Fred P. Branson

Frederick Page Branson (March 1, 1881 – October 5, 1960) was a justice of the Oklahoma Supreme Court from 1926 to 1929, serving as chief justice from 1927 to 1929.

Branson was born in Rockmart, Georgia, on March 1, 1881, to Levi Branson and Rhoda Page Mull. Rhoda had an older son, Joseph Mull, from her marriage to the late Harrison Mull. The Mulls had moved to Arkansas, but after her first husband died, she and Joseph moved back to the small town of Cass Station, Georgia, where she met and married Levi Branson, a widower who already had 13 children from his previous marriage. Levi and Rhoda Mull Branson had two sons besides Branson, and one daughter.

Early life It is unclear when Rhoda and her surviving children relocated from Cass Station to Rockmart, then located primarily in Polk County, Georgia, where Fred began receiving his first exposure to public education in the so-called "field schools".

After high school, Branson enrolled at Emory University in Atlanta,

Later career After leaving the Oklahoma Supreme Court, Branson moved to Texas, where he became very successful investing in oil leases that made him very wealthy. Oklahoma Governor Roy J. Turner appointed Branson president of the Grand River Dam Authority (GRDA), where he remained until 1959. After GRDA, he went back into elective politics. He made two tries to become the Democratic candidate for U. S. House of Representatives, but neither succeeded. He then announced his intention to run for governor, but withdrew after former governor Turner announced his own candidacy.

Personal life He married Eula Jeans in 1904, who preceded him in death. No children were born to them. Eula Jeans Branson died January 27, 1960, in Muscogee, Oklahoma, and was buried in the Branson Mausoleum in Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Rome, Georgia.

He was a member of: Saint Paul Methodist Church of Muskogee; Masonic Lodge No. 28 of Muskogee; Chapter Three of Royal Arch Masons, Muskogee Commandery No. 2 of the Knights Templar; Bedouin Temple of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; Life member of Lodge 517 of BPOE. He was a member of the Muskogee County and Oklahoma Bar Associations and a member of the Democratic party of Oklahoma. He was the first State Chairman of the Democratic party of Oklahoma.

Death Judge Branson died on October 5, 1960, in a Tulsa Hospital, after an illness that had lasted for a year. His funeral service was conducted by Dr. Wilford Jones, minister of Saint Paul Methodist Church of Muskogee, Oklahoma, and interment was in the Branson mausoleum at Myrtle Hill Cemetery, Rome, Georgia.