Edward Thomas Branch

(December 6, 1811 - September 22, 1861) Virginia native Edward Thomas Branch came to Texas in 1835 and settled in Liberty. As a first sergeant in the Texas Volunteers, he participated in the Battle of San Jacinto, and remained in the army as a second lieutenant until October 1836. He later served as a lieutenant colonel in the Texas militia.

Branch was elected to represent Liberty County in the House of Representatives of the first and second congresses of the Republic of Texas (1836-1838). He moved to Nacogdoches in 1838 after he was elected judge of the Fifth Judicial District, comprised of Red River, Houston, Nacogdoches, Shelby, and Fannin counties.

Resigning from the bench in 1840, he returned to Liberty, where he was postmaster from 1842 to 1843. In 1846 he was elected to represent Liberty County in the first Legislature of the State of Texas and served as speaker of the House of Representatives for a brief period. Branch married Anne Cleveland Wharton, daughter of texas pioneer statesman William H. Wharton, on August 15, 1838.

When not occupied by public business he was involved in farming, community activities, and the practice of law. Branch was a charter member of the Liberty Masonic Lodge, organized in 1848. (1992)