Johann Michael and Maria Katharina had 5 children:

1. Anna Elizabeth – b. 28 Oct. 1718 in GER
2. Johann Andreas – b. 15 July 1721 in Fröschen, GER
3. Maria Anna Barbara – b. 21 Mar. 1722 or 1723 in Fröschen, GER
4. Johann Friedrich – b. 23 Nov. 1724 in Fröschen, Palatinate, GER - m. Anna Barbara Mag
5. Adam – b. 4 Mar. 1725 or 1726 in GER

____________________________________________

Johann Friedrich Brandstetter
Birth:  23 Nov. 1724
Death: ABOUT 1805 in Wythe County VA
Marriage:  Anna Barbara Mag
Married:  18 Feb. 1748 or 1749 in Thaleishchweiler, Palatinate, GER

Johann Friedrich and Anna Barbara had 9 children:

1. Johann Heinrich – b. 16 March 1749 or 1750 in Pirmasens, GER
2. George Andreas – b. 13 Jan. 1751 or 1752 in Fröschen, GER
3. Anna Esther – b. 2 Feb. 1754 in Fröschen, GER
4. Johann Fredrich – b. 18 Oct. 1755 in Fröschen, GER - m. Madalene Coalheaven 
5. Dorothea Barbara – b. 26 Mar. 1757 in Fröschen, GER
6. Johann Michael – b. 26 Apr. 1759 in Fröschen, GER
7. Johannes – b. 19 Sept. 1761 in Fröschen, GER
8. Marie Elisabetha – b. 27 July 1763 in Fröschen, GER
9. Johann Peter – b. Dec. 1764 (born probably in Pennsylvania 3 months after his family's arrival in America)

Johann Friedrich and Anna Barbara (Mag) Brandstetter crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Pennsylvania with their children aboard the ship Sarah on September 20, 1764. Legend has it that Johann Friedrich and Anna Barbara sold their two eldest sons into 5 years of indentured servitude in order to pay for the family’s trip to America, but I'm not sure if this is accurate or not, as there are 8 children shown to have arrived with them on board the ship "Sarah". (Click here to see the Sarah's passenger list.)

The family soon settled in Wythe County VA (in the southwestern part of the state) for about 40 years, after which several of them moved for a time to what is now Sullivan Co. TN, not far across the Virginia state line. In the early 1800’s the family began to spread out to Barren and Laurel Counties in Kentucky, and to Illinois; many of them moved to the area around Pike County, Missouri in the mid-1800's. One of them, our ancestor Eli S. Branstetter, wound up in Morgan County, Tennessee.

____________________________________________

Johann Fredrich Branstetter (Jr.)
Birth:  18 Oct. 1755 in Fröschen, GER
Death:  29 Oct. 1824 in Clark County, KY
Marriage:  Madalene Coalheaven – b. ABOUT 1755 in VA
Married:  June 1782 in Montgomery, Montgomery County, VA

Johann Fredrich Jr. and Madalene had 6 children:

1. Frederick – b. 1784
2. Henry – b. circa 1788 - m. Elizabeth (last name unknown)
3. Mary – b. 1787
4. Catherine – b. 1787
5. Magdalene – b. 1790
6. Daniel – b. 1 May 1793 in VA

____________________________________________

Henry Branstetter
Birth:  circa 1788 in Sullivan County, TN
Marriage:   Elizabeth?? b. circa 1790

Henry and Elizabeth (last name unknown) had nine children:

1. Branstutter, Frederick "Fed"
2. Branstetter, Eli S. (“Old Eli”) – b. 2 Aug, 1813 – d. 11 Nov. 1889 - m. (1) Sarah Matilda Hair - m. (2) Susannah Melton 
3. Branstetter, Rebecca Elizabeth
4. Branstetter, Nancy
5. Branstetter, Malinda
6. Bransteter, Henry
7. Branstetter, Mary Ann
8. Branstetter, Emmaline
9. Branstetter, Daniel

____________________________________________

Eli S. Branstetter
Birth:  2 Aug. 1813 in Greeneville, TN
Death:  11 Nov. 1889 in TN
Buried:  High Point (“Branstetter”) Cemetery, Morgan County, TN
Occupation:  Farmer
Marriage #1: Sarah Matilda Hair – b. 1814 or 1815 – d. 1857
Married:  1836 in Lancing, TN (Note - they may have been married in Sullivan County prior to arriving in Morgan Co. - I am still trying to find more details about their date of marriage)

Eli and Sarah/Matilda had 4 children:

1. Sarah Matilda – b. 20 May 1836 – d. 29 Sept. 1889 – m. Lewis Potter - probably buried in Cumberland Co.
2. Elizabeth “Lydia” – b. 16 Dec. 1837 – d. 18 Apr. 1909 – m. Philip Allen  Howard – buried Smith Cemetery, Chestnut Ridge, TN
3. Henry L. – b. 19 Jan. 1841 – d. 24 June 1900 - m. Rebecca Green
4. Sara Ann “Sally” – b. 1846 – d. 31 Jan. 1923 – m. Francis Marion Aytes  

Eli's Marriage #2:  Susan Melton
Married:  1860 in Morgan County, TN

Eli and Susan had 2 children:

1. Mary – b. about 1860 - evidently died young
2. Richard Riley – b. 7 Mar. 1862 – d. 28 July 1940 – m. Manda Malvina Davis (1) - m. Creacy Hester (2); buried High Point Cemetery

Eli is said to be the first person to be buried at High Point Cemetery. I found this explanation (written by a Cathy Martin) for how Eli came to settle in Morgan Co.:

 “Eli S. Branstetter married Matilda Sarah Hair. She was an indian. They were on their way out west when Matilda contacted Typhoid Fever. They stopped here in Morgan County Tennessee. She died a short time later and is buried in a field of the property where they lived. Unfortunately those who knew where she was buried are all dead. There is no marker of any kind. They had 5 children Isolene, Matilda, Lydia, Henry T., and Sarah A. "Sally". I know that the rest of Eli's siblings went on out west possibly Arkansas.” 

