Descendants of Edmond Brannock of England

Generation #4

Rachael (³William, ²Thomas, ¹Edmond) Brannock

The Brannock Family lived their lives in what they thought was Maryland; as the family births, marriages, and wills along with land transactions and court proceedings were recorded in Dorchester Co MD. However after the 1775 Delaware/Maryland Boundary Survey, many Brannock Family land holdings were found to actually be in Kent Co DE. [1775 Boundary Map]

Rachael Brannock was born in about 1750 in Kent Co DE. The only documentation which names Rachael is her father's 1774 Kent Co DE will. In that document we learn that Rachael married someone named Wilkinson. Did Rachael migrate down to North Carolina before her marriage? Or, did Francis Wilkinson journey north to Delaware? Whatever the answer, in about 1769, Rachael married Francis Wilkinson b. c. 1747 Chester Co PA.

Belief that Francis Wilkinson was at some time in the Dorchester Co MD/Kent Co DE area comes from a series of evidences. In the 1880 Warrick Co IN Census, Grandson Henry Wilkerson, son of Brannoc, stated that his father was born in Delaware. Did the family actually live in Delaware before their migration to Russell Co VA?

Rachael and family migrated in 1781 to Washington (now Russell) Co VA. The family lived in the Upper District until Francis' death in 1798. After that, the family is listed in the Lower District with son Brannoc as head of household.

In 1803 the family migrated through the Cumberland Gap to Knox (now Whitey) Co KY where son Brannoc Wilkinson  patented land on Meadow Creek north of the Cumberland River. The specific reasons for the family's continuing this westward migration is not known. However, this Wilkinson family became a part of the greater migration pattern which populated the interior of America after the Revolutionary War. In 1804 son Thomas Wilkinson patented land on Flat Creek 1/2 mile east of Brannoc.

Brannoc Wilkinson disappears from the Knox Co KY records after his 1809 marriage to Polly Slaughter, but son Thomas was enumerated in the 1810 Knox Co KY Census, age 25-44. Interestingly, there is a female in the household, aged over 45. Reasonable conjecture leads to the belief that this is Rachael Brannock Wilkinson.

About 1814 son Thomas also migrated to Jackson Co KY where son Brannoc is found. Reasonable conjecture leads to the belief that Rachel moved over to Clay Co KY to live in the home of daughter Luly Wilkinson Cooper. However, no female of her age is found in that household. Did Rachel have another daughter in Knox County with whom she might have lived?

Had Rachel moved in with Sherod and Luly Cooper, this would not have been a happy home to live in. By 1824 Sherod Cooper abandoned his family and departed for Tennessee. On 10/3/1825 in Clay Co KY, Luly filed for divorce on the grounds of abandonment. And, the decree was granted on 10/24/1826.

Luly's Cooper is next found in the 1830 Knox Co KY Census where again there is an older woman aged +90. If Rachael was that person, she died after 1830, probably in Knox Co KY.

• Born c. 1750 Kent Co DE

• Migrated by 1769 w/ family to Orange Co NC

• Married c. 1769 in Orange Co NC to Francis Wilkinson b. c. 1747 Chester Co PA

• 8/4/1774 Abstracts of Wills, Kent Co DE

• 1777 Caswell Co split from Orange Co NC

• Migrated 1781 to Washington Co VA

• 1786 Russell Co split from Washington Co

• 1787 Russell Co VA (Upper Dist.) Property Tax List: Wilkinson, Francis (1)

• 1797 Russell Co VA (Upper Dist.) Property Tax List: Wilkinson, Francis (1)

• Francis died before 11/1798 Russell Co VA

• 1800 Russell Co VA (Lower Dist.) Property Tax List: Wilkenson, Brannock

• Migrated c. 1803 with family to Knox Co KY

• 1810 Knox Co KY Census: Thomas Wilkerson (25-44)/Rachael Brannock (+45)

• 1820 Knox Co KY Census: Not found

• 1830 Knox Co KY Census: Luly Cooper (41-50)/Rachael Brannock (91-100)

• Died after 1830 Knox Co KY