USA > Missouri > Encyclopedia of the history of Missouri, a compendium of history and biography for ready reference, Vol. I > Part 64
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esteemed than as a member of the bar, and he is numbered among the progressive and enterprising citizens of Johnson County who miss no opportunity to advance the material interests of that portion of the State. Octo- ber 4, 1897, Senator Bradley married Miss Mamie W. Sanders, daughter of Samuel San- ders, of Johnson County, Missouri.
Brainerd, Isaiah, who has been prom- inent in Grundy County, both as a man of affairs and public official, was born March 5, 1822, in West Greenville, Mercer County, Pennsylvania, son of Isaiah and Janette (Mossman) Brainerd. His father, who was a physician, died in the early childhood of the son, who grew up under the care and guidance of his mother's people, the mother having died previously. Pennsylvania had no public school fund until 1836, and such education as Mr. Brainerd received in his childhood was obtained in the inadequate subscription schools of his native county. In 1840, when he was eighteen years of age, he went from Pennsylvania to La Grange, Ohio, where he remained until 1851, working most of the time in flouring mills. He grew pro- ficient in this trade, and was made miller and head engineer in the establishment in which he was last employed. In 1852 he engaged in the mercantile business, forming a partner- ship which continued until the financial panic of 1857 caused the partners to dispose of their stock and sever their relations. The same year Mr. Brainerd went to Belmont County, Ohio, where he turned his attention to farm- ing, and also operated a water power flour- ing mill, doing a good business in both branches, and being especially successful in his milling operations on account of his pre- vious experience as a miller. In 1860 he came west and established his home in Grundy County, settling on a farm two miles east of the city of Trenton. With the ex- ception of two years spent in Benton County, Iowa, and one year in Carroll County, Mis- souri, he has ever since been a resident of Grundy County. In connection with his farming he gave much time and attention to the buying and selling of live stock, in which business he met with flattering suc- cess. In 18941 he practically retired from business, and has since lived in Trenton, enjoying the fruits of his earlier labors. From 1878 to 1880 he was district judge,
and from 1880 to 1882 county judge of Grundy County, filling out an unexpired term in the last named office. In politics, he is a Republican, and he is a member of the Meth- odist Church and of the order of Free- masons. Judge Brainerd has been married five times. First, in 1844, at La Grange, Ohio, to Miss Mary A. Chalfant, who died in 1849, leaving three children, one of whom is now living. In 1851 he married Amy Eliza Cox, who died in 1852, leaving one child, now living. In 1854 he married Anna A. Cox, a sister of his second wife, who died in 1862, leaving three children, of whom two are now living. In 1865 he married Mrs. Mary (Craig) Sharp, who died in 1876, leaving one child. His present wife was Mrs. Elizabeth (Spaulding) Davis prior to her marriage to Judge Brainerd.
Bran Dance .- The Bran Dance was a popular amusement with the early settlers. on occasion of their infrequent social gather- ings. It was practiced where absence of build- ings, or of plank floors, obliged dancing to be performed outdoors. A space of ground was leveled down and the surface covered with bran to the depth of one or two inches. Such a dance occurred July 4, 1845, at Mount Vernon, Lawrence County, when the peo- ple assembled to celebrate Independence Day, and the creation of the county as well. The place was made the county seat May 4th previous, and there was but one building upon the site, where gathered the people from many miles about. During the day "Buck" Whann, a traveling teacher, made an address, followed by a barbecue dinner, and after that the bran dance. The only music was a single fiddle upon which "Dick" Chitwood, the player, could execute but two tunes, "Rye Straw" and "Chicken Pie."
