Randolph Macon College - Yellow Jacket Yearbook (Ashland, VA)

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JOI-IN P. BRANCI-I, ESQUIRE

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JOHN P. BRANCH, Esquire. R. JOHN P. BRANCH, of Richmond, Va., was born in Petersburg, Va., October 9, 1830. l His father, the late Thomas Branch, was a successful business man in Petersburg in the earlier part of his life, and afterwards in Rich- mond, also a prominent and devoted member of the Methodist Church in these cities. Dur- ing a financial crisis, in 1848, he was forced to close his house of business and form a new co- partnership, taking into it his sons, James R. and John P., the subject of this sketch. The former was an honor graduate of Randolph- Macon College, a Colonel of artillery in the Confederate Army, and a very successful busi- ness man after the war. As the father sent all his other sons to col- lege, so l1e would probably have sent John but for the fact that he needed his service at home just at the time he was of age to go to college, and so useful was he that he could not dispense with him. He early displayed what has char- acterized his subsequent life, and what has made him so successful in business. This loss in college life was made up by foreign travel and other advantages of a high order. At the early age of fourteen Mr. Branch united with the Methodist Church in Peters- burg, under Rev. Martin Dunn, at Plum Street Chapel. He is one of the few men living who regularly attended the sessions of the first Gen- eral Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, held in Petersburg in 1846. He with others formed the Market Street Methodist Church in Petersburg, organized by Dr. John E. Edwards. Dr. Edwards had him as a travelling companion in a trip to Europe in 1856. Mr. Branch was commissary and quarter- inaster in Colonel Archerls Forty-fourth Vir- ginia Battalion, which was included in General J. B. Gordonls Division in theclosing mouths of the war in 1865. In 1883 Mr. Thomas Branch, who for nearly forty years had served on the Board of Trustees of Randolph-Macon College-a part of the time as president of that body-on account of age and infirmity, resigned his membership, and was succeeded immediately by Mr. John P. Branch, thus keeping the connection of the family with the College for nearly sixty years to this date. Before this election he was a. lib- eral donor to the College, and since, he has from time to time contributed to its endowments and funds. This year he has donated ten thou- sand dollars to establish The Ilfary Louisa Me1'- ritt Branch Students' Loan Hind, the purpose of which is to aid young men who need help in securing the benefits of Christian education. This was in memory of his wife, a highly gifted woman, who died some years ago. Since doing this he has made a proposition which, if taken hold of and pushed as it ought to be, will do more to endow the College than any move of the kind ever made. This is to add a dollar to every two given by Qi,ll61'S. Already the propo- sition has been responded to, and brought out over five thousand dollars, and it is believed that during the coming year there will be a number of liberal responses to the proposition, all of which will tend to the endowment of the College and the lowering of the cost of a liberal education. Mr. Branch succeeded his father, who was thc first president of the Merchants National Bank of Richmond, one of the largest banks in the State. His administration has been emi- nently successful in extending the business of the bank and 'enhancing the value of the stock.