The Brant Family of Berrien County, Michigan

NATHANIEL M. BRANT is one of the venerable citizens of Berrien county, his home being in Bainbridge township. He is still a hearty man although he has passed the ninety-first milestone on life's journey, his birth having occurred in Macedon, Genesee county, New York on the 12th of March, 181 5. His parents were Simeon and Sarah

(Herndon) Brant. The father was born near Rhode Island, and was married in Genesee county, New York, whither he had gone as a boy with his parents. His mother, who bore the maiden name of Phoebe Loetz, was a native of England, and his father was probably born in that country. Simeon Brant served for one year as a soldier of the war of 1812, and after his discharge re-enlisted for further military service. Later in life he received two land warrants in recognition of the aid which he had rendered to the government during the dark period of hostility with England.

The year 1836 witnessed the arrival of the Brant family in Michigan. The westward trip was made across the country with two yoke of oxen, and the father was accompanied by three sons and a daughter, namely: Nathaniel, John Daniel, Augustus and Malvina. Two other sons, Artaxerses and Van Rensselaer, came later, and the Brant family has figured for many years in the public life of this part of Michigan, especially in subjugating the wilderness and extending the frontier. The father, Simeon Brant, settled on the east half of the southeast quarter of section 31, Bainbridge township, while his son, Nathaniel, secured as a claim the west half of the northwest half of section 32; Daniel, the west half of the southwest quarter of section 32; while Augustus settled in Pipestone township. Three years later Artaxerses Brant, who had first taken up his above at Three Rivers, came to Bainbridge township and secured the east half of the northeast quarter of section 31. The daughter, Malvina, married Oliver Surrell, and they settled in Hagar township, but later removed to Pipestone township, where they lived and died. The members of the family, however, lived in one locality and did an important part in the work of development and improvement there.

Simeon Brant had come to the west expecting to enter land near Benton Harbor but on reaching Kalamazoo, Michigan, he became ill and while there he purchased the eighty acres on which he settled, without.having seen the property. Nathaniel Brant had joined the family at that place, having proceeded that far by boat, after which they drove across the state to their destination. Some days there would be twenty-five or thirty families in the caravan as they traveled along but each going to their destination they would perhaps by night all be scattered. The Brants followed the Chicago turnpike that extended through Niles as far as Edinburg, after which they started for Pokagon prairie and the Indian Lake. From Indian Lake they had to cut their way through the north eight miles and to the Territorial road then proceeded west on that road to within a mile of Millburg, not far from the Davis Junction. From that point they proceeded two and a half miles south to the land which Mr. Brant had purchased. There he located section corners and in that way located the land they sought. They probably reached their destination in November, with snow on the ground, and immediately afterward a log cabin was built. There were no settlers north of them to Millburg, a distance of five miles. Mr. LeRue had a mill on Pipestone creek, three or four miles to the southwest, while to the south stretched an unbroken wilderness and also to the east. It was about three years, then settlers began to come readily of this section of the state. Artemus Stickney was about the first to locate as a near neighbor of the Brant family. Lott Sutherland and his brother the father of Lewis Sutherland, were the first to settle east of the Brant family.

In the midst of the forest Simeon Brant hewed out a farm, clearing and cultivating his land, and transforming the place into rich fields. There he carried on general agricultural pursuits until his wife's death, after which he went to Illinois with his son Nathaniel, and passed away at the age of eighty-four years. Daniel Brant lived and died on his home place, and his son Ezra is now on the old homestead. Artaxerses Brant spent his life on the homestead which he commenced to develop about the time his father secured property here, together with his brothers, Daniel and Nathaniel. He was the eldest of the family.

