The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-11-20
SEVENTEEN BROTHERS IN THE WAR.
They Cnmc of N RemarkaDlo Family OF
Thlrty-nvo Children, All Sons.
eff it came within the line of his IN,

eff it came within the line of his nqui.
rics," said w. G. Meyer, of st. Clairs-
vile. w. ". 1.-THE census cnumcrator
| for MOundsvillC, near where live. must
have found about rs wonderful Il DOM
cStic history as any enumcrator ran
against elsewhere in this country. | re-
fer to Il family by the name of Brandon.
The father Of that family. Charles Bran
don, died when he was 9G years old but
his youngest child was then less than a
year old. lie died just as the civil war
broke out, from Il broken heart, his wife
having refused to live with him any lon.
ger. lie had ut that time thrty-iivc
living children, and had been married
three times.
Ellis first vile bore him two children.
Ills second wife died after bearing him
eighteen. At the age of Is he married
Sarah Barker, she being lG, and the
youngest OF sixteen children. She lived
with him twcnty-onc years, bearing him
fifteen children, and then left him, taking
her year "ld baby with her. Brandon
was still hale and hearty, but the dcscr-
ton OF his wife broke him down, and he
died within Il month after she left him.
"Whcn his third wife married him the
oldest of his twenty children by his two
previous wives was 80. and the entire
twenty lived under the patcrnal roof.
The young wife reared all Of the twenty
lhat were young enough to need rear
ng, besides caring for the fifteen of her
own, the oldest Of whom was but 20
when she left their father. The family
OF thIrty-iivc kept together for many
years .itcr their fathers death, and the
patr .chal Brandon had lived a few
mon hS lOAycr he would have seen
Scvc tcCn Of his sons enlist in the Union
army. 1t is auucstion if in this or any
olhcr country an instance can be found
where one family ever before contributed
seventeen sons to their country's scr
vice.
"Ihcsc boys all came ofgood fighting
stock, FOR their father was Il famous In
dian fighter himself, Il veteran of the
war OF lSl2 and the Mexican war.
when western Pennsylvania WAS the
frontier, and the Indian fighter was the
most Important and Indispensable per-
son in the settlements, Charles Brandon,
according to all traditions, was one of
the best and most daring of all the ac-
tive foes Of the rcd men. His father
was killed by Indians when Charles was
"nl " years Old. lie himsclrwas made
4 prisoner, and lived with the Indians
twelve years, hating them moro the
longer he was with them. AT the ace
OF - he escaped, and after learning his
mother tongue, spent all his time, until
they were driven away to more remote
Scttlcmcnts. in hunting and killing In
anS
"llc was 81 years Of age when the
var OF lSl2 broke out, and he was one
II the first to Join the American army. |
md Was in it when peace was declared. |
lc was Il when he enlisted in the |
'IcNic;n war.
1.-The third wife of this vcrilc old
lshtcr is LIVING in MoundSvillc hale and
hearty ut the a"c of Ga. She is over six
Get high and as straight us an arrow.
u her thlrty-tivc children ard stcpchil-
rcn, She knows positively of the WHARF,
bouts Of but fifteen. The rest arc
catered about the country and dead.
-hc thrty-iivc children were all sons.D
st. Louis GlUbc-DcmOcrat.