Luther V. Brainard was born February 23, 1838 in Westfield, Ohio and died in Oakdale on May 11, 1926. His wife was Martha A Cady, born July 28, 1843 in Vermont, and died in California on January 24, 1936. They were married in 1864 in Wyoming, Iowa.
In 1884 they moved to Oakdale. He was a soldier in the Civil War. He enlisted in 1861 as a member of Company E, Fifth Iowa Cavalry and was discharged in August 1865. During the war he served as a scout for General Sherman, was captured and placed in Andersonville prison and then in Millan prison from which he escaped. He was a carpenter and builder and later engaged in the livestock business. Their children were: Clarence H; Nettie A, born February 2, 1868; Vernon Eugene, born August 4, 1872; Neill L, born August 9, 1974 and Mary E born October 9, 1876. Nettie married Dewitt C Leach who was the son of A J and Eliza Leach. Vernon E married Carrie E Leach on March 30, 1897 at Oakdale; he was a carpenter and millwright, working throughout the state. Their children were: Parke L, Hugh C, Vernon, and Stephen J. Parke L Brainard was born December 23, 1900 in Neligh. He married Lucille Rothwell on February 27, 1925 in Chicago. He worked for Swift and Company for more than 30 years. They had two daughters, Martha and Mary. Hugh C born December 23, 1903 and died in 1921. Vernon born in 1915, died in 1917. Stephen J Brainard was born July 19, 1919 and is a veteran of WWII and Korea. He married Lila Nielsen of Omaha in 1929 and they have seven children. Stephen served in the U S Army Corps of Engineers for 20 years. Their eldest son Jud lives in Idaho. David E, born 1941, married Marlys Johnson; two children; Kent A, born 1942, married Dennise Gray, now seperated, two children, Clinnton and Joshua; Vernon M born 1944, maried Carmen Krieg, two children, Jason and Terry Lee; Mark C born 1947, married Bonnie Martinson, one child, Annie; Scott D, born 1951, married Ann Laine, one child, Edward and Christina L, born 1953, married Peter Koehler, three children, Vernon, Natalie and John.
Source Unknown: Originally submitted for this website in June 2007