Nathaniel M. Brant, whose name introduces this review, secured his land in 1844, and has since lived thereon. He was married on the 29th of April, 1840, in Pipestone township, to Miss Martha Hazzard, a daughter of Crawford Hazzard, who had also come to Berrien county in 1836 from Sacketts Harbor, New York, settling first at Watervliet and later in Pipestone township. For four years after their marriage Nathaniel M. Brant and his wife lived in Pipestone township, and in 1844, removed to his present farm thereon he has now resided for sixty-two years. His life has been passed in Michigan from the age of twenty-one years. He started in business on his own account with eighty acres but through his well directed energy and business capacity he became the owner of two hundred acres in the old homestead, also two hundred acres in Pipestone township, forty acres in Hagar township and forty acres in Watervliet township. He has practically given all this away, however, but has kept a life lease on his home place of eighty acres. He has assisted each of his children to gain a' farm and has been most generous with his sons and daughters. In his business career he has prospered, because he was diligent and energetic, and he now well merits the rest that is vouchsafed to him. His wife died in May, 1901, after they had traveled life's journey happily together for sixty years. She had been indeed a faithful companion and helpmate to him on life's journey. In their family were eight sons and three daughters. The daughters were Laura, Phoebe and Ann, but none are now living. The sons, however, still survive. These are Wesley C.; Warren; Dudley, who resides upon a part of the farm originally owned by his grandfather, Simeon Brant; Philander, who lives upon a farm adjoining his father's place; Newton, living near Spinks Corners; Orval, who makes his home on a part of the old farm property; Oscar, who had forty acres of the old homestead, and died when a young man of thirty-two or thirty-three years; Barney, who resides on the homestead and with him his father lives.

Mr. Brant is one of the most venerable citizens of the entire county, and few, if any, have more intimate knowledge of the early history of this section of the state and of conditions which here existed at the time of the arrival of the Brant family in 1836. The forests were uncut, the streams unbridged and roads were not yet laid out. The Indians were far more numerous than the white settlers, and Nathaniel Brant engaged in trading with them, buying furs, etc. He also hunted deer and other wild game and did some trapping, and he helped cut out all the roads which were made in those early days. During his first year in Pipestone township, he worked for Dr. Enons and took forty acres of land for his pay. His wife lived within a half mile of the place and thus they become acquainted. Mr. Brant also bought and shipped shingles to Chicago, and bought cattle, sheep, horses and other live stock. He worked energetically and persistently year after year and was well known as a successful business man and a typical representative of the early days. In politics he has given his support to the Republican party and he is yet a hale and hearty man although he is now ninety-one years of age.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

PORTER E. BRANT, living in Bainbridge township, was born in Hagar township, Berrien county, on a farm north of the Paw Paw river, March 3, 1843, his parents being Daniel and Marietta (Hazzard) Brant. The father was a native of Rochester, New York, and the mother of Ellisburg, that state, but they were married in Benton township, Berrien county, about 1840. The mother had been one of the early teachers of the county, following the profession up to the time of her marriage. Her home was in Pipestone township, and she was a daughter of Crawford Hazzard, a pioneer resident of that township. Daniel Brant when eighteen years of age had driven a yoke of oxen from Rochester to Pokagon township, where his father, Simeon Brant, had already settled. Edward Brant's father, who died enroute from California, was a cousin of Daniel Brant and further mention of the family is made on another page of this work. The family is in fact a prominent one in Berrien county, having numerous representatives who have been active and influential in business circles and in public affairs. Daniel Brant remained a resident of Pokagon township until all of the members of the family removed to Bainbridge township, cutting the road through the forests for miles. Simeon Brant secured a claim constituting the southeast quarter of section 31, while daniel's place was the southwest quarter of section 32, and Artaxerses Brant took the east half of the southeast quarter of section 31. Nathaniel Brant obtained the northwest quarter of section 32 and thus altogether they secured the four corners. Nearly all this land is still in possession of members of the Brant family, although "Nathaniel Brant is the only one of the original owners now living. Simeon Brant, the father, died at the old homestead at a very advanced age, while Artaxerses Brant died at the age of seventy-five years, and Daniel passed away at the old home when sixty-six years of age. Artaxerses Brant had one son in Mason county and three grandchildren. The children of Jerome Brant are still on the old homestead. Nathaniel Brant resides upon his old home place, which has how been in his possession for many years.

