Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1891-06-04
WAR "REMINISCENCES.
SEVENTEEN SOLDIERS.
they Were All Sons Of the Same Father
Who Was Himself a Fighter.

fhey Were All Sons of the Same Father
Who Was Himself Fighter.
''If it came within the line of his in
quiries, " said w. C. Meyer, of st. Glars
vile, w. Va, ''the census enumeratcr
for Moundsville, near where j live,
must have found about as wonderful a
domestic history as any enumeration
will run against elsewhere in this coun-
try. / refer to family by the name of
Brandon The father of that family,
Charles Brandon. died when he was
ninety-six years old, but his youngest
child was then less than year old. He
died just as the civil war broke out from
broken heart, his wife having refused
to live with him any longer and brought
suit for divorce against him. He had
at that time thirtv-five living chill
dren, and had been married three
times
''His first wife bore him two children.
His second wife died after bearing him
eighteen. At the age of seventy-five
he married Sarah Barker, she being six
teen and the youngest Of sixteen chill
dren. She lived with him twenty-one
years, bearing him fifteen children, and
then left him, taking her year-old baby
with her, and sued for divorce ON the
grounds of incompatibility of temper.
Brandon was still hale and hearty, but
the desertion of his wife broke him
down, and he died within month after
she left him.
When his third wife married him the
oldest of his twenty children by his two
previous wives was thirty-nine, and the
entire twenty lived under the paternal
roof The young wife reared all of the
twenty that were young enough TO need
rearing, besides caring for the fifteen
of her own, the oldest of whom was
but twenty when she left their father.
The family of thirty-five kept together
for many years after their fathers
death, and If the patriarchal Brandon
had lived few months longer he would
have seen seventeen of his sons enlist
in the Union army. 1t is a question
If in this or any other country an in
stance can be found where one fam
lily ever before contributed seventeen
sons to their country's service. There
were two Charleses and two Johns
among these brothers. The names of
the other thirteen were Simeon, Evans,
Peter, Josephus, Hiram, james, Van
Buren,, Jacob, Abraham, Alexander,
David, Andrew and Ruse Besides
these, three of Charles Brandon's sons
served in the Mexican war. The seven
teen brothers were all in Ohio and In
diana regiments. Two of them, one of
the Johns and one of the Charleses,
were sons of the third Mrs. Brandon.
They were both taken prisoners at the
battle of Chickamauga and placed in
Andersonville prison. John died in the
prison. Charles was there twenty-one
months when he escaped All the rest
of the sons were children of the second |
wife They were in every important |
battle of the war; and all lived TO get |
home when the war was over except |
Peter who was killed at Shiloh.
These boys all come of good fighting |
stock, for their father was a famous In
dian fighter himself, veteran of the |
war of 1912 and the Mexican war
When Western Pennsylvania was the
and the Indian fighter was the
most important and indispensable per-.
son in the settlements, Charles Bran
don, according to all tradition, was one
Of the best and most daring of all the
active foes of the red men. His father
was killed by Indians when Charles
was only three years old. He himself
was made prisoner and lived with the
Indians twelve years, hating them more
the longer he was with them. At the
age of fifteen he escaped, and after
learning his mother tongue, spent all
mis- time, until they were driven away
10 more remote settlements, in hunting
and killing Indians.
He was fifty-one years of age when
the war of 1912 broke out, and he was
one of the first to join the American
army. and was in it when peace was de-
,lared. He was seventy-four when he
enlisted in the Mexican war
The third wife of this yirile old fight
n is living at Monndsville. hale and
hearty at the age of sixty-seven. She
S over six feet high and as straight as
in arrow. OF her thirty-fve children
md step-children she knows posi-
lively of the whereabouts of but fifteen
The rest are scattered about the coun-
ry and dead. The thirty-five children
we're all sons. American Tribune.