Edward Thomas Branch (December 6, 1811 – September 24, 1861) was a Republic of Texas legislator and Judge, and after the annexation of Texas to the United States, served briefly as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Branch was born on December 6, 1811, in Richmond, Virginia. After relocating to Jackson, Mississippi, he settled at Liberty, Texas in 1835 after having been hijacked on his way to Cuba and put ashore at Anahuac. He worked as a teacher in Liberty through early 1836. Branch died on September 24, 1861, and is buried in Liberty.