Buckingham County Murder: Manteo Killing, Part IV
Courtesy Alexandria Gazette.
In 1911, Curtis N. Branch was murdered in Buckingham County. Click here to catch up:
Buckingham County Murder: Manteo Killing, Part I
The news of the murder of Curtis Branch was published across Virginia, including notices in the Alexandria Gazette and Newport News’ Daily Press. The story was even reported beyond the state, including an article in The Cincinnati Enquirer.
Richmond’s Times-Dispatch followed printed a new report in its December 4, 1911 issue, announcing that there was a reward of $350 for information about the slayer of Curtis Branch. This article indicated that not only was Buckingham County’s Commonweath’s Attorney Edmund W. Hubard involved in the case but also that the US government had sent a detective to investigate because the looting of the post office included the theft of postal funds and stamps.
Here the story ends. No further coverage in Virginia newspapers has been found.
If a Slate River Ramblings reader knows more Curtis Branch, his family, or about the capture of his murderer, please comment below.
slate river ramblings . . . . 
Edna,
Thanks, again, for expanding on the tragic death of your ancestor Curt Branch. Perhaps, with some luck, we can find the newspaper article about his CSA service and post it sometime in the future.
Joanne
Curt Branch was my grandmother’s grandfather. She had told me that he was murdered in Buckingham County and that bloodhounds tracked the scent to the nearby James River, and that his killer(s) were never found. In the 1970s I went to Buckingham and met with some cousins, and they talked of the event as though it happened last week. The old Confederate soldier was Curtis Nunley Branch (1841-1911). He signed up at the beginning of the war and served until the bitter end. My family said when he died that his Civil War service was written up in one of the newspapers, but I have never been able to find it. Family members had copies, but they have been lost. Thank you so much for writing this sad ending of my great great grandfather.