Daniel Brant, father of our subject, placed about one hundred and twenty acres of his homestead under cultivation. He likewise secured and improved two other tracts of land of eighty and fifty-one acres respectively, and he also had two houses in Benton Harbor at the time of his death. He likewise owned one hundred and twenty acres of land in Pipestone township, which he improved, and he gave a farm to each of his children, amounting to over one hundred and sixty acres of land. He placed more than two hundred acres of land under cultivation and thus contributed in large measure to the substantial development and reclamation of this part of the state. His wife was a fine business woman and he largely attributed to her influence and assistance the success which he has achieved. She died about fifteen years prior to the death of her husband, being about fifty years of age when she passed away. They had traveled life's journey together, however, for many years, for she was but seventeen years of age at the time of their marriage. Her life was devoted to her family and although never very strong or robust she was ambitious and energetic and her capable management of the household affairs and the assistance and encouragement which she rendered her husband were valued factors in their prosperity. They became the parents of seven children, of whom Porter E. is the second in order of birth. The others are as follows: Lafayette died on Ship Island, Gulf of Mexico, while in the United States service, having left high school in St. Joseph in order to enHst. He was a member of the Sixth Michigan Infantry and passed away when twenty-two years of age. Francis is living in Pipestone township. Marion resides in Bainbridge township on land given him by his father. Henry is a resident of Fountain, Mason county, Michigan. Lucretia married John Harmon, and lives in Seattle, Washington. Rosella married William Burnett, of Bainbridge, and resides at Spokane, Washington. Having lost his first wife Daniel Brant was married to Miss

Nancy Kennedy, who survives him and is yet living in Benton Harbor. Their children are: Sherman; Ezra, who resides on the old homestead in Bainbridge township; Lillie, the wife of William Denneke, of Benton Harbor; and Roy.

Porter E. Brant was born in Hagar township, while his father was residing there temporarily, engaged in the manufacture of shingles in order to earn a living for his family. ' He followed that pursuit through a number of seasons, as it provided him with ready money. He secured three hundred acres of land in Hagar township known as Dansdiggins and located on the shore of Lake Michigan. From his place he here hauled shingles to Niles, where they could be marketed. Under the parental roof Porter E. Brant spent the days of his boyhood and youth, and when eighteen years of age he began providing for his own support, working six years by the month, receiving thirteen dollars per month for two years, fourteen dollars per month for a year, and afterward twenty-two and thirty and twenty-two dollars per month for the ensuing years. He never saved less than fifty dollars from Iiis wages for a single season and with the capital he acquired through his own labor and frugality he was enabled to purchase when twenty-three years of age the forty-acre farm thereon he now resides, his father having previously secured it.

At that time Porter E. Brant was married to Miss Harriet I. Moore, the wedding ceremony being performed on the 30th of October, 1866. Her parents were George and Mary (Beagle) Moore, and she was living in the home of Daniel Brant when she gave her hand in marriage to Porter E. Brant. They have since lived upon the same farm, covering a period of forty years. When this place came into his possession Mr. Brant had to cut a road a half mile in order to reach his farm. It was covered with the original growth of timber, not a stick having been cut nor an improvement made but though he realized that an arduous task lay before him, he resolutely set to work clearing, cultivating and improving the land. He cut poles in order to make a shanty twelve by twenty-four feet and in this he lived for about five years, or until he was able to build a part of his present home. He has since made two additions to the original building and now has a comfortable residence, which stands in the midst of a well developed farm property. He now owns one hundred and nine acres of rich and productive land all in the home farm and he has likewise given away seventy acres of land to his children, who live near him. He has placed more than eighty acres of land under cultivation and now has one of the best farms in the township, lacking in none of the equipments and accessories of a model farm property. As soon as he got his land ready he set out apples and has now apple orchards covering eighteen acres. He lost eight acres of peaches which were destroyed by the yellow but as soon as it showed that they could be grown again he once more set out each trees. He has kept about eighteen acres in fruit of all kinds and each kind that he has raised has paid him. His apples have brought him over one thousand dollars in a single season, selling over one thousand barrels of apples in one year, while his sales of peaches have amounted to between six hundred and one thousand dollars annually. He has placed his dependence largely upon his fruit crops but in addition he has also raised tomatoes for canning for twenty-two years, selling them to the canning factory and between four and six acres planted to that vegetable have yielded him from fifty to sixty dollars per. acre. In all his farm work he has followed practical methods, which have resulted beneficially, as he has now a very valuable farm.

Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brant have been born four children: Jesse C, who resides upon an adjoining farm; Ella M., the wife of Everett Brant, also living on a farm near by; Clara B., the wife of Frank Gilbert, of Pipestone township; and Maud E., at home. There is seven years difference between the birth of each child and the succeeding one. The married son and daughters have received farms from their father and are comfortably located.

Porter E. Brant is a Democrat, and has served in several local offices although living in a Republican township, a fact which indicates his personal popularity and the confidence reposed in him by his fellowmen. He belongs to the Union United Brethren church in Pipestone township, and is a prominent representative of a worthy pioneer family, his entire life having been passed in Berrien county, covering a period of more than sixty-three years. He is also a member of the Odd Fellows and has filled all the chairs in his lodge. He was the eighth member to join his lodge which now numbers nearly one hundred. The name of Brant is inseparably associated with the history of agricultural and horticultural development here and as the years have gone by the younger generation have continued the work that was begun by their fathers and grandfather and bear an excellent reputation for business activity and reliability.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

EZRA BRANT, representing one of the prominent and well known pioneer families of Berrien county, was born November 17,. 1873, in the house which he yet occupies, and was the second of the four children of Daniel and Nancy Jane (Kennedy) Brant. The father was a native of Rochester, New York, and in early manhood he married Marietta Hazzard, who was born in Ellisburg, New York, but they were married in Benton township, Berrien county, about 1840. Daniel Brant when eighteen years of age had driven a yoke of oxen from Rochester to Pokagon township, Cass county, where his father, Simeon Brant, had already settled. Edward Brant's father, who died enroute from California, was a cousin of Daniel Brant, and further mention of the family is made on another page of this work. The family is in fact a prominent one of Berrien county, having numerous representatives who have been active and influential in business circles and in public affairs. Daniel Brant remained a resident of Pokagon township until all of the members of the family removed to Bainbridge township, cutting the road through the forests for miles. Simeon Brant secured a claim constituting the southeast quarter of section 31, while Daniel's place was the southwest quarter of section 32, and Artaxerses Brant took the east half of the southeast quarter of section 31. Nathaniel Brant obtained the northwest quarter of section 32, and thus altogether they secured the four corners. Nearly all of this land is still in possession of members of the Brant family, although Nathaniel Brant is the only one of the original owners now living. Simeon Brant, the father, died at the old homestead at a very advanced age, while Artaxerses Brant died at the age of seventy-five years, and Daniel passed away at the old home when sixty-six years of age. Artaxerses Brant had one son in Mason county and three grandchildren. The children of Jerome Brant are still on the old homestead. Nathaniel Brant resides upon his old home place, which has now been in his possession for many years.

Daniel Brant, father of our subject, placed about one hundred and twenty acres of his homestead under cultivation. He like wise secured and improved two other tracts of land of eighty and eighty-five acres respectively, and he also had two houses in Benton Harbor at the time of his death. He likewise owned one hundred and twenty acres of land in Pipestone township, which he improved, and he gave a farm to each of his children/ amounting to over one hundred and sixty acres of land. He placed more than two hundred acres of land under cultivation and thus contributed in large measure to the substantial development and reclamation of this part of the state. His wife was a fine business woman and he largely attributed to her influence and assistance the success which he has achieved. She died about fifteen years prior to the death of her husband, being about fifty years of age when she passed away. They had traveled life's journey together, however, for many years, for she was but seventeen years of age at the time of their marriage. Her life was devoted to her family and although never very strong or robust she was ambitious and energetic and her capable management of the household affairs and the assistance and encouragement which she rendered her husband were valued factors in their prosperity. They became the parents of seven children, as follows: Lafayette died on Ship Island, New Mexico, while in the United States service, having left high school in St. Joseph in order to enlist. He was a member of the Sixth Michigan Infantry and passed away when twenty-two years of age. Francis is living in Pipestone township. Marion reside3 in Bainbridge township on land given him by his father. Henry is a resident of Fountain, Mason county, Michigan. Lucretia married John Harmon, and lives in Seattle, Washington. Rosella married William Burnett, of Bainbridge, and resides at Spokane, Washington. Having lost his first wife Daniel Brant was married to Miss Nancy Kennedy, who survives him and is yet living in Benton Harbor. Their children are: Sherman; Ezra, the subject of this review; Lillie, the wife of William Denneke, of Benton Harbor; and Roy.