Brandom, Charles P., farmer and stock-raiser, was born September 7. 1834. in Rappahannock County, Virginia, son of William and Nancy (Hanrick) Brandom. The elder Brandom, who was a substantial farmer and planter in Virginia, came from that State to Missouri in 1857, and settled near Gallatin, in Daviess County, where he was engaged in farming and stock-raising until his death. Charles P. Brandom had com- paratively few educational advantages in his youth, his attendance at school being lim-
CO Brandom
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ited almost entirely to the winter months of each year, during which he gained such knowledge as he could in the old-time dis- trict schools of Virginia. He, however, mas- tered the English branches, and laid the foundation for such self-education as made him a capable man of affairs in later years. He grew up in Virginia, and there married his first wife. When his father came to Mis- souri the son and his wife came also to this State, and from 1857 until 1862 he was en- gaged with his father in farming operations. In 1863 he removed to a farm of his own, and turned his attention mainly to stock- raising. In his farming operations thereafter he coupled enterprise and activity with care and conservatism, and he soon became known throughout Grundy County as one of the model farmers of that region. He made money rapidly, and as his resources increased he made improvements in methods which caused him to be looked upon as the best farmer and stock-raiser in the county. Thoroughly in love with his calling, and re- garding it as a business well worth the most careful attention which can be given it, he made a thorough study of all that pertains to agriculture and stock-raising, and the re- sults show how well he was remunerated for his intelligent labors. In 1894 failing health caused him to retire from farming, and he removed with his family to the city of Tren- ton, in Grundy County, leaving his farm to be cared for by his son-in-law, who had pre- viously been associated with him. He had a beautiful home in Trenton, and at this home he died, on the 24th of July, 1897, that day being the thirty-fifth anniversary of his marriage to his second wife. He was first married on August 24, 1854, when Miss Elizabeth White, of Virginia, became his wife. She died on the 9th of August, 1859, leaving one child, who is now deceased. In 1862 he married for his second wife Miss Lockey McCammon, daughter of Rev. Wil- liam McCammon, one of the pioneers who came to Missouri in 1837, and settled in Grundy County. Of this union six children were born, four of whom are living at the present time (1900). They are Sylvester W. Brandom, of Pattonsburg, Daviess County, Missouri; Mrs. Elnora Whitten, who resides with her husband on the home farm; Ora and Leota Brandom. In 1878 Mr. Brandom was elected county judge of Grundy County,
and served in that capacity during a term of four years. He was an upright and capable public official, and rendered useful services to his county. In politics he was a Demo- crat, and in religion a member and deacon of the Baptist Church. He was always greatly interested in educational enterprises, and was for many years the largest contrib- utor to and principal supporter of Grand River Baptist College, and served as presi- dent of the board of trustees.
Brashear .- An incorporated town in Adair County, on the Omaha, Kansas City & Eastern Railway, twelve miles southeast of Kirksville, the county seat. It was laid out in 1872, by Richard M. Brashear, after whom it was named. It is about two miles east of the old site of Paulville. It has a graded public school, Baptist, Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal South, and United Brethren Churches, a bank, three hotels, a gristmill, and general and other stores. Population, in 1899 (estimated), 700.
Brashear, Richard Matson, founder of the town known by his name, is a native of Missouri, and was born in Salt River Township, Adair County, January 13, 1846. His parents were William G. and Rosa (Wood) Brashear, natives of Spartansburg District, South Carolina, respectively of Scotch and French descent. In 1829, after their marriage, in company with James and Susan Wood, parents of Mrs. Brashear, they removed to Ralls County, Missouri. In 1834 they removed to Illinois, and settled on a farm near Lima, in Adams County. In 1841 they returned to Missouri and located on the farm in Adair County which was thence- forth their home. The father was a man of strong character and progressive spirit, and became the recognized leader in advanc- ing the moral and material interests of his neighborhood. His aid and advice were freely extended to strangers seeking homes, and such were cheerfully made the recipi- ents of his hospitality. He was an earnest advocate of education, and before public schools were established he afforded the use of a portion of his dwelling for school pur- poses and contributed to the support of a teacher, thus providing his own children and those of his neighbors with instruction of
