The Opelousas courier., 1889-02-16
A WONDERFUL NAN.
Career Of a RemarkableDl Did In
dian Slayer.
Sixteen of His Sons 6erved in
the Union ArIhy.

IlS oIiiSli AiIHys
When western Pennsylvania was tn
frontier and the Indian fighter was tn
most important and Indispensable person
in the settlements, says a Pittsburg let
ter to the New York Sun, Charles Bran
don was one of the best n Gfmost daring
of all the active foes of the red men. Al
the age of 3 years, in 1854, he was cap
tured by the Indians, who killed hi
father at the same time. This was or
the banks of the Ohio River. For twelve
years the boy was kept among the sava,
ges, but he disliked them, and escaped
when he was Is years old. He found {
, white settlement, and learned to talk
his native language. From that time or
he gave his life to Indian killing.
In 1890, when the Indians were get
ting scarce, Sharles Brandon married q
young woman named Mary Meyers. She
bore him two children, and died. He
then married Fannie Slusher. She bore
him eighteen children, and died in 1880.
Brandon was then nearly 70 years old.
When he was five years older he married
Sarah Barker, who was only Is. She
was the youngest of sixteen children.
She lived with him twenty>one years,
bearing him in the meantime, fifteen
children. Then she got a divorce from
him, he being SO. The separation from
his wife broke his heart, and although
he was at the time as agile, strong, and
active as he was when he Ras married,
he pined away and died the same year
the divorce was obtained. He then had
thirty-three living children.
His divorced widow had had the care
of all of them, and she raised all that
were young enough to need raising.
Brandon had been the father of 80 chill
dren, but two died, one a child of his
first wife, and the other one of the IS
his second wife had borne him. The
divorced widow moved to Moundsville,
West Virginia; and the most of the SO
children went with her. Among them
were two Johns and two Charleses. One
of the Johns and one of the Charleses
were the third wife's children. There
was a James who was old enough to go
to the Mexican war, where he was
wounded in the neck. When the war
of the rebellion broke out the two Svahs,
the two Charleses, Sim, Evans, Peter,
Josephus, Hiram, James, Van Buren,,
Jacob, Abraham, Alexander, David,
Andrew, and Reese, of the sons, enlisted
in the Union Army, all in Ohio and
Virginia regiments. The third Mrs.
Brandon's John and Charles were taken
prisoners at Chicka laugua. They were
both put in Andershville prison. John
died in nine months; Charles was there
twenty-one mapths and escaped. Peter
was killed at Shiloh while his regiment,
the Seventy-second Ohio, was making
a charge. All the other sons served
through the war and came home.
The third wife of the remarkable old
Indian killer, and mother and step
mother Of his remarkable family, still
lives at Moundsville. She is 20 years
old. Until three months ago she was In
destitute circumstances. Then she got
a pension and $4,000 as her claim against
the government. She is six feet in
height, as straight as IN arrow, as strong
as a man, and excelling nine out of every
ten men in power of endurance. Only a
few days ago-one of the hottest-she
walked to st. Clairsville, twenty miles,
in five hours, and back again in the same
time. She has only n eye. The other
n was shot out about thirty years ago
lyy one of the second wife's boys. She
had occasion to correct him. He got his
bow and arrow and sIot her, putting out
the cyl. This remarkable woman knows
the whereabouts of eply nine of the
t~hirty-three children. They I've near
her.
"But, takin' them an their children,
an their children's children, there must
be nigh to a thousan' on 'em by this
time.n