Lucius Brainard.

As printed in 1894

LUCIUS BRAINARD, who has served in C various official positions and been prominent in the public affairs of the community in which lie lives, now resides in Warren Township, where he owns and operates a good farm of one hundred and sixty acres on sections 28 and 33. The place is well improved with good buildings and other accessories of a model farm, the fields are well tilled, and there is a four-acre grove of maple, walnut and butternut trees, which were planted b3' his hand and stand as a monument to his progressive spirit.

Mr. Brainard was born in Caledonia County, Vt., on the ist of May, 1824, and is a son of Ira and Verona (Taylor) Brainard. He is the elder of two children, and his brother George yet resides in Vermont. The father was a native of the Green Mountain State, and was of English descent. For some years he carried on merchandising in Danville, doing a successful business, and was also President of the Caledonia Bank at that place.

Lucius Brainard was reared in his native town of Danville, attended the public schools and completed his education at Phillip's Academy. He began to earn his own livelihood when eighteen years of age, entering a woolen factory with the intention of learning the trade. For six years he worked in woolen-mills, after which he was employed on the Vermont & Massacliuselts Railroad, and followed that work until 1855, in which year he started for the West. The journey was made by rail and team, and at length he reached Warren Township, Winona County, where he made a location, pre-tempting one hundred and sixty acres of land, which constitutes his present fine farm.

It was oak openings, and there he built a small log cabin, 10x12 feet in dimensions, in which he lived for one year. He then erected a frame house,

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Mr. Brainard was married on the ist of May, 1845, to Miss Emily B. Wright, and to them have been born.six children, viz.: George, who now aids in the operation of the home farm; Ira L., who died on the 11th of September, 1848; Frank J., who follows farming at home; Emily J., formerly the wife of John W. Geeslin, an agriculturist of Warren Township; Ira C, who was killed February 8, 1894, by a freight train in the North-Western yards at Winona; and William H., who died on the 17th of July, 1877. Emily J. Geeslin died July 17,

Both Mr. and Mrs. Brainard, who are members of the Methodist Church, take an active part in its work and are deeply interested in its welfare. For twenty-five years Mr. Brainard has been Superintendent of the Sunday-school. Everything calculated to elevate humanity receives his approval and support, and he is recognized as a man whose life is worthy of emulation. Socially he is connected with the Masonic fraternity, and in politics he is a Republican. Prior to the organization of that party he supported the Whig part. He has held the office of Chairman of the Board of Supervisors, and has also been Assessor and Constable.

C. C. Chapman.

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C. C. Chapman is the eldest in a family of ten children. His early boyhood years were largely passed in the schoolroom, and at the age of sixteen he entered a shoe factory in Ix)ndon, where he served an apprenticeship until twenty-one years of age, when, in a sailing-vessel, he crossed the bring deep to the New World, whitiier his parents had preceded him. In October, 1853, he came West, and was engaged in farming near Minnesota City until the winter of 1856, when he went to the western part of the state with a surveying party engaged in laying the division lines between counties. At the time of the Indian outbreak he was at Spirit Lake, and was commissioned Second Lieutenant of what was known as the Watonwau Rifles. Mr. Chapman continued in the service for about eighteen months, and then returned to his home at Minnesota City, after which he engaged in farming until his enlistment for the late war.

On the 18th of August, 1862, Mr. Chapman responded to the President's call for three-years troops, and joined the boys in blue of Company B,.Seventh Minnesota Infantry, of which he was made Sergeant. He was present at the battle of

Birch Coolie. He remained in the service until the close of the war, and at the battle of Wood Lake was wounded by a gunshot in the light wrist, which prevented him from taking part in active service for a time. He was afterward on detached service until the close of the war, for his injury prevented the use of the right arm. After the surrender of Lee and the cessation of hostilities, he returned to Minnesota, where he once more resumed agricultural pursuits.

In 1869 Mr. Chapman went to Arkansas, where he was appointed County Assessor by Governor Baxter, thus serving for two years and a-half. He was then postal clerk on the Memphis & Little Rock Railroad for four j-ears, carrying the mail at the time of the siege of yellow fever in the former city. He next gave his attention to the management of a plantation which he purchased near Forest City, Ark., and which was his home until

1880, when he sold out and returned to Minnesota City. The following year he was appointed Postmaster, in which position he has served continuously since with credit to himself and satisfaction to his constituents.

On the 30th of May, 1860, Jlr. Chapman was united in marriage with Miss Emma Horner, a native of England. In politics he is a Republican, unswerving in his allegiance to the party and its principles. He has always taken an active interest in political affairs, and keeps well informed on the issues of the day. For several years he has served as district school clerk, and the cause of education finds in him a warm friend. Socially he is connected with John Ball Post No. 20, G. A. R., of Winona. A worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer families of the county, a veteran of the late war, a valued citizen and a man of sterling worth, he well deserves representation in this volume.

Joseph P. Schmitz.

As printed in Portrait and biographical record of Winona county, Minnesota. Containing biographical sketches of prominent ... citizens .. (1894). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.