Uncle Branson Wellons

Ralph Wellons oldest sibling, Branson Harris Wellons, is the hero of the Wellons family in his generation. He wasn’t the most educated. He didn’t make the most money. He was the rock.

“Uncle Branson” as my mom called him, was born in Frankton, Indiana on December 7, 1899. He died of a stroke (cerebral thrombosis) on March 19, 1964 in Anderson. He also had pulmonary emphysema as a contributing factor. He never married. I don’t know why. My mom’s view is that he was too busy taking care of all of the others.

I met him several times and went to his house. He had a collection of Native American (or Indian as we called them in the 1960’s) artifacts. I always knew that mom was very fond of him. As I was doing research on the Dixon family, I realized that the 1940 census data was online and was free. The government has made a deal with Ancestry and other companies that they can handle the data and charge for accessing it, but not for the first few years after a census is released. This data was on a site called archives.com, but is no longer there. Census data is apparently not publicly accessible for 70 years or so as it has personally identifiable information to a degree.

So I decided to write down notes on all of my grandparents siblings while it was available. Now I can actually see photos of the census record in it’s original handwritten form with Ancestry. I found Branson H. Wellons, a 41 year old white male in Ward 3 Anderson Township. But also living in the house were:

Ralph a 36 year old male
Bessie a 31 year old female
Ralph a 13 year old boy
Mary a 10 year old girl

I actually had heard that my mom and her family had lived with Uncle Branson when she was little. I believe they lived with him for several years in fact. And both Branson and my grandfather were working at Delco-Remy at the time. So they had some income. In fact, Branson was listed as a machine operator at an auto parts factory (sometimes they used generic language instead of the company name). He made $1,500 per year. My grandfather Ralph was listed as a toolmaker and actually made $2,618 per year. My grandmother Bessie was not employed outside the home.

I know now that his brother Edward named one of his sons after him. He was the rock, especially after his father died in 1928.

When he died, the Anderson Bulletin obituary says that he was survived by sisters Pansy Wyant, Carrie Musick, Sara Pine and brothers Grant, Ralph and Oscar. I think there were actually other siblings that survived him.

At newspapers.com I found a notice of public auction for Lot 376 Hazelwood Addition. This was the house at 2302 Locust Street where the Wellons family (parents and kids) lived after they moved to Anderson. They are shown there in the 1920 census. The public notice was part of dealing with his estate and the executor was brother Oscar Wellons. This information comes from the July 27, 1964 edition of the Anderson Bulletin on page 16.

In the 1900 census, he is the only child and they live in Wayne Township in Hamilton, County. His father is a farmer.

In the 1910 census, he is 11 years old and one of 7 kids. The family has moved fo 2312 Forkner Street in Anderson (literally a block east of the Locust Street house) and his father James is working for Standard-Hill Company.

In the 1920 census, Branson is 21 years old and still living at home with his parents and most if not all of his siblings. He is shown as working at Hill-Standard where his father worked.

In the 1930 census, he is still living at home, with the household headed by his mother Florence, as his father had passed in 1928. There were 4 other siblings living at home as well.

In 1955, the city directory shows that his brother Oscar and his family were living with Branson.