Biographical Sketches
MAJOR ALF BRANT
Superintendent of the Kansas City workhouse, is a native of Tuscarawas county, Ohio, born September 14, 1833, and is a son of Seth and Rachel (Jackson) Brant. Among his ancestors on both sides were numbered heroes of the Revolution. The father of our subject was a native of Pennsylvania, the mother was a native of Virginia, and from the same family to which she belonged was descended the brave and intrepid Stonewall Jackson of the Confederate service. Both the Brant and Jackson families were founded in Ohio at a very early day and the maternal great-grand-father secured from the government a tract of land which he afterward distributed among his children. His son, Thomas J., always lived upon this grant. The ferry at Wellsville, Ohio, was established by a member of the Jackson family, and is still operated by one of his descendants. The great-grandfather Jackson was taken prisoner by Big Foot, an Indian, just as Poe was approaching with his party. A tomahawk was thrown which broke his shoulder, but he outran the Indian and found protection in Poe's escort.
Familiar with the experiences of pioneer life in Ohio, Seth Brant, the father of our subject, also became a frontier settler of Indiana, casting his lot with the early settlers of Owen county. There he spent his remaining days, and his death occurred in 1853. By occupation he was a farmer and followed that pursuit as a means of livelihood throughout his entire career. His family numbered 4 children who grew to maturity: the Major, whose name heads this sketch; Rev. J. E., Margaret J. and Thomas J., who is cashier of a bank in Utica, Nebraska.
Major Brant was reared in the state of his nativity and acquired the greater part of his education in the public schools, but also pursued his studies for a short time in the University at Greencastle, Indiana. He afterward engaged in teaching in Lancaster, Indiana, for awhile. He had to give up a cherished plan of securing a collegiate education on account of the death of his father, and soon after he left Indiana and came to Missouri, arriving in this state in 1857. Here he located in Macon county, and opened the Bavier coal mines on land which he had purchased, taking the first coal from this mine. Subsequently he removed to Mercer county, Missouri, where he engaged in farming and merchandising near Pleasanton, until the breaking out of the civil war. He also engaged to some extent in dealing in stock, doing quite a profitable business along this line. He would take stock in exchange for merchandise and drive them to Westport, where he would sell to freighters.
Immediately after the breaking out of the civil war, Mr. Brant enlisted in the first Iowa militia, in April, 1861, and was elected first lieutenant and afterward as captain of the company. He served the three months term of enlistment, and then went to Leavenworth, Kansas, where he joined the service as a private of the 5th Kansas cavalry, in which he remained for little more than 3 years. He was the first sergeant of his company, afterward was made first lieutenant, and gallantly participated in all the battles of his regiment. He had a shoulder broken while on skirmish duty by his horse falling. When his term as a cavalryman had expired, Lieutenant Brant re-enlisted in the Hancock veteran corps in 1865, and for another year remained at the front. There were 16 men in this company, including Mr. Brant, who had been officers, yet would not accept any official position in the company, caring not for the insignia of rank and content to faithfully perform their duty as loyal defenders of the old flag and the cause it represented, having only the approval of their own consciences.
After 5 year of faithful and meritorious service, Major Brant returned to Missouri to find that he had lost all of his earthly possessions, and that he must begin life anew. He located in Lexington, Missouri, where he carried on a livery stable for a time and subsequently a grocery store. During his residence there he was marshal and collector of Lexington for 4 years. In the Fall of 1876 he came to Kansas City, where he engaged in the dairy business, which he carried on for a few years, when he purchased the broken down plant of the Kansas City Oil Company and began business, under the name of Brant & Son Oil Company. After successfully managing the new enterprise until 1890, he sold out to Sutton Brothers. Once more he resumed the livery business, which he conducted for about 3 years, when, in April, 1894, he was appointed to his present position and has since been the efficient superintendent of the Kansas City workhouse. He has planned a new building, which is now under course of construction, and planned after the manner of his suggestions, and will be one the best equipped and most substantial city buildings imaginable.
Major Brant is one of the well known and prominent men of Kansas City. He is a valued member of the Masonic fraternity and of the Grand Army of the Republic, and is now serving as commander of McPherson post. His interest in military affairs has never abated, and he was one of the organizers of Company A, the largest company in the third regiment of the Missouri national guards. For several years he was in command of the company, which was excellently drilled, as he was a splendid disciplinarian.
In 1857 Major Brant was united in marriage with Miss Elizabeth Fairleigh, by whom he has had 3 children, -- all deceased. He is a popular citizen, a gentleman of courteous, genial and kindly manner, and his circle of friends is limited only by the circle of his acquaintances.
This page was last updated August 2, 2006.