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He was born on a plantation near Cartersville, Bartow County, Georgia, March 1, 1879, he is a son of Levi and Rhoda (Page) Branson, natives of North Carolina and members of old and highly respected families of the Old North State. The Bransons and Pages both originated in England, the former being of the Quaker faith, while the latter belonged to the Baptist Denomination. The Bransons are from Baltimore, Maryland, locating in North Carolina during colonial days, and those of the name are now numerous, being scattered over several states of the Union, some having drifted to Indiana, but in the main majority are found in the states of the South. Levi Branson, the father of Frederick P. Branson, was in ante-bellum days a slave trader. He was originally a whig in his political views, and when the Civil war came although he opposed secession, he became a Confederate soldier and after the close of that conflict joined the democratic party. His military service completed, he engaged in planting and lived at Cassville, where Frederick P. Branson was born. He was twice married, and by his two wives had eighteen children, Frederick P. being a son of the second marriage, and the sixteenth child in order of birth. In the old field schools of his native state, Frederick P. Branson received his early education, following that he attended Piedmont Institute at Rockmort, Georgia and Emory College, Oxford, Georgia, where he completed his literary training. He graduated from law at Mercer College, Macon, Georgia, June 11, 1903, and that same day was admitted to the bar of Georgia. After spending a vacation at his parental home, Mr. Branson came to Oklahoma, arriving at Oklahoma City, September 16, 1903, and a few days later went to McAlester, where he engaged in the practice of his profession for one year. While a resident of that place, Mr. Branson was married, August 3, 1904, to Miss Eula Jeans, a native of Tennessee. On September 15, 1904, Mr. Branson became a resident of Muskogee, and for the first year after his arrival was a law clerk on the Dawes Commission, but resigned his position thereon to engage in the general practice of his profession. In the spring of 1907 Mr. Branson, who had been interested in democratic polities from the time that he attained his majority, received the democratic nomination for representative from Muskogee County in the First Legislature of Oklahoma under statehood. He was successful in his campaign and served one term with credit and distinction, but declined to become a candidate for re-election. In the summer of 1908 Mr. Branson was chosen a member of the democratic state committee, representing Muskogee County, and served as a member of this body until 1912, when he resigned. From 1910 until 1912 he had acted in the capacity of chairman of the committee, directing the campaigns of his party during those years with much success. In 1912 Mr. Branson became a delegate to the National Democratic Convention, held at Baltimore, which nominated Woodrow Wilson for the presidency, and prior to this time had held for three years the position of chairman of the state election board, which, however, he resigned in 1912. On April 7, 1914, he was appointed to fill out the unexpired term of Judge R. C. Allen, who resigned as judge of the Third Judicial District, and when he accepted this appointment had a tentative agreement with the prospective candidates for this office that at the fall elections of 1914 he would not become a candidate himself. This promise was lived up to, and instead he became the democratic candidate for county attorney of Muskogee County, to which office he was elected in November, 1914, and the duties of which he is discharging in an entirely capable and diligent manner. In 1912 Judge Branson was a candidate in the democratic primary election for congressman-at-large from Oklahoma, and carried fifty-one of the seventy-six counties of the state, but counties of largest population gave his opponent a majority of 3,000 votes, which was enough to defeat him in spite of the excellent race which he made against large odds. As an attorney Mr. Branson is known to be learned in the complexities of the various departments of his calling, and among his fellow-practitioners he has a high reputation. He is a member if the various organizations of his profession, and is popular with his fellow members in the various fraternal bodies to which he belongs and which include the masons, in which he holds a master's degree, the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, the Knights of Pythias and the Woodmen of the World. He belongs to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Mr. Branson maintains offices in the courthouse. Typed for OKGenWeb by Charmaine Keith, October 3, 1998.