John Branch

John Branch
19th Governor of North Carolina
In office December 6, 1817 – December 7, 1820
Preceded by	William Miller
Succeeded by	Jesse Franklin
United States Senator from North Carolina
In office March 4, 1823 – March 9, 1829
Preceded by	Montfort Stokes
Succeeded by	Bedford Brown
8th United States Secretary of the Navy
In office March 9, 1829 – May 12, 1831
President	Andrew Jackson
Preceded by	Samuel L. Southard
Succeeded by	Levi Woodbury
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 2nd district
In office May 12, 1831 – March 3, 1833
Preceded by	Willis Alston
Succeeded by	Jesse A. Bynum
6th Territorial Governor of Florida
In office August 11, 1844 – June 25, 1845
Preceded by	Richard K. Call
Succeeded by	William Dunn Moseley (as Governor of the State of Florida)
Member of the North Carolina Senate
In office 1811–1817
Personal details
Born	(1782-11-04)November 4, 1782 Halifax County, North Carolina
Died	January 3, 1863(1863-01-03) (aged 80) Halifax County, North Carolina
Political party	Democratic-Republican Democratic
Spouse(s)	Elizabeth Forte (d.Jan 19, 1854) Mary Elizabeth Jordan Bond
Alma mater	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Profession	Politician, lawyer, farmer

John Branch, Jr. (November 4, 1782 – January 3, 1863) was an American politician who served as U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy, the 19th Governor of the state of North Carolina, and was the sixth and last territorial governor of Florida.

Branch was born in Halifax County, North Carolina, on November 4, 1782, the son of wealthy landowners. Educated at the University of North Carolina, where he was a member of the Philanthropic Society, he occupied himself as a planter and civic leader. Branch served in the North Carolina Senate from 1811 to 1817 and was the state's Governor from 1817 to 1820. After further service in the state Senate, he represented North Carolina in the United States Senate from 1823 until 1829 and was a strong supporter of Andrew Jackson.

When Jackson became President, he selected Branch as his Secretary of the Navy. In that post, Branch promoted several reforms in the Navy's policies and administration, many of which were not implemented until years later. He reduced the resources going to the construction of new ships, while increasing those applied to keeping existing vessels in good repair. Branch also sent the frigate USS Potomac to the Far East to punish the murderers of a U.S. merchant ship's crew and to generally promote and protect American commerce in the region.

John Branch resigned as Secretary in 1831, during the Petticoat affair, which involved the social ostracism of Margaret O'Neill Eaton, the wife of Secretary of War John H. Eaton by a group of Cabinet members and their wives led by Floride Calhoun, the wife of Vice President John C. Calhoun. Later that year, Branch was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Jacksonian and later to North Carolina state political offices. In the mid-1830s, he moved to Leon County, Florida, where he lived for much of the next decade-and-a-half on his Live Oak Plantation. In 1844, President John Tyler appointed him Florida's territorial governor until the 1845 election of a governor under the state constitution. Branch returned to North Carolina in the early 1850s, remaining there until his death on January 4, 1863.

Branch is buried in Elmwood Cemetery in Enfield, North Carolina.

Branch was an uncle of the Confederate General Lawrence O'Bryan Branch.

Bibliography

• American National Biography
• Dictionary of American Biography
• Haywood, Marshall Delancey. John Branch: 1782-1863. Raleigh, NC: Commercial Printing Co., 1915
• Hoffmann, William S. John Branch and the Origins of the Whig Party in North Carolina. North Carolina Historical Review 35 (July 1958): 299-315

See also

• Branch County, Michigan - A county in Michigan that was named after him

Sources

•  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History & Heritage Command.
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