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which they would otherwise have been de- prived. During the Civil War he sympa- thized with the South, as did his father-in- law, Mr. Wood, who was a wealthy slave- owner. Mr. Brashear died in 1862, at the age of fifty-six years; his widow survived until 1900, and died at the advanced age of more than ninety years. They were the parents of twelve children, of whom eleven came to maturity and entered useful stations in life. One of the sons, Thomas A., served during the Civil War in the Fourteenth Reg- iment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, first com- manded by Colonel John M. Palmer, after- ward major general and United States Sen- ator, and with this command he participated in the great campaigns of the Army of the Cumberland. The region where the children were reared was sparsely settled. and the few existing schools were conducted after the most primitive fashion. Under these conditions the early educational opportu- nities of Richard M. Brashear were exceed- ingly limited. Ambitious, however, of ac- quiring knowledge, he learned much from books, and more from observation and in- tercourse with men. Seeking further ad- vancement, he attended for one year the Episcopal College at Monroe City, Missouri, where he acquired a liberal knowledge of the higher English branches and psychol- ogy, under the tutorship of Professor George and Professor Cummings, meeting expenses out of his personal savings. His active life dates from the death of his father. Although but sixteen years of age, upon him devolved the burden of providing for the family, left entirely without means of sup- port, and comprising his mother, who was in feeble health, and four children younger than himself. So arduously did he apply himself to his task that he not only provided them a comfortable living, but within ten years he had enabled his mother to own an excellent eighty-acre farm, with comfortable buildings, while he had acquired two small farms for himself. He had cherished an ambition to become a lawyer, but an unex- pected incident changed the current of his life, and led him into a pursuit which eventu- ally brought him large means and made him an important figure in the development of a great industry, and in advancing the mate- rial interests of north Missouri. Ile was engaged in hauling fence rails for R. M. Big-
gerstaff, an extensive stock-dealer of Knox County, Missouri, in order to procure means to pay a debt owing to a cousin. He was unloading his wagon, when Mr. Biggerstaff proposed to employ him to buy fat cattle. The lad protested his ignorance of cattle, and his inability to provide a horse in case of accepting the proposition. Mr. Bigger- staff proffered to instruct him thoroughly with reference to cattle and to sell him a saddle horse on credit, at the same time ex- pressing his confidence that he would suc- ceed in the occupation. besides finding it pleasant and congenial. The terms were ac- cepted, and the young man developed such interest and capability for his new calling that he was soon recognized as a successful dealer. After some years he engaged upon his own account in the business which he afterward followed with marked success. He made his beginning on a piece of raw land near the home he had provided for his mother, and here he lived and labored, and laid the foundations of his great fortune. Upon the building of the Quincy, Missouri & Pacific Railway, now the Omaha, Kansas City & Eastern Railway, he secured the loca- tion of the station which received his name in recognition of his aid and liberality, and which soon developed into the present beau- tiful and prosperous town. In 1882 he pur- chased and removed to the Edwin Darrow estate, a fine farm east of the city limits of Kirksville, Missouri. To this he added two hundred acres, making one of the largest and richest farms in Adair County. Here he has since resided, in a beautiful home, provided with all the modern improvements of heating apparatus, electric lighting and bath rooms, and containing a large and well selected library, enjoying the fruits of his many years of labor, attending to the educa- tion of his children. and advancing the inter- ests of the community. Moved by a liberal and progressive publie spirit, he has taken a foremost part in all the public enterprises of Kirksville during his entire residence there, and no part of its history, as to pub- lic concerns, schools and churches, can be written without reference to him. Two ad- ditions to the city bear his name. He has constantly maintained it to be the duty of man to adorn and beautify the world to the extent of his powers, and acting upon this conviction, he has erected many beau-
Truly Yours R. 111/ Blashiar