Ezra Brant, after spending his entire life tion the home farm with the exception of one year, now owns the old homestead property which was for many years in possession of his father, Daniel Brant and which was settled in 1836. It comprises one hundred and sixty acres and is a very valuable tract. He has about sixty-seven acres in fruit, forty acres in peaches, six acres in grapes and nine acres in apples, of which five acres have been in bearing for fifty-six years. He also has three acres in raspberries and an acre and a half in strawberries, and five acres in years. All of his fruit is profitable, for he gathers annually good crops. In 1905 he raised eighteen hundred bushels of peaches and forty-eight barrels of apples. His business is continually growing and in connection with fruit-raising he has engaged in general farming. He purchased his place with five separate purchases and has now an extensive and valuable tract of land under a high state of cultivation and well adapted for the purposes for which it is used.

On the 22d of July, 1896, Mr. Brant was married to Miss Floy G. Moore, a daughter of William Moore of Sodus township, and now living in Benzie county, Michigan. Mrs. Brant was born in Sodus township, and by her marriage has become the mother of two sons and a daughter, Ellis Ezra and Russel Jaleb and Violet Orene. Mr. Brant is recognized as one of the most enterprising young business men of the township, alert and energetic, brooking no obstacles that can be overcome by determined, persistent and honorable labor.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

BARNEY HAZZARD BRANT. No student of history can carry his investigations far into the annals of Berrien county without becoming aware of the fact that the Brants were among its first settlers, and that from pioneer times down to the present they have been factors in the development which has been carried on along agricultural and horticultural lines. Barney Hazzard Brant is a worthy representative of the name, which has now been known here through four generations, he being connected with the third generation. He was born on the place where he now lives, September 1, 1868, and was the youngest member of the family of Nathaniel M. Brant, who is mentioned elsewhere in this work. His whole life has been spent on the old homestead. His father divided the property when Barney H. Brant was twenty years of age, and he took charge of sixty-five acres, which he has since cultivated, save that he has sold off twenty acres. He still retains the forty-five acres, of which about twenty acres is set out to fruit. He also grows melons, tomatoes and other vegetables, which he sells on the market. He has sold six hundred bushels of peaches in a season, and the trees are largely new, having been set out by himself. Industry and enterprise are numbered among his strong and salient characteristics, and he carries forward to successful completion whatever he undertakes, being a man of strong and determined purpose and of good business qualifications.

On the 4th of April, 1889, Mr. Brant was united in marriage to Miss Anna Estella Garrison, of Pipestone, a daughter of Elihu and Helen Garrison. She was only sixteen years of age at the time of her marriage. They lost their eldest child, Roscoe, in infancy, but had a daughter, Hazel Helen, now eleven years of age.

Mr. Brant is a Republican, usually voting for the party but advocates strong prohibition principles. He is school inspector. He is well known in the community where he resides, having spent his entire life here and is recognized as an enterprising and prosperous business man.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.

EDWARD BRANT, to whom has been vouchsafed an honorable retirement from an active business career by reason of the fact that through his former activity and well directed labor he has achieved a handsome competence, has contributed in a substantial measure to the commercial prosperity and business activity in Berrien county. Carrying forward to a successful completion whatever he undertakes, his wise counsel and executive force have proven a strong directing influence in various business interests. Mr. Brant is a native of Ohio, where his birth occurred in 1845. He was brought to Michigan by his parents Mason and Almira (Tobias) Brant, who settled on a tract of government land in Ionia county. In 1849, during the excitement attendant upon the discovery of gold in California, Mason Brant left his family upon the farm which he had partially cleared, and joined the rush of pioneers across the plains to the Pacific coast, where he died after three years of pioneer adventure in the gold fields.

