This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Branson Classification: Query Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/kdF.2ACIB/259.1.1.1.1.2.1 Message Board Post: Hi, When I spoke to Kathleen Branson, she quoted to me that Valentine had Thomas Jefferson Branson, and Thomas J.'s fourth son was James Reuben Branson. I know its the right James Branson because his marriage and death pans out with what I knew already (correct wife's name and burial place). When my grandfather passed the pocketwatch to my father, his explanation of it was that James Reuben's father was the first to work for Burlington. The pocketwatch was presented to him for exceptional work. Supposedly, when James Reuben began working for Burlington, he inherited that watch from Thomas. I'm not certain of the actual duration of their railroad careers, but James Reuben worked for Burlington most of his life. We are in luck that railway companies are notoriously studious recordkeepers. I've sent an e-mail to the library in Chicago that holds the Burlington archives, requesting information from personnel records, and if they prove unresponsive, I shall go there and rese! arch it myself. Meanwhile, sometime this week, I'll be receiving by mail the documentation that verifies that James Reuben came from the Thomas J. who came from Valentine. I believe Kathleen was correct, because she did mention another son, Charles L., your father. I will share this with you once it arrives. I find it odd that your father would have not mentioned a younger brother named James, but the documentation may show that they were from a different marriage or something. There is no connection in my family with Oklahoma - that I know of. James Reuben was born in Jefferson City. Did Thomas J. live there at all? -Matthew Branson