”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

BRANCH, William Augustus Blount, (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.