Branscomb Family Papers

James Alston Branscomb, was born in Union Springs, Alabama, February, 4, 1917, son of John Sandford and Eugenia Norwood Alston Branscomb. Eugenia ("Genie Mae") was John's third wife and, after John's death from pneumonia four months later (seventeen months after his marriage to "Genie Mae"), was "mother" to the nine children from his first two marriages: Jessie, Mary Hunter, Marvin, Albert, Clayton, John W., Lucille, Ernest (Jack), and Lewis. At their father's death, Jessie (serving in France) and Mary Hunter (working in New York) were unable to come home. Marvin, almost 22, stepped into the role of head of the household. The younger children were sent to live with various relatives in Union Springs, but they all considered "Genie Mae" their 'second mama' and called her "Mama" or "Mother."

Alston graduated from Bullock County (Alabama) High School in 1935 and went on to attend the University of Alabama, where he met and later married Blanch Stinson Price. He and Blanche had two daughters: Eugenia and Peggy. Alston worked at Reynolds Metals Company as Chief Chemist in the Listerhill Reduction Plant. He retired in 1982, after 41 years with Reynolds.

Alston died on December 3, 2012, in Florence, Alabama.