Samuel Yates Brande, Kenosha, Wis., was born Oct. 1, 1818, in Castle
Donington, Leicestershire, England. His father, William Brande, was a
clergyman of the Baptist Church and gave him an excellent education.
His oldest son, William, conducted a school at Northampton, England,
in which Mr. Brande of this sketch was educated. The family included
11 children, of whom Thomas, Harriet, Mary and Samuel are living. The
deceased are Maria, Mary Ann, Jane, Sarah, Frederic, Silas John and
Mary. In 1832 the father removed his family to the United States,
coming hither on the ship Columbia. They first located on a farm in
Susquehanna Co., Pa., where the father preached and attended to his
farm duties. He removed in 1841 to Salem, New York, where the father
took charge of a school, and thence he went to Wisconsin, and after
1843, resided near Kenosha on a farm, where he died in 1850. His
widow, whose name before marriage was Sarah Yates, survived him 10
years.
Mr. Brande was the sixth in order of birth of his parents'
children, and on his arrival in this country secured a position of
teacher of a school in Auburn, Pa., at the early age of 16, which he
conducted three years, and went next to Montrose, where he became an
apprentice to learn the business of a cabinet maker. After three years
he established his business in Waterford, New York, where he conducted
it for about a year, when his shops burned down. Finding himself
wholly crippled by the event he started for the West to begin the
world again and traveled on the Erie canal and the lakes, landing at
Kenosha (Southport), Wis., in November, 1842. He engaged there in the
same business which he had before conducted until 1849, when he became
a candidate on the Free-Soil ticket for Register of Deeds and served
two years. He was defeated for a second term by 11 votes on the ground
that he was foreign born. His experience while in that office taught
him the importance of a system which had a show of clear titles to
land; and he purchased an interest in a defective set of abstract
books of lands in Kenosha county and opened an office in Kenosha,
combining that interest with real estate, and he has since conducted
the same with success. Upon the inauguration of the internal revenue
system, he was appointed U. S. Assessor, which position he occupied
eight years, when re resigned. He was made Secretary of the City Debt
Association, and, during his connection therewith, the debt of
$1,500,000 was reduced to $200,000. Mr. Brande held the office 14
years and had previously served as Alderman three years. He had become
known as a through patriot and a decided Republican, and, when Sumter
was attacked, was made Secretary of a meeting of citizens who issued
the following circular: "To the Lovers of the Union and Constitutional
Government in Kenosha County: The attempt of traitors to overthrow the
Government of the United States has culminated in an attack upon the
Government troops and in levying actual was upon us. In response to
the call of the President of the United States, and fired by devotion
to their country, the patriotic citizens of Kenosha, at a meeting held
Friday evening, the 19th instant, resolve to raise men and money to
assist in thwarting the purposes of the conspirators; and with cheers
and unconquerable devotion to the cause, subscribe the sum of $3,5000
toward a fund for the benefit of the volunteers and appointing a
committee to take the matter in charge. The Committee of the meeting
and the Committee of the Common Council held a meeting on Saturday
afternoon, the 20th instant, and organized by nominating H. B.
Towsley, President, and S. Y. Brande, Secretary; then it was resolved
that the joint Committee, consisting of H. B. Towsley, P. H. Wood, F.
Robinson, O. C. Sholes, and S. Y. Brande, and the Committee of the
Common Council, consisting of Messrs. M. H. Pettit, Levi Grant,
Sylvester Baldwin, and P. J. Wolfe, to individually secure further
subscriptions to the fund and that Messrs. Grant, Wolfe and Wood be
especially charged with that duty. Resolved also, that Messrs.
Baldwin, Pettit and Wolfe be appointed a visiting committee and that
the Secretary be instructed to prepare a circular embodying the
proceedings of the meeting and requesting the people of the county to
co-operate by subscription and that a call of 10 per cent. of the
amount subscribed be made forthwith and the Secretary directed to
collect the same. The Committee confidently appeal to the people of
this county to co-operate with them by the appointment of sub-
Committees, or in such other way as may seem best. In the mean time
subscriptions to the fund may be made to any of the Committee or at
the office of the secretary in the city of Kenosha. Cash subscriptions
are preferred, but let none who have flour, butter, wood or any other
articles that can be applied to the support of the families of our
brave volunteers, neglect to lay the offering on the altar of his
country. "Breathes there a man with soul so dead, Who never to himself
said, This is my own, my native land?" Deposits of these articles can
be made at the office of the Secretary and the receipt of the same
will be duly acknowledged, as also the applications made. On behalf of
the Joint Committee, S. Y. Brande, Secretary." (Published in the
Kenosha Tribune and Telegraph April 22, 1861, a few days
after the firing on Sumter.) Upon the publication of the circular, a
call for a meeting of the women of Kenosha county was published in the
newspapers of Kenosha to form a Soldier's Aid Society. At that
meeting, which was held at the house of the Secretary of the
Committee, just seven ladies responded, viz.: Elizabeth M. Brande,
Caroline D. Pettit, Maria Simmons, Emma F. Simmons, Jane Briggs,
Charlotte Schoff and Martha D. Selleck. They proceeded to form a
society for the purpose of sending aid to the soldiers going to, and
while in the filed, and to their wives and families left behind during
their absence. At that meeting, Caroline D. Pettit (widow of
Lieutenant-Governor Pettit, of Wisconsin) was elected President.
Elizabeth M. Brande was elected Vice-President, Charlotte Schoff,
Secretary; Jane Briggs, Treasurer and Maria Simmons and Emma F.
Simmons, Directors. This organization was kept up and furnished tents,
provisions, medicines, clothing, hospital delicacies and supplies to
the boys in the field, having an oversight of the families of soldiers
absent in the field or suffering from any cause, and did noble and
generous work without any other pay than that of patriotic
satisfaction. It will be seen, as Mrs. Brande puts it, that the women
followed the example of the men, as after the election of the officers
there was but one private left. This did not last long, however, as it
soon became popular. A large amount of money was raised, of which Mr.
Brande was made custodian until the State took charge of such funds.
He assisted in the organization of Company C, 1st Wisconsin Infantry,
and was active in recruiting the 17th, 36th Wisconsin Volunteers and
1st Wisconsin Cavalry. He humorously refers to two days spent in
cutting cabbage for pickles for soldiers. Mr. Brande is more than
three score and ten at this writing. (1889.) He is a sample of the
spirit brought to these shores by those who really and truly adopted
the country as their own and to which the permanency of our
institutions are wholly due. He was married Nov. 15, 1844, to
Elizabeth N., daughter of Samuel and Roxana (Sprague) Holmes, former
residents of Cortland Co., New York. She is of American birth and
English descent. The surviving children of Mr. And Mrs. Brande are
named Flora and Hattie E. The former is the wife of G. W. Hoyt, a
merchant in Chicago. The grandfather of Mrs. Brande was a soldier in
the Revolution and her father was a Captain of New York Volunteers in
1812. The activity of Mrs. Brande in the relief of soldiers and their
families is a just evidence of her love of country and character in
all her family and social relations.
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