My Genealogy Hound

GEORGE BRAIN. No other class of men has done more to promote the rise and progress of Clark County than its shrewd and energetic real-estate dealers who have in every way pushed forward its interests. As an able representative of these, it gives us pleasure to place in this volume dedicated to the citizens of this part of Ohio, an outline of the life of the gentleman whose name is at the head of this biographical sketch. Through his extensive business connections he is widely and favorably known throughout this and adjoining counties, and no man is held in greater honor and respect in financial circles than he. By his large enterprise, keen vision, prompt and careful business methods, he has been a potent factor in the upbuilding of the city of Springfield, making it the metropolis of a rich and prosperous country. The son of a family of early coiners in this region, though he was of foreign birth, Mr. Brain was reared amid the pioneer scenes that obtained here during his childhood, youth and early manhood, and on a part of the old homestead, in Springfield, that his father hewed from the primeval forest, he has erected a beautiful residence, replete with all the modern comforts and conveniences in which he and his family have a charming home.

Our subject was born in Staffordshire, England, March 2, 1827, to George and Mary (Whitehead) Brain, who were also natives of that country. His father learned the trade of a wool-comber in his youth, and later that of a malster, at which he was industriously employed in his native land until 1829. In that year, with his wife and seven children, he emigrated to America and, coming to Clark County, making the journey from New York by the Hudson River and Erie Canal to Buffalo, and thence on Lake Erie to Sandusky, and from there with hired teams to convey the family and household goods to this region, he selected this place as a suitable spot for location. Ohio was then in the first half-century of its existence as a State, and was but sparsely settled, and the roads from the lake to this place were bad in the extreme, three or four weeks being consumed in reaching this point, where the village of Springfield, with a population of two hundred and fifty inhabitants, was in the first stages of its growth. There were no railways or canals in this State, and Dayton was the nearest market, though several made a business of teaming from here to Cincinnati with from four to six horses. Mr. Brain immediately invested in a tract of wild land that is now included within the city, though at that time it was a mile away from the town. On his homestead, for which he paid $7 an acre, there were two log houses and a log barn, and a few acres were in cultivation. He did not, however, settle there then but rented a house in the village, in which he resided for a time, and then removed into one of the log houses, while he superintended the construction of a commodious brick house, which he made his home after its completion, until he was called to a higher. He was a man of sterling worth, possessing a well-balanced mind, frugal and industrious habits, whereby he acquired a competence while aiding in the development of the country, and he was regarded as a most desirable citizen. His wife spent her last years on the farm in the home that she had assisted him in making. She bore him eight children, all of whom were reared to manhood and womanhood, and were trained by their parents to sober, honest, and honorable lives. Their names are Mary, Joseph J. W., Anna, Lydia, Martha, Lucy, George and William G.

The son of whom we write was two years old when his parents brought him to this country, and he was reared and educated in this county. He attended the early village schools, where he applied himself to his books with great diligence, and at the age of seventeen Dr. John Ludlow engaged him as clerk in his drug-store, and he remained in his employ twenty months, gaining a clear insight into the drug business, and then had to give up his position on account of ill health. He returned to his home in 1852 and embarked in the drug business in Cincinnati in partnership with his brother, who managed the business. They continued together until 1855, when they dissolved partnership, and our subject entered upon his long and successful career in the real estate business, which he is still profitably carrying on, dealing largely in land and in building and selling houses. In 1889 he formed a partnership with his sons, Willard and George H., to engage in the lumber business, which they are conducting very successfully. He built his present substantial and elegant residence, one of the handsomest and most attractive in the city, in 1881 and has besides much other valuable property.

Mr. Brain was happily married, in 1861 to Miss Sarah M. Willard, of Decatur, DeKalb County, Ga., and in her has a devoted wife who looks well to the comfort of her household. They have six children Willard, Jessie A., George H., Mary, Bessie W and Grace. Mrs. Brain and children are all members of the First Presbyterian Church, and are active in its work to elevate the moral and social status of the community.

Our subject may well take pride in the part that he has taken in developing this country, which he can remember when it was scarcely more than a wilderness, and he can look back over the long years and trace the wonderful changes that have taken place since, as a child, he played in the fields and woods on his father’s farm where now the hum and bustle of a busy city are heard on every hand. He is a man of pronounced characteristics, of an active temperament, with business qualifications of a high order, and his life record is an honor to himself and reflects credit on his adopted city. In his political views he is a sound Republican and uses his influence for the good of his party.