Walter Henry Branson

Walter Henry Branson, third of the five children of Alvin Thorpe Branson and Mary Eliza Simmons, was born 8 November 1889 in Merced, Merced County, CA. He is not to be confused with his nephew Walter Thorpe Branson. (The latter was born nearly seventy-five years later.)

Walter grew up in cabins and gold camps in Mariposa County and Madera County, near the sites where his father mined. Much of his childhood was spent near Quartzburg and Hornitos and other points along the Merced River, such as a year or so spent at El Portal, near the entrance to Yosemite Valley. Sometimes when his father worked at Mt. Ophir Mine, the family home was a rental, the so-called Gan House, in the town of Mariposa.

Walter grew and grew until he towered over others in the family. The Bransons of Hornitos were known for their height, but Walter seems to have been the tallest of all.

Walter does not appear to have ever established a life independent of his immediate family members. He lived at home until at least 1910, as shown by the Quartzburg/Hornitos census of that year, aside from those times he stayed in miners’ barracks during temporary periods of employment. During some of the next few years he may have lived with his father’s sister, Mattie Branson Mueller White. Mattie had married her first husband Rudolph Mueller, Jr. in 1900, but they had no children, and Mattie may have appreciated the opportunity to be maternal.

Walter seems to have enjoyed mining, but understood that it was not a viable option as a career. When his father gave up his dream of uncovering a bonanza at his “Last Chance” diggings and the decision was made to take up a new kind of life outside of Mariposa County, Walter chose to make the leap with them. In June, 1914, the family -- reduced by now to just Alvin, Mary, Walter, and Walter’s twelve-year-old brother Ivan -- settled into a house in Stockton. By the end of the year or the beginning of 1915, they moved into their long-term home elsewhere in the town. With the exception of his brief military service in World War I, Walter would spend the rest of his life residing at that latter address, 420 Monterey Avenue.

Walter found a job as an assistant blacksmith, having been taught blacksmithing skills by his father. This lasted until he entered the U.S. Army. Despite having a less-than-perfect right eye, Walter was inducted into the 91st Division 248th Machine Gun Batallion. He went through boot camp at Camp Lewis, American Lake, WA. The picture at right was taken at that time, and was used for a postcard that was subsequently sent to relatives -- what you see is a scan of a portion of that postcard.

The war did not last long enough for him to be shipped overseas. He spent most of his enlistment stationed in Miles City, MT. Returning to civilian life, Walter became a Stockton city firefighter. This was an occupation he kept for thirty-five years, interrupted in 1939 by five months of convalescence when he was injured in a collision of two fire engines.

Walter’s father died in 1934 and his mother in 1940. He inherited the house at 420 Monterey from them. Their deaths did not mean he had to live alone, however, as his sister Maude moved in with him. She had been living next door at 410 Monterey for many years prior to that, and as she was also single by then, it made no sense to fill two houses with one person each.

Walter was a lifelong bachelor and had no children. He died 16 February 1966 in Stockton and is buried in Stockton Rural Cemetery, where the graves of his parents and many other Branson relatives can be found.