Kentucky: A History of the State, Battle, Perrin, & Kniffin, 5th ed., 
1887, Anderson Co.

JUDGE WILLIAM H. McBRAYER was born near Lawrenceburg, Anderson County,
December 10, 1821.  He is descended from Scotch Presbyterian ancestry,
his grandfather, William McBrayer, having settled in Kentucky nearly 100
years ago, being among the first settlers of the State.  Andrew 
McBrayer, his father, resided near Lawrenceburg during his lifetime, and
was recognized as an intelligent, honest and industrious farmer.  He 
served in the Legislature of the State in 1829 and 1838, his death 
occurring in the latter year.  He married Martha Blackwell, of Virginia,
and had a family of eleven children. Of these, Dr. John A. McBrayer was 
a prominent physician of Mercer County, but died young.  Sanford 
McBrayer engaged in banking and mercantile business in Harrodsburg for 
many years, and became widely known as a skillful and judicious manager 
and financier.  Judge McBrayer received a good English education in the 
common schools of Anderson County, and when about eighteen years of age 
entered the store of his brothers, S. & R. C. McBrayer, at Lawrenceburg,
where he remained until the death of his brother Robert in 1840, when he
became the sole proprietor of the business by purchase, and for thirty 
years engaged in trade on his own account.  During all of this time he 
conducted his affairs in such a way as to win the confidence and respect
of all, and by his genial and affable manner made himself, as he is 
today, one of the most popular men of Anderson County.  In 1851 he was 
elected judge of the county under the new constitution of the State, and
in 1856 was chosen to represent Anderson and Mercer Counties in the 
State Senate, a position in which he served for four years with ability 
and success.  Besides his continuance in the mercantile line for so long
a time, Judge McBrayer has been engaged for many years in the 
distillation of fine liquors, and has acquired a wide reputation 
througout the United States for the quality and superiority of his 
productions, chiefly known as the "Cedar Brook" brand.  In a county so
noted as Anderson for the excellence of its liquors, it is not too much
to say that Judge McBrayer is the recognized leader of the large
distilling interest in the county.  No man sustains a highter character 
than he for integrity and uprightness, nor is more closely identified 
with the material development of the county.  He is a liberal supporter 
of the church and kindred institutions, and one of the leading 
educational establishments of the State is indebted to him for an 
endowment of unusual magnitude and value.  In religion he is a 
Presbyterian, and occupies the position of elder in the church at 
Lawrenceburg.  Besides his farming and manufacturing interests in 
Anderson County, the Judge is also the owner of a large farm in Orange 
County, Fla., which is considered one of the finest in the State, and 
where he passes a large portion of the winter season.  He is developing 
his Florida orange grove rapidly, and feels a warm interest in it.  
Judge McBrayer's only daughter, born of his first marriage, Miss 
Henrietta McBrayer, became the wife of Hon. Daniel L. Moore, of Mercer
County, and by her death left behind three interesting children, who
reside with their grandfather, and serve to enliven and cheer his home 
life.

McBrayer Blackwell Moore
=
Harrodsburg-Mercer-KY Orange-FL VA

http://www.rootsweb.com/~kygenweb/kybiog/anderson/mcbrayer.wh.txt