I interviewed 77-year old Frances Mulquin to secure her recollections of Vine Grove of years past. Her memory of times and events of the past were many, varied, and clear. Much of the memories she shared with me will be incorporated into the third (and last) edition of my book, The History of Vine Grove. Among the stories she shared with me was one that related to a Confederate soldier buried in Vine Grove. His name was Cyrus Wayne Branham.
The story of this Civil War soldier captured my interest and imagination because he paid the ultimate price for the cause he believed in and because of his grieving father's pilgrimage to bring the body of his son home from a distant battlefield to a final resting place in Vine Grove. That resting place is a little noticed, small cemetery on a hill on the north side of Route 144 just northeast of downtown Vine Grove. It is identified as the Stith-Branham Family Cemetery.
Frances Mulquin is related to Cyrus Branham. Her father was John Boyd and her mother was Nellie Poole. Nellie Poole's father was Will Poole and his wife was Foda Branham. Foda's father, James, was a brother of Cyrus Branham. Thus Cyrus is the great-great uncle of Francis Mulquin.
Cyrus Branham was born July 21, 1836, and was killed at the battle of Jonesboro in September of 1864. In this great battle of August 31-September 1, 1864, the Union Army would suffer 1,600 casualties, the Confederate Army 3,000. His father was William H. Branham, his mother was America Hays. America's father was Hercules Hays and her mother was Elizabeth Lusk. The 1860 census shows the William Branham household as: William age 52, America 50, Cyrus 21, Horace 18, Jas 16, Malissa 14, Correna 12. William sent three sons to fight for the Confederate cause: Cyrus Wayne, Horace Clinton (born 1842), and James Franklin (born 1845). Only two would come back alive. Following the war, Horace eventually moved to Louisville where he died of natural causes and was buried in an unmarked grave at the Louisville Cave Hill Cemetery. James remained in Vine Grove where he operated a hotel for many years, his grave location is not known. The 1895-96 Kentucky Gazetteer and Business Directory lists James as the hotel keeper in Vine Grove.
As his photograph demonstrates, Cyrus was a sensitive-looking young man, and was known to be very family oriented. In March of 1864 he wrote a letter to his father asking for information about his youngest brother James, whose welfare was a great worry to him. He assured his father of the wellbeing of his Stith cousins, serving with him in the 6th Kentucky Infantry of the "Orphan Brigade." Cyrus wrote fondly to his father, warning him against overwork and advising him to be careful of his health until the day his sons would return to help him with the farm. Soon after receiving his letter, the aged father learned that Cyrus had been killed at The Battle of Jonesboro, Georgia. The grieving father would not let his son's body rest alone in ground so far from home. William Branham traveled well over 410 miles, in a wagon with two mules, from his Hardin County home to the Georgia battlefield to retrieve the body of his son. Along with the young soldier's remains, he brought the wooden headboard which had marked Cyrus's original resting place. It is speculated that the headboard was carved by David Stith as a last tribute to the cousin with whom he had grown up and whose life was cut short by a Yankee bullet. This headboard is still in the safekeeping of the Branham family and is currently on loan and display at the Hardin County History Museum in Elizabethtown. Within a year of returning his son home to his final resting place, William H. Branham would die.
On April 11, 1998, members of the General Ben Hardin Helm Camp (Sons of Confederate Veterans) met at the Stith-Branham Cemetery to place a military veteran marker at the gravesite of Cpl. Cyrus Branham. Nine relatives of Cyrus Branham were on hand to observe the placing of the marker and accompanying ceremony. Branham family members attending the service included: Frances Mulquin, Lynn Miller, Carla Simpson, Jimmy Ballard, Christopher Ballard, Jesse Ballard, Martha Zillioux, Wes Cobb, and Beverly Cobb. The final resting place to which William Branham brought his son Cyrus received appropriate tribute for a young life cut short serving a cause believed to be honorable and just.