External links

• John Branch at Find a Grave

Governors and Lieutenant Governors of North Carolina
Governors	Caswell Nash Burke A. Martin Caswell Johnston A. Martin Spaight Ashe Davie Williams Turner Alexander Williams Stone Smith Hawkins Miller Branch Franklin Holmes Burton Iredell Owen Stokes Swain Spaight Jr. Dudley Morehead Graham Manly Reid Winslow Bragg Ellis Clark Vance Holden Worth Holden Caldwell Brogden Vance Jarvis Scales Fowle Holt Carr Russell Aycock Glenn Kitchin Craig Bickett Morrison McLean Gardner Ehringhaus Hoey Broughton Cherry W. K. Scott Umstead Hodges Sanford Moore R. W. Scott Holshouser Hunt J. Martin Hunt Easley Perdue McCrory Cooper (Elect)
Lieutenant Governors	Caldwell Brogden Jarvis Robinson Stedman Holt Doughton Reynolds Turner Winston Newland Daughtridge O. Gardner Cooper Long Fountain Graham Horton Harris Ballentine Taylor, Sr. Hodges Barnhardt Philpott Scott Taylor Jr. Hunt Green Jordan J. Gardner Wicker Perdue Dalton Forest

United States Senators from North Carolina
Class 2	Johnston Martin Franklin Turner Stokes Branch Brown Mangum Reid Bragg Abbott Ransom Butler Simmons Bailey Umstead Broughton F. Graham Smith Lennon Scott Jordan Helms Dole Hagan Tillis
Class 3	Hawkins Bloodworth Stone Franklin Stone Locke Macon Iredell Mangum Strange W. Graham Haywood Badger Biggs Clingman Pool Merrimon Vance Jarvis Pritchard Overman Morrison Reynolds Hoey Ervin Morgan East Broyhill Sanford Faircloth Edwards Burr

United States Department of the Navy
Secretaries	Cabinet level Stoddert Smith Hamilton Jones Crowninshield S Thompson Southard Branch L. Woodbury Dickerson Paulding Badger Upshur Henshaw Gilmer Mason Bancroft Mason Preston Graham Kennedy Dobbin Toucey Welles Borie Robeson R Thompson Goff Hunt Chandler Whitney Tracy Herbert Long Moody Morton Bonaparte Metcalf Newberry Meyer Daniels Denby Wilbur Adams Swanson Edison Knox Forrestal Dept. of Defense Sullivan Matthews Kimball Anderson Thomas T. Gates Franke Connally Korth Nitze Ignatius Chafee Warner Middendorf Claytor Hidalgo Lehman Webb Ball Garrett O'Keefe Dalton Danzig England Winter Mabus
Under Secretaries	Forrestal Bard A. Gates Sullivan Kenney Kimball Whitehair Thomas T. Gates Franke Bantz Fay BeLieu Baldwin Baird Warner Sanders Middendorf Potter Macdonald Woolsey Murray Goodrich Garrett Howard Danzig Hultin Pirie Livingstone Aviles Work
Assistant Secretaries	Pre-1954 Fox Faxon Soley McAdoo T. Roosevelt Sr. Allen Hackett Darling Newberry Satterlee Winthrop F. Roosevelt G. Woodbury T. Roosevelt Jr. Robinson Jahncke H. Roosevelt Edison Compton Bard Hensel Kenney Andrews Koehler Askins Fogler Post-1954 Financial Management and Comptroller Installations and Environment Manpower and Reserve Affairs Research, Development and Acquisitions General Counsel of the Navy defunct: Air Installations and Logistics Material Research and Development Research, Engineering and Systems Shipbuilding and Logistics

Governors of Florida
Military (1821)	Jackson
Territorial (1822–45)	Duval Eaton Call Reid Call Branch
State (since 1845)	Moseley Brown Broome Perry Milton Allison Marvin Walker Reed Hart Stearns Drew Bloxham Perry Fleming Mitchell Bloxham Jennings Broward Gilchrist Trammell Catts Hardee Martin Carlton Sholtz Cone Holland Caldwell Warren McCarty Johns Collins Bryant Burns Kirk Askew Graham Mixson Martinez Chiles MacKay Bush Crist Scott