It’s unclear how much of that is accurate, but Eli definitely was the only Branstetter to stay in Morgan Co. (arriving before 1950 according to the Morgan Co. Census). There are several stories that say Eli came to Morgan Co. with 2 of his brothers, who did not stay there. Eli's first wife Sarah Matilda Hair died in the Chestnut Ridge area in 1857 and is said to be buried in an unmarked grave at “Strawberry Farm”. Sarah Hair's family apparantly lived in in Washington Co., TN - their son (our ancestor) Henry is shown in the 1860 census visiting that family not long after the death of his mother Sarah Matilda Hair.

Eli married his second wife, Susan Melton, in 1860. There is a copy of a deed in which he signs over 100 acres bordering Big Clear Creek to Susan Branstetter, dated 25 April 1884. They are shown with a baby daughter named Mary in the 1860 census, but Mary does not appear in any later censuses so apparantly died young. They also had a son, Richard Riley ("Uncle Dick") Bronstetter, who lived to be 78 years old and is still remembered by several of the old timers in Morgan County.

____________________________________________

Henry T. Branstetter
Birth:  19 Jan. 1841 in TN
Death:  24 June 1900 in TN
Burial:  High Point Cemetery
Occupation:  Farmer
Marriage:  Rebecca Green – b. 1843 in Morgan Co. – d. 1924 – buried at High Point – (daughter of Solomon and Rebecca Howard Green)
Married:  2 Jan. 1865 in Morgan County, TN by W.R. Williams, J.P.

Henry T. and Rebecca had 10 children:

1. Mary L. – b. 2 Apr. 1865 in Lancing, TN – d. 12  Jan. 1867 in Morgan Co. – buried at Clear Creek Cemetery, Morgan Co.
2. Monroe (“Bud”) – b. 25 May 1866 in Lancing, TN – d. 14 June 1926 – buried at Union Grove Cemetery, Morgan Co.
3. Watt Daniel – b. 31 Mar. 1868 – d. 29 Apr. 1943 - m. Sarah Hester
4. Sarah Ann (“Sis”) – b. 25 Feb. 1870 – m. William A. Henry(1) m. W. Alex Hall(2)
5. Albert – b. 14 Dec. 1872 in Deer Lodge, TN – d. 14 Nov. 1949 – buried at High Point Cemetery – m. Margaret Hawn
6. Jim (also called George) – b. 11 July 1874 – d. 9 Sept. 1908 – m. Creacy Hester
7. Orlena – b. 13 Oct. 1876 – d. 24 Mar. 1942 - m. Nero Lavender
8. Armilda Lucinda – b. 1 Jan. 1879 – m. Bayard Tilden Lavender
9. John B. – b. 20 Sept. 1882 – d. 27 Dec. 1954 – m. Brenda Almeadie Lavender
10. William David ("Willie") – b. 10 May 1884 – d. 17 Jan. 1904

____________________________________________

Watt Daniel Branstetter
Birth:  31 Mar. 1868 in TN
Death:  29 Apr. 1943
Burial:  High Point Cemetery
Occupation:  Farmer
Marriage:  Sarah Hester – b. 16 Dec. 1874 – d. 31 Aug. 1937 – buried at High Point Cemetery
Married:  1893

Watt and Sarah had 9 children:

1. Miller H. – b. 19 Apr. 1894 – m. Lillie Mae Adams
2. Pearly L. (“P.L.”) – b. 21 June 1896 – m. Josie Adams
3. Maggie – b. 29 May 1898 – d. 1980 – m. James Adams
4. Minnie – b. 26 Feb. 1901 – d. 16 May 1923 – m. Estel Nash
5. Earl Robert – b. 13 June 1903 – d. 6 Feb. 1967 - m. Della Durham
6. Hattie – b. 1906 – m. ??Sanders(1) m. Leonard Thomas Jones(2)
7. Martha – b. 22 May 1908 – d. 9  Jan. 1942 – m. ??Hazelwood(1) m. ??Nash(2)
8. Menford M. – b. 25 Sept. 1911 – d. 12 Sept. 1955 – m. Addie Jones –buried at High Point Cemetery
9. Clayton – b. 3 June 1915 – d. 28 Jan. 1917

____________________________________________

Earl Robert Branstetter
Birth:  13 June 1903
Death:  6 Feb. 1967
Burial:  High Point Cemetery
Marriage:  Della I. Cassie Josephine Durham – b. 29 July 1907 – d. 20 Sept. 1983 –buried at High Point Cemetery
Married:  1925

Earl and Della had 6 children:

1. Jewell Geraldine – b. 15 Aug. 1926 – m. Clyde “Donnie” Hurst
2. Joyce Victoria – b. 13 Dec. 1927 – m. Joseph Peltz
3. Donald Earl – b. 13 Nov. 1934 – d. 24 July 1997 – m. Helen Jones
4. Janette Ernestine – b. 23 May 1939 – m. Kenneth Waldrop
5. Janice Annette – b. 4 Nov. 1944
6. Barbara Ann – b. 11 July 1947 – m. Ronald Hall(1) m. William Cromwell(2)

Click here for a printable version