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tiful residences in the city wherein he lives. Of charitable and philanthropie disposition, while never permanently identified with any religious denomination, he has always been a liberal contributor to various churches of his city, as well as to organizations having for their purpose the relief of the needy and suffering. This spirit of the man was par- ticularly manifested in his activity and lib- erality in aiding those rendered destitute by the destructive cyclone in the spring of 1899, which swept a large portion of Kirksville. His generous gifts, many known only to himself and the recipients of his bounty, have amounted to thousands of dollars. In the fall of 1897 Mr. Brashear entered upon the work which has made him famous through- out the country, that of erecting and accept- ing the management of the Columbian School of Osteopathy, Medicine and Surgery, to the founding of which he made a gener- cus contribution of $10,000. The phenome- nal growth and development of this school during the first three years of its existence was due to his able management, and when he relinquished it to his successor it was acknowledged to number more students than any sister school of its age, with a fac- ulty excelled by none, and a building and apparatus complete in every department. In his personal character are those sterling qualities which mark the upright man. In him cordiality is blended with dignity, and people turn to him with intuitive esteem and confidence. Comparatively few men make such an honorable record, and in days when trusts are so frequently betrayed, it restores confidence in man to know so true a charac- ter. While he has accumulated a fortune to leave to his posterity, his most valuable legacy to them will be the record of his use- ful and stainless life. During the Civil War, although his parents were Southern sympa- thizers, and other relatives were strong sup- porters of the Southern Confederacy, Mr. Brashear was a staunch Unionist, and per- formed active service as a member of the State militia. Some days after the massa- cre at Centralia he was captured by a party of Anderson's men, who held him prisoner for a time, but finally gave him his liberty. Unwilling to permit partisanship to govern his political actions, he has ever held that the welfare of the country rests with the independent element, and he has cast his bal-
lot and exerted his influence as necessity at the time demanded. In 1868 he cast his first vote for General Grant. In 1802 he voted for Weaver, and since that time he has usually affiliated with the Democratic party. When twenty-one years of age he became a member of the Masonic fraternity. He served as worshipful master of his lodge for several years, and he is a member of the Chapter and the Commandery, and of the order of the Mystic Shrine. He was mar- ried October 23, 1873, to Miss Margaret J. Montgomery, of Malton, lowa. Her father, John C. Montgomery, was a successful mer- chant of that city, who died about a year after her marriage. Her mother is vet liv- ing in the town named, where she has two sons in the mercantile business. Mrs. Brashear is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Seven children born of the marriage are living, Minnie M., Ida B., Pearl. Everet E., Roma, Eugene and Rich- ard M. Brashear. The two oklest daughters are highly educated and accomplished ; both are graduates of the Kirksville Normal School, and have taken special courses in the Missouri State University, and the eld- est is a graduate of Harvard Annex. Boston, Massachusetts. Minnie M. Brashear has been for the past two years engaged as prin- cipal of the public school at Red Lodge, Montana, while Ida B. Brashear is serving her fourth year as instructor in English in the high school department of the public schools at Kirksville, Missouri. The younger children are vet at home with their pa- rents.
Braymer .- A city of the fourth class, in Caldwell County, seventeen miles southesat of Kingston, the county seat, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. It has Baptist, Christian. Methodist Episcopal and United Brethren Churches, a graded school. two banks, a flouring mill, tile and brick works, two papers, the "Comet," Republi- can, and the "Bee." independent: two ho- tels and about fifty other business enter- prises, large and small, including stores, shops, etc. Population. 1899 (estimated), 1,000.
Breckenridge .- A city of the fourth class, in Caldwell County, on the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad, eighteen miles north-
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east of Kingston, the county seat. It was laid out in 1858, by J. B. Terrill, Henry Gist and James A. Price. It has Catholic, Chris- tian, Baptist, Presbyterian, Methodist Epis- copal, Methodist Episcopal South, and Con- gregational Churches, a fine public school building, two banks, a flouring mill, furni- ture factory, tile factory, a Republican news- paper, the "Bulletin," and about thirty-five miscellaneous business places, including stores and shops. Population, 1899 (esti- mated), 1,000.
