HONORARY

Oliver Ernesto Branch, upon whom the degree of Master of Arts was conferred in 1895, died of arteriosclerosis at his home in Manchester, N. H., June 23, 1916.

He was born in Madison, Ohio, July 19, 1847, his parents being William Witter and Lucy Jane (Bartram) Branch. He graduated from Hamilton College in 1873 and from Columbia Law School in 1877. After practicing for a time in New York city, he came to North Weare, N. H., in 1883, and to Manchester in 1894. In 1887 and 1889 he represented Weare in the legislature. On removing to Manchester he was made counsel for the Boston and Maine Railroad, and began thus one of the largest corporation practices in the state. From 1894 to 1898 he was United States district attorney from New Hampshire, and in 1898 declined an appointment to the supreme bench of the state. He was prominent in the Democratic party, and was chairman of its state conventions in 1892 and 1902. He was regarded as one of the ablest lawyers practicing at the New Hampshire bar.

October 17, 1878, he was married to Sarah M., daughter of John W. and Hannah Chase of Weare, who died several years since. Three sons and a daughter survive their parents.