath Connie $25,000 upon the death of George. Additionally George had told Bill to buy a house equal to that Connie was renting upon their marriage and deed it to Connie upon his death. 

 

Connie refused to accept that settlement and her attorney notified Bill that she would not move from George and Nina Mae’s house they had built 1949-1950. On 21 June 1979, Bill’s son Jeff who had been deeded George’s primary residence on 22 April 1976, filed suit to have Connie evicted from his property. This eviction was successful and Connie sued the estate on 22 October 1979 seeking to set aside all land transactions 3 years prior to her marriage to George by saying his first wife Nina Mae Moody Brandon was incompetent when she signed the deeds.

 

When the court ruled that Nina Mae had been competent to sign the deeds, Connie amended her claim saying that Nina Mae’s signatures were forged. The court also struck down that claim.

 

On 3 June 1980, Connie settled her claim for $90,000 with no house to be purchased by Bill. 

 

Shortly after the settlement Bill received a notice of tax from the IRS in the amounts of $33,560 for taxes on the $90,000 paid to Connie. Bill went back to court and the court in a ruling in the Estate of George Brandon v. IRS established case law precedence and is used today for procedure by the IRS, stating payment to heirs to settle lawsuits are tax deductible. 

 

Dot and Bill were huge Arkansas Razorback football fans being season ticket holders for 42 years with Bill missing only 8 games in those 42 years with 4 of them being due to the birth of his 2 sons during football season. He also listened to the St. Louis Cardinals baseball every night during the season and attended a series each year in St. Louis taking his sons after the Little League season ended. 

 

After 4 years of declining farm economy nationally, in 1984 Bill sold his farming operation to Dr. W. Troy Paine and established The Hog Pit Restraunt which he and Dot ran until their retirement in 1996.

 

Dorothy Elizabeth Gladin Brandon died 17 December 2000 of a heart attack at her home and is buried in the Sunset Memorial Gardens near Barton, AR.

 

Willard Cassius Brandon died 13 April 2001 of renal failure at Helena Hospital and is buried in the Sunset Memorial Gardens near Barton, AR next to his wife.

 

1. Willard Cassius Brandon (13 June 1927-13 April 2001) [Dorothy Elizabeth Gladin]

 

                         2.         Son 1

 

                        2.         Jeffrey Keith Brandon (13 October 1953-28 May 2004)