Bennett Hill BRANSCOMB ^{1 2 3}

1810C: under 10 yrs, w/parents (by head count)
1820C: 18 to 26 yrs, w/parents (by head count)
1830C: not found
1840C: Abbeville, SC- listed as B. Branksome Males- 222012 Females- 00101101.
Next door to John Heminger who moved west with the Branscomb's
1850C: Macon Co., AL- 47 yrs, b. SC, w/wife & 7 sons
1860C: Macon Co.- 54 yrs, b. VA, listed as B H Branscomb, w/wife, 3 sons,a druggist, a clerk & an artist
1870C: Ridgely, Bullock, AL- 67 yrs, b. VA, w/wife & Jane Heminger
1880C: Union Springs, AL- 76 yrs, b. VA, w/wife in daughter Lucinda's home, parents b. VA & Eng ¹

  Research Notes:

See RootsWeb database - zachmazy by John Ottinger
Paraphrased from Fred Tubbs paper:
Bennett Hill Branscomb was in his late teens when his parents died. After their deaths, he moved to Mt. Carmel in the Abbeville District of South Carolina.
In 1865 Bennett was described as 5 ft 9 in, Light hair, Blue eye and thin.
Harvie Branscomb wrote that Bennett Hill, his wife, children and his mother-in-law moved in 1840 by covered wagon and horseback to "newly opened lands in south Alabama", and on 1 January 1841 they "settled on lands he had secured" near Union Springs.
"The Branscomb Generations" says that the move took place in 1842.
The Branscomb residence was south of modern-day Highway 82 on Aberfoil Road, seven miles east of Union Springs. The post office address was Union Springs, though Three Notch was closer, and the area was known as Ridgely. The 1870 tax rolls gave the location as the W½ of S7 T13 R24 plus 88 acres on the W½ of the NE¼ of S7, a total of 408 acres. Originally the home was in Macon County, but it became part of Bullock County when that county was formed in 1870.
[The home endured until the 1950s, although abandoned before then.-zhm]
James and Eliza lost three sons in the Civil war, another crippled and two others died at early ages.
Bennett Hill may have kept the farm going for some time after the end of the war despite the loss of his sons and his slaves. With the passing years they were unable to obtain adequate help. Before 1880 he and Eliza sold the farm and moved to Union Springs to live with their daughter Lucinda Caroline. When he died in 1881 his entire estate consisted of a horse, a saddle, harness, a gun, and a quantity of negotiable paper (cash, notes and a mortgage). His grandson, James Bennett Hunter was administrator of his estate. (Bullock Co., Inventory dated 20 September 1881).
Apparently,Bennett had not lost his sense of humor. At 77 years of age, in the 1880 census, he listed his occupation as "gambler".

  Noted events in his life were:

• Cemetery, 28 Jul 1881, Oak Hill Cemetery, Union Springs, AL. Oak Hill Cemetery, Union Springs, AL

Bennett married Eliza BELOTTE, daughter of James BELOTTE and Lydia GILBEAU, on 28 Dec 1825 in Mt Carmel, Abbeville, SC. (Eliza BELOTTE was born on 8 Feb 1805 in Abbeville District, SC,^{1 3} died on 23 Oct 1897 in Union Springs, AL ^{1 3} and was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery, Union Springs, AL.)

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Single, 28 Dec 1825, Moount Carmel, SC.