Henry Bransford

Henry Bransford

Quick Facts

Significance:

Second Generation Cave Guide

Place of Birth:

Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA

Date of Birth:

1849

Place of Death:

Edmonson County, Kentucky, USA

Date of Death:

1894

Place of Burial:

Mammoth Cave National Park

Cemetery Name:

Bransford Cemetery

Henry Bransford was born in 1849. His parents were enslaved guide, Materson Bransford, and his wife Parthena Bransford. Henry gained his freedom along with his parents in the 1860s, he then followed in his father’s footsteps to become a second generation Bransford mammoth cave guide. Henry married young and went on to have six children with his wife, Alice. At least two of their children became third generation Bransford mammoth cave guides, Matt Bransford and Louis Bransford. 

In one account from a cave visitor in the late 1800s, upon seeing decades old artifacts from the saltpetre works, the guest asked if they could take a well-preserved corn cob as a souvenir, to which Henry gave the okay and joked that he’d replace the “artifacts” with fresh ones the next day. Several accounts also mention Henry’s daily work ethic, on top of guiding tours he also farmed and timbered wood, providing for his family in the best way he knew. Another visitor account recalls Henry singing on his cave tour, and his “melodious voice” at Echo River. 

A heart attack took him from his family in 1894, when he was only 45 years old. He was laid to rest in the Bransford Cemetery on Flint Ridge. Today, Henry and Alice’s gravestones, side by side, are the lone engraved markers of this family cemetery. Henry's carefully etched stone was purchased by Alice and their children. The inscription they selected described their husband and father succinctly and lovingly:  

"Henry Bransford, Guide"