August Brand (1828-1913)

BRAND

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 4/15/2023 at 17:44:32

August Brand
(May 18, 1828 - July 28, 1913)

The pioneer experiences of Calhoun County became familiar to August Brand during the period of his early residence here. From that time to the present he has watched with interest the development and up building of the county and his labors have not been without effect in promoting its improvement. He was born in Ditmold, Prussia, on the 18th of May, 1828. His father was a stone-mason in Germany and both he and his wife died in that country, the former serving in Napoleon's army during the campaign of 1812. During his youth August Brand worked upon his father's farm and assisted in its cultivation until he came to America. His education was acquired in the schools of his native land and after he had put aside his text-books he operated a farm of forty acres until two years after his marriage. That important event in his life occurred in 1852. Miss Minnie Knierim becoming his wife. She was born and educated in Germany and has one sister who still resides in the fatherland, while Mrs. Peter Krause, another sister, is living in Illinois, and her brother, William, is now a resident of Calhoun County. Hearing favorable reports of the opportunities to be enjoyed in the new world, August Brand resolved to seek his fortune beyond the Atlantic and in 1857 he crossed the ocean, making his way across the country to Missouri. He established his home upon a tract of rented land, ninety miles
west of St. Louis, and continued to reside there until 1866 when he came to Calhoun County, where he has since remained. The homestead claim which he here secured was his place of residence until 1892 and in the meantime he had extended the boundaries
of his farm by additional purchase until it comprised two hundred and forty acres. Ten years ago he sold this property and removed to Manson, purchasing here three acres of land upon which he built a home in which he is now living retired, enjoying a well merited rest. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brand have been born ten children, of whom three are now deceased. Those living are as follows: August, who married Miss Clara Julius, and resides in Greenfield Township; Henry, who married Hettie Martha and lives in Greenfield Township: Fred, who married Miss Fulka Rankin, and is a resident of Manson; Rachel, the wife of Martin Yager, of Manson; Minnie, who married Jonas Stacey, of Greenfield Township; Anna, the wife of Walter Rankin, a farmer residing near Manson: and Emma, who married James Fluhard. of Manson. The parents hold membership in the Lutheran church and in his political views Mr. Brand is a Republican. He has held several township offices, including that of school director in which capacity he served for fifteen years, the cause of education finding in him a warm friend. On arriving in Calhoun County he found that he must meet pioneer conditions, for the work of civilization was still in its primitive condition here. He took up his abode in Greenfield Township and at once set to work to transform the raw prairie into richly cultivated fields. Prices were very high; he paid two dollars for wheat, twelve dollars per hundred for flour, one dollar per bushel for corn, and two dollars and a quarter per bushel for potatoes. In the early days he suffered from the grasshopper plague, those insects destroying everything green that was raised. Many of the pioneers had little money and in order to live after this failure of crops, they killed muskrats, selling their skins for ten cents each. During that dark period in the history of Calhoun County, Mr. Brand worked for fifty cents per day in order to provide for his wife and children, but as the years passed and the financial prospect grew brighter, his labors brought good return and ultimately he became the possessor of a very handsome competence which now enables him to live retired. He has passed the seventy-third milestone on the journey of life and through all the years he has borne an untarnished name, his reputation in business circles being unassailable. [Source - Biographical Record of Calhoun County, Iowa, by S. J. Clarke, 1902, p.519]