~ [F@Ffil ~@ Mj 1636-1917
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~ [f@ffil ~@ mJ 1636-1917 Ancestors and Decendants of Captain William Bronson of the Revolutionary War, and Other Ancestral Lines. Compiled by HARRIET BRONSON SIBLEY DALLAS, OREGON 1917 ilruustnn (Derbyshire) ]utrnhurtnry This little Lineage Book is the result of research made to find the ,Jesc>t•rnlants of William Bronson eligible to mem'bership in the National Hociety of the Daughters of the American Revolution. We are especially indebted to ::\Irs. Clam Louise Adriance, in whose application for mem ber:,:hip in this society, reference was made to Bronson's Hisrory of Water bury fo1· the genealogy of her family. The History of Waterbury, written by Henry Bronson, M. D., in 1858, is now out of print and copies of the history are very rare. Dr. Bronson was a descendant of Isaac Bronson. who, with our own ancestor, John, and their hrnther. Abraham, 'was one of the founders of 'Waterbury. His an ee:,:tor;; we1·e promin(•nt in "'aterbury, and among the illustrations in the history, which contains 58~ pages, are five portraits of Bronsons--namely Rennet, the father of the author of the history, Dr. Isaac, Josiah, Alvin and Silas. Dr. Bronson remo,·ed to New Haven, where he was living when he was engaged in writing the history. l1uch of the material for the his tory was colleeted by his fathel', ,Judge Bennet Bronson, who in 1830 wrote a hriPf account of ancient Watel'bury, and delivered it as an evening lecture to his fellow townsmen. Later, the Bronson Brothers, Publishers, proposed to puhlish a History of Waterbury and applied to Dr. Bronson for the manu,-:cript. Knowing the labor and time which would be re quiretl, he at first declined. hut later reversed his decision, deeming the early Pvent,; of ,vaterbury in most nef'd of a historian--1in most danger of heing lost. The family name, originally "de Braundeston," which was of varied orthography. was evidently derived from the place or estate, and as a place-name is of great antiquity in England. The spelling of the name in Amel'ica is also variable. In 1674, three brothers, signing the same paper, wrote thf'ir names "Bronson, "Brounson" and "Brunson." At the present time one branch of the family spell the name "Brunson." To those who have so kindly aided me during the past two years, 1n collecting the records of' t.he descendants of Captain William Bronson, I wish to acknowledge my obligations, and I wish to thank especially Mrs. Alice Bronson Bennie, Mr. E. Bruce Brunson, Mrs. Edith Chadbourne and Mrs. :\"ellie Downs for valuable records and assistance 1n locating mem bers of the family. I am indebted to :Mrs. Blanche Eakin for the drawing of the Coat-of-Arms of Henry de Braundeston, and to my husband for financial assiso;tance. Many of the older records of the family were copied from the Bible of Mi.'!S Delia Brunson, kin'dly sent by Mr. Walter M Brunson, and I have had some notes on the Ancestry of Frank C. Bron• son, through the kirrdness of !\Ir. Fred N. Bronson. One h~dred copies of the book have been printed. That the records are incomplete, is due in a measure, to the failure of a part of the family to respond to requests for information. It is hoped that the records of later descendants may be written on the pages provided for that purpose, and tbat the genealogy may he re-published in a few generations. Dallas, Oregon HARRIET B. SIBLEY October, .1917 <!lnuteuta PART I (ieuealogkal Xotes from rlle Briti"h :.\:lust'mU. Lomlon. PART II E:,tra,·ls frnn1 tile Hi:-,01·,- of Waterbur.,·. Connecticut, and other Re<"Ol'(\S. PART III t>prniu William Bron>'on of thP Rf',·olutionary \Var and his Descend ant:B. PART IY. ( Hiter .-1.ncesrl'III Line><. 1111ustrattnun Facing Page Coat-of-Arms of Henry de Braundeston....... -••··-·-·····································-········· 3 Portrait of Dr. Henry Bronson .............................................................................. 19 Portrait of \Yilliam, Bronson................................................................................. .27 Poi-trait of Dr. ~roses Gunn ....................................................................................28 p_\_R'l' I. nerwalogical :--:ore,i !'rom the British Museum. London. Page 1 iBrauttbrBtntt Brauteston. Braunteston, Bruntestun or Branston is a hamlet he!ong ing to Burton-on-Trent, and situated about two miles south of it, and 11e-ar the ri\·er 'l'rent. The first mt>ntion of this small place is at a petiod be fore the C'onqut'st-name!y 956, when King Eadwig, or Edwy, by bis char ter bearing that date, and signed by himself, his son Odo, the ~z·chbi><hop and others and Saxon Dukes, etc., grants to his faithful servant or thane, E1Hlwig, eight farms of land in Brantestun ..... here follows chart!c,I :n Anglo-Rttxon Latin ( Shaw's Stafford., I., 21.). The estate was after i\·ard~ the property of Go,[Ha, \Yife of tbe Earl of Mercia during the perio,I of ElhYard the Confe-csor. It was later held by the Abbey of Burton (Domes day Book,. Al>hot G0<lfrey granted the land to his nephew Herbert, !n the time of Kiug John. It appears after this that a family who took their name from thE> Place hE>ld di.