No event of special importance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for Edward Brant in the days of his childhood and youth. He worked in the fields through the summer months and pursued his studies at the district school during the winter, varying the monotony of a steady pursuit of knowledge with intervals of wood-chopping and excursions into the surrounding forests after deer and other wild game. During this formative period of his young life he was living with his mother, who ably cared for her children after the death of the father.

After attaining to man's estate he turned his attention to the lumber business in Michigan and for thirty years was successfully engaged in this industry, which is one of the leading sources of the state's wealth. Mr. Brant thoroughly acquainted himself with every branch of the lumber trade, and his excellent judgment of the value of timber, as well as the ready adaptability which he manifested in controlling a business concern, led to his signal success. His operations in this field included a saw-mill at Covert, Michigan, and a tract of land in Watervliet township, Berrien county, from which tie cut the timber and cleared the brush until he now owns a farm containing three hundred acres of the finest land in the fruit belt. Later, settling in Benton Harbor, he has dealt to a considerable extent in real estate and is now the owner of valuable property here. His operations in real-estate have been characterized by safe and conservative investments and he receives a large income from the buildings which be owns in this city. In 1890 he built the Hotel Benton, which at the time of its construction was the finest hostelry in southwestern Michigan. He leased it for a period of five years to Alonzo Vincent, who then removed to St. Joseph, Michigan, and took charge of the Hotel Whitcombe. The Hotel Benton has since remained under the management of Mr. Brant and his son-in-law, ex-sheriff Collins, who is elsewhere represented in this work. Into other fields of activity Mr. Brant has extended his efforts. He was one of the organizers of the Farmers & Merchants' Bank of Benton Harbor and has been one of its directors from the beginning. He yet holds stock in this institution and his well known ability as a conservative financier has been instrumental in making it a paying concern.

He was one of the organizers of the Benton Harbor & St. Joseph Electric Railway Company, acted as a member of its directorate for several years and at one time was a heavy stockholder. In fact, there are few enterprises in this locality that have not felt the stimulus of Mr. Brant's personality, and although he is now practically living retired from the active control of business interests, he is yet financially connected with several of importance. He possesses untiring energy, is quick of perception, forms his plans readily and is determined in their execution. Making good use of his opportunities, he has prospered from year to year,, conducting all matters of business carefully and successfully, displaying in all his acts an aptitude for successful management.

Mr. Brant was married in Watervliet township to Miss Martha J. Carpenter, a native of Canada, and they have become the parents of four children: Mason; Carrie, who is the wife of William Becht and has one child, Lincoln; Ida M., the wife of Fred B. Collins, by whom she has one child, Hallie Bell; and Myrtle, deceased. Mr. Brant is a member of the Masonic fraternity and is an exemplary representative of the craft, being always true to its teachings and in sympathy with its principles. His political support is given to the Democratic party and whenever he has permitted his name to be used on the ballot representing his party's principles and his own convictions, the people, irrespective of political affiliation, have testified their confidence in his judgment and their esteem of his unique personality by giving the Democratic ticket their eager support. For several terms he was a supervisor of Watervliet township. He has always been a helpful factor in political work in the city and for one term served as mayor of Benton Harbor. His administration was characterized by conservative expenditure of the city's funds and a liberal enforcement of laws which had produced unnecessary hardship for the business interests of the city, through strict enforcement by previous administrations. Any measure for the betterment of the city, either financially or otherwise, receives his endorsement and he opposes strongly any movement which is inimical to the best interests of the community. His position upon any question is never an equivocal one, for he is firm in support of his honest convictions. He has not permitted the accumulation of a competence to effect in any way his attitude toward those less successful than he and has always a cheerful word and a pleasant smile for those wath whom he comes in contact.

As printed in the source¹. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.