Branscomb Genealogy - Rebecca Branscomb, daughter of Zachariah Branscomb and Mazy Towns

Branscomb/Branscum Genealogy

The Genealogy of
Richard Branscomb
of Brunswick County, Virginia,
and a Number of his Descendants

by Fred Tubbs

Rebecca Branscomb, daughter of Zachariah Branscomb and Mazy Towns

The line of descent for Rebecca Branscomb is as follows:

Richard Branscomb, the immigrant (d. 1775 in Brunswick County, VA) and Sarah Proctor, parents of:

Richard Branscomb II (ID#2; d. 1829 in Greensville Co., VA), father of:
Zachariah Branscomb (ID#21; b. ca. 1777 in Greensville Co., VA; d. ca. 1820) and Mazy Towns (d. ca. 1820)
Rebecca Branscomb, (ID# 211, b. ca. 1801)

Mazy Towns had a sister Rebecca Towns, and Mazy’s daughter Rebecca Branscomb was probably named in honor of that sister. Following is the known information for Rebecca Branscomb:
It is likely that Rebecca was born either in Greensville County, VA, or across the border in Warren County, NC. (Her parents Zachariah Branscomb and Mazy Towns were married in Greensville County, and it is not known just when they moved to Warren County, where Mazy’s father lived.) The DOB of 1801 comes from an account recorded by #215 Emma Hunter Anderson, probably based upon information from her grandfather #2 Bennett Hill Branscomb. (In the 1850 census her age was given as age 49, the 1860 census shows her age as 55, and the 1870 census gives her age as 68.)
Prior to 1810 Zachariah and Mazy moved with their children to Mount Carmel in the Abbeville District of South Carolina, and that is where Rebecca grew to adulthood. (As shown in the genealogical history for Zachariah and Mazy, the census data for Jeremiah Branscom in 1810 and for Jaramiah Branksey in 1820 are assumed to be for Zachariah). The family history holds that her parents died shortly after the 1820 census was taken, and nothing further is known for Rebecca until her name appears in the 1850 census. Some of Mazy’s siblings lived in Mount Carmel or nearby at the time of the 1820 census, and it is assumed that they saw that the children were cared for.
Rebecca did not marry. It appears that she lived with other family members, principally with her sister #4 Mahala. The 1840 census for E. Asbel, who was Mahala’s husband Ezekiel, shows a female in age range 40-50, and it is likely that this female was Rebecca even though if she was born in 1801 she would not be quite 40 years old. In 1850 the 49-year-old Rebecca was living in the home of her brother #6 Edwin Branscomb in the Savannah River Regiment, which was a location near Mount Carmel and not a military post.
The next known record for Rebecca is in a letter written 21 February 1856 by Amelia Holmes of Mount Carmel, Abbeville District, to her cousin Caroline Hunter, daughter of Bennett Hill & Eliza Branscomb, in Union Springs, AL; Rebecca was again with the Asbels. Amelia wrote the following about Rebecca:
Mr. Asbel had [has?] been sick but is better. The family are all well. The children pass here going to school. Your Aunt Rebecca lives with them. She stays some of the time with me. I like to have her in my house. She is good company. She often wishes she could see you and your family.

The Asbels moved across the Savannah River to neighboring Elbert County, GA, after Amelia Holmes wrote her letter but before 1860. The 1860 census for Elbert Co. shows R. Branscombe, female, age 55, b. NC, as a member of the family. Beside her name was the entry, “Supported by charity.” Before 1870 the family moved again, further west, and Rebecca did not accompany them. None of the children of Zachariah and Mazy remained in Abbeville or its environs. The 1870 census for Abbeville (p. 25) has an entry for a female, “Brownscom, R.,” age 68, b. SC, occupation “pauper,” in a home with mostly elderly women. It seems apparent that Rebecca was back in South Carolina and in a facility for indigents -- the poorhouse. The enumerator gave SC as the birthplace for all of the residents, which means that he probably was unable to (or did not attempt to) elicit the information about a birthplace from each resident.
Given that Rebecca did not marry, that she lived with relatives, that at the time of the 1860 census she was supported by charity, and that near the end of her life she was in a home for paupers, it is possible that she was physically or mentally impaired. Rebecca’s name has not been found in records later than 1870. No death records or cemetery records are known for her.
See also
The children of Zachariah Branscomb and Mazy Towns

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