Breckinridge, Samuel Miller, law- yer and jurist. was born November 3, 1828, in Baltimore, Maryland, and died May 28, 1891, in Detroit, Michigan. His father was Rev. John Breckinridge, of Kentucky, and his mother was a daughter of the Rev. Sam- uel Miller, of Princeton, New Jersey. He was educated at Union College, of New York, and Princeton University, of New Jersey, and after completing his academic studies at the institution last named, studied law at Transylvania University, of Lexington, Ken- tucky. He graduated from the law school in 1848, and in 1849 came to St. Louis. Within a few years thereafter he became one of the recognized leaders of the bar of that city, and retained that position until his death. He was elected a judge of the circuit court in 1859, and held that office until 1863. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Judge Breckinridge took a prominent position among the staunch Unionists of Missouri, and his anti-secession speeches aided mate- rially in turning the tide of sentiment in favor of the general government. In 1866 he was appointed surveyor of customs at St. Louis, and held the office for one term. Dur- ing the administrations of Presidents Hayes and Harrison he was prominently men- tioned in connection with appointments to the United States Supreme Court bench, and during President Harrison's administra- tion a portion of the Western press urged his appointment to a cabinet position. For many years he was the attorney for the St. Louis Bridge & Tunnel Company, and later for the Terminal Railroad Association. In- heriting Presbyterianism from his Scotch- Irish ancestors, he became a conspicuous figure in that church, and for several years he was a member of the Presbyterian Gen- eral Assembly, and for five years a mem-
ber of the committee on revision of the book of discipline. He was in attendance at a session of the General Assembly at the time of his death, and had just finished an address to that body when he fell to the floor and almost immediately expired. For thirteen years he was president of the University Club of St. Louis, and he was also President of the Princeton Alumni Association of that city, and an officer in many leading business corporations. Judge Breckinridge married, in 1850, Miss Virginia H. Castleman, of Lex- ington, Kentucky, who survives him, to- gether with five daughters and two sons, Mrs. Margaret B. Long, wife of William S. Long; Mrs. Virginia C. Bates, wife of On- ward Bates; Mrs. Mary C. P. Cross, wife of Richard K. Cross; Mrs. Almy H. Edmunds, wife of Henry L. Edmunds; Miss Elizabeth L. P. Breckinridge, and David C. and John Breckinridge.
Bredell, Edward, merchant and philan- thropist, was born October 21, 1812, in the town of Berlin, Worcester County, on the eastern shore of Maryland, and died in the city of New Orleans, March 16, 1896. Left half-orphaned at an early age by the death of his mother, he was brought to Missouri, in 1819, and reared under the guidance of his pious grandmother Collier, who resided at St. Charles. When he was approaching manhood he returned to the East, and was sent by his father to Yale College, where he completed his academic education. He then entered Yale College Law School, and was graduated from that institution with the degree of bachelor of laws. In 1834 he returned to St. Louis with the intention of practicing his profession there, but after being admitted to the bar the delicate state of his health caused him to change his plans, and he engaged in commercial pursuits. With the patrimony he had inherited he em- barked in merchandising in St. Louis, as a member of the firm of Sweringen & Bredell. Later he associated with himself his brother, J. C. Bredell, under the firm name of Edward & J. C. Bredell. Both these houses were wholesale and retail establishments, and both were prosperous ventures in a financial sense. Subsequently Mr. Bredell retired from mer- cantile pursuits and engaged in mining ope- rations, smelting and shipping copper ore on Meramec River from Franklin County.
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Eventually Mr. Bredell retired from the con- duct of this business and built the Missouri Glass Works for his son. He became pres- ident of the corporation operating this en- terprise, and remained at its head, or was connected with it as director, until he retired from business. From early manhood until his death Mr. Bredell was a useful citizen, interesting himself in public affairs and en- deavoring in every way possible to advance educational and religious interests, and to improve moral and social conditions in the city in which he lived. In early life he was elected a member of the public school board of St. Louis, and became president of that body. He inherited from a long line of Pres- byterian ancestors a love of the Presbyte- rian Church and strong religious convictions. On the 12th of February, 1848, he became a member of the Second Presbyterian Church of St. Louis, of which Rev. William S. Potts, D. D., was then pastor. He remained a member of the Second Presbyterian Church until 1864, when the establishment of the Walnut Street Presbyterian Church having been determined upon, he was one of the colony of two hundred and fifty persons which withdrew from the mother church for the purpose of organizing the proposed new church, with Rev. James H. Brookes, D. D., as pastor. July 6, 1864, he was elected one of the trustees of this new church organiza- tion. October 25, 1865, he was chosen a ruling elder of that church and ordained to the office November 5th following. He served faithfully and efficiently in these posi- tions until March 14, 1878, when he sun- dered ties which had become very dear to him, from a sense of duty, and became the center of a devoted band which had gath- ered about him, and which founded and erected the Lafayette Park Presbyterian Church. He was elected ruling elder and also trustee of this church, and continued to serve in both positions until the end of his life. A bequest of fifty thousand dollars was left by him to the St. Louis Bible Soci- ety, and a like sum to the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. Mr. Bredell married, in 1835, Miss Angeline C. Perry, daughter of Samuel Perry, who was then most promi- nently identified with the lead-mining inter- ests of Missouri.
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