BRACHES, CHARLES
Stephen L. Hardin
Photograph, Portrait of Charles Branches. Image available on the Internet and included in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107.
BRACHES, CHARLES (1813–1889). Charles Braches, teacher, merchant, Indian fighter, and public official, was born on February 25, 1813, at Gaulkhausen, Prussia. He sailed for America on April 3, 1834, and landed at Baltimore, Maryland, from where he later traveled through St. Louis, Missouri, to Sharon, Mississippi. There he organized and operated a literary and music school. In 1840 he moved to Texas and settled in Gonzales, where, in partnership with Dr. Caleb S. Brown, he opened a merchandising business. Braches represented Gonzales County in the House of the Seventh Congress of the Republic of Texas, from November 14, 1842, until January 16, 1843. He participated in several Indian fights, including the battles of Plum Creek, Medina,qqv and Hondo. His eleemosynary gifts to schools and churches reportedly ran into thousands of dollars. Braches married Sarah Ann McClure on March 2, 1843. He was a member of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church. He died in his Gonzales County home on July 7, 1889.