·ers lands here, as follows: About the year 1'.!50. Axic·e. wi,low of Robert, son of Ailwin de Brontiston, grants and confirms to Go(l. the CbnrC'h of Burton, a tenement, and one bov-at of land in Brantbt<>n. in the wo<>d 01' Littlebay, with the appurtenances, etc. Next Richan!, the ,-on. 11tHl .\Iing-aret his. wife, quit claim, etc., to the said Abbey the ah,,,·e ''yolatum'' in LlttlE>ha~• wood, for which they paid them "in their g1'Pat neee,-ity" half a mark of silver. About the rear 1~20. William, son of Richard of Brontiston, for the sake of cliarity aml his own :son!. and those of bis ancestors and succes sors. grnnti-1 to Rohert, Ahhot of Burton, and .\Ionks there, two bovats of land in Rronti.-.tnn. Avil"E'. the daughter of Roger de Brantiston, for the health of hE>r sonl. etc., grants to the .~aid church two boYats of land in P.rontiston ( \Yhich Humphrey the son of Edwin held) and seven acres of mi>adow ( Regi,-tn fie Barton I. There waf! al;.<> a William Branston, Ahbot and llonk of Burton, who died 1472. who was a great benE>factor to the Abbey. Bran;.ton, etc .. a;. a place.name is known 1n Leicestershire, Lincoln shire. Xorfolk, l'-uffolk and Xorthamptonshire. The oldest rpeonl we have been ahle to find of a Branndeston family L<i the following. compile<l from Dugdale'g Warwickshire. and other county hl!'!torlt>s; al;,o N'orthamptonghire and LE>icestershire Visitations of the Heralds: Radulphng Braunneston was the father of Radulphus Bran deston. who hE>ld Brande,ton after Robert de Hareeourt. The said Radul phus was the fathE>r of Hugo de Br!lndeston (arm~·) who had l!mds in Granbnrgh. in the rE'ij!;n of Edward I. He wa,: Lord of Brandeston, Co. of Leicei<ter, anrl of Lapworth. ('o, of Warwick. The said Hugo was the father of Henrie\ls de BraumlE>8tone. "He was a priegt or profes~or of sc,me learning. for he hath the addition ot' ':M11gistt>r.' He granted the ~lnnor of Lapworth to Hnl!:h, his hrotlwr" (Dugdale) ahout 1278. Hugo de Br~n<leston, hrotht>r of Henricn;; diC'd 1298. Ht> held Lnpyorth, Gran- Page 2 borough, Bedenhall (Suffolk), Ya tingdeen ( Berks. J, with free warren on his demesnes. He was knight, and bore for his arms "Or, two bars gu. over all a bendlet az." He married Margareta, and had two sons, Henry and Bartholomew. It seems that the male line died out. since the pl1>,.1 rolls show claimants for the estate through the female line. Henry, son of Hugh, was a knight. He was born 1282, married Petronilla, and had Agnes and Rose. Agnes married Phillip de Aylesbury; Rose IllilrTied first Nickolas Darvassel; second Richard de Montfort. Henry de Braundeston, Prebend of Salisbury ( Charminster "The Golden Prebend") circa 1274, Archdeacon 1281-7, Dean 1284, was Almoner to King Edward I. On the decease of Bishop Walter Scammel, the chap ter elected John de Kirkey Can•on of Sarum. The Pope set the ele<'tion aside (Sarum Register). Henry Braun<leston was elected January 2. 1287, and consecrated on Trinity Sunday, the firl"t of June, by the Archbishop of Canterbury. He held the See but for eight months. dying February 11, 1288. He was buried, according to Leland, in the Lady Chapel in Salisbury Cathedral. There is now no trace of his tomb. ilraunhtstnn Page 3 Q!nut-nf-i\rms Braundeston The Arms illustrated are those of Henry de Braundeston, Bishop o! Salisbury (See Fasti, Ecclisiae Angelicanae (le Neve) Vol. II, p. 598). The Arms he bore were the Arms of Bronson ( See the Blazon or Episcopacy, Bedford, p. 111). The Crest: An arm from the elbow erect, holding a scorpion ppr. (See The General Armory, Burke, p. 117, 1883 edition). Ibid p. 117, Arms described: Per pale and per chevron, oounter· changed or and azure (Arms of Branson). Reference for Arms: See Glossary of Terms used in; Heraldry, p. 446 (Braundeston.). ileference far Crest: See Fairbairn's Book of Crests, edition 1860, Yo!. II. plate 110, Xo. 14 (Bronson). Ricarctus de Brandeston, in 1249 owned Branston Hall or Hunningham Thorp :\Iano1·. He was the father of William de Braundeston, who held land in Sih·eston and Whittlewode, and o:t' Geoffrey de Brandestone, who married Sihill Phelip, and in 130-l hPld lands in Silveston :t'rom the King "iu capite'' by the service of raking custody of the king's wines in his cellar at Silveston.