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Brand, Daniel Demetrius and Sarah Ellen Krise |
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Written by Craig B. Adams
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Jun 25, 2006 at 06:51 PM |
Daniel Demetrius Brand (1840 - 1904)Sarah Ellen (Krise) Brand (1842 - 1924)
 Note: The above photo is currently under review. It was in the possession of the family of Frank A. Brandt, son of Daniel and Ellen.
Daniel Demetrius Brand was born on January 18, 1840 in Clearfield Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, the son of Augustine John and Mary (Noel) Brand. He was baptized on February 16th at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Loretto; his godparents were Bernard McFeely and Anna Grice. Daniel was the second of parents' eight children and his father's nineteen children. He grew up on a farm in Clearfield Township where his father was a farmer and a stonemason. His parents were founding members of the new Catholic church at St. Augustine.
Sarah Ellen Krise was born on November 11, 1842 in Clearfield Township, Cambria County, Pennsylvania, the daughter of John and Sarah (Litzinger) Krise. She was baptized on February 12, 1843 at St. Michael's; her godparents were Andrew Eger and Sarah Litzinger. Ellen was the seventh of her parents' ten children and the twelfth of her father's fifteen children. Her mother was her father's second wife, and she was twenty years his junior. Ellen grew up on a farm in Clearfield Township; her father was a farmer. Her parents, too, were founding members of St. Augustine Catholic Church. Her uncle Henry Krise donated the land where the new church was built.
In December 1852, Daniel's mother Mary died soon after giving birth to his sister Matilda, her eighth child. Matilda died young, and so may have another brother and sister. On April 6, 1856 his father remarried to Philomena Martin. His new step-mother was just two years older than Daniel and the same age as his older brother William. Philomena was expecting a child when they were married, and she gave birth to eleven children over the next 23 years, seven of whom lived to adulthood.
As a young man Daniel worked on his father's farm. His family was among the first settlers of Clearfield Township.
Ellen, like Daniel, was part of a large family. However, her father lost his first wife who was not her mother, and she grew up under the care of her mother and many older siblings.
Daniel and his brother William enlisted with the Pennsylvania volunteer infantry to fight for the Union Army during the Civil War, Daniel with Company D, 184th Regiment, and William with Company K, 125th Regiment. They both returned home safely, but Daniel suffered a gunshot wound to the lower left arm, resulting in the loss of functon of the muscles of that arm.
The Krise family also proudly served their country during the Civil War, but with tragic results. Ellen's older brothers, Henry, Stephen, Daniel, and Thomas, and brother-in-law Joshua Cretin also fought in the War. Joshua Cretin, husband of Matilda, died at Antietam, Maryland in 1862, and her brother Daniel died in 1864. Henry returned home at the end of the War, but it is thought that he died just two years later from injuries sustained during the War.
While Daniel was in the War, his step-mother gave birth to two children who died young. She gave birth to another two children who died in infancy.
The Brand and Krise families were venerable and respected citizens of Clearfield Township and members of St. Augustine Church. Daniel and Ellen had known each other since they were quite young, and it came as no surprise when Daniel asked her to marry him.
On June 2, 1867 they were married at St. Agustine Catholic Church. Witnesses to their marriage were Ellen's sister Rebecca Krise, and Daniel's brother Jacob Brand.
They resided near Patton in Chest Township. When they were growing up, northern Cambria County had been heavily forested and sparsely populated. The virgin forests had now spawn the timber industry, and Daniel found employment as a wood chopper despite the injury to his arm.
Daniel and Ellen were no strangers to big families, and they had one of their own. They were the parents of nine children: Cecelia Mary (Brandt) Grimes, Mary Jane "Jennie" (Brandt) Conrad, Mary Margaret (Brandt) Swires, John Albert Brandt, Della Elizabeth (Brandt) Conrad, Francis Augustine "Frank" Brandt, Sarah Catherine "Kate" (Brandt) Conrad, Thomas Daniel Brandt, and Charles Henry Brandt.
Brand is a German last name and pronounced "Brant", for words ending in "d" in German are pronounced with a "t" sound. Their children all adopted the B-R-A-N-D-T spelling to conform to American English phonetics yet still retained the original spelling. Other people with this last name simply substituted a "t" for the "d" and spelled it B-R-A-N-T.
They raised their children on a farm near Patton. Sometime in the 1890s, they moved to Dean Township. Among their new neighbors were the Conrad family, J.W. and Ellen and their ten children, who they would soon become well acquainted with.
When their children reached adulthood, the timber industry was no longer productive, for the best trees had been cut down. Farming was now proving difficult to earn a living, for their were so many farms around. Two new industries had arisen in the area: coal mining and the railroad industry. Albert, Thomas, and Charles found jobs in the coal mines, and very harsh way to earn a living, and Frank secured a job with the Pennsylvania Railroad.
All of their children resided within a few miles of their parents. Eight of their children married, with many raising large families. Daniel and Ellen were eventually the grandparents of 57.
Daniel did not live to see many of his children, for he died on May 27, 1904 at their home in Dean at the age of 64. The cause of death was skin cancer. To help her financially Ellen applied for a sizeable Civil War widow's pension from the US government, cleaming that his death was a direct result of the gunshot wound he received in the War . She secured a modest pension, but her claim that his death was caused by his injury was rejected. Her monthly pension was quite small, and she routinely applied for an increase in her pension, and more often than not her applications were rejected.
Three of their children married Conrad siblings: Della married Walter Conrad in 1897; Albert married Susie in 1901; and Jennie married Ray Conrad in 1906. As luck would have it, Kate also married a Conrad, although her husband Charles was not related to Walter, Ray, and Susan.
Albert died in February 1910 at the age of 34 leaving Susie a widow with four young children. She soon remarried and had nine more children.
Cecelia died in February 1916 at the age of 47. She was the mother of nine children.
Above: Four generations of Brands. Ellen holds her great-grandson Howard "Dewey" and is surrounded by her daughter Della and granddaughter Eleanor in 1920. Below: Ellen, Eleanor and baby Dewey sit beside one of Ellen's sons (Thomas?) and an unidentified young girl. The two men in the background are also unidentified. Their son Thomas did not marry and remained at home with his parents. He looked after his mother in her old age. Ellen died at her home on September 8, 1924. She was 81. Ellen and Daniel are buried at St. Augustine Cemetery next to the church. Note: Although her name does not appear on the grave marker, Ellen and Daniel are both buried in the same grave at St. Augustine Cemetery.
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Last Updated ( Aug 26, 2007 at 05:37 PM )
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