Nicholas Brazell


No farmer in Allamakee county has attained greater success in agricultural pursuits than Nicholas Brazell, whose holdings aggregate five hundred and three acres and comprises one of the valuable and productive farms of Taylor township. He was born in Canada, May 7, 1853, and is a son of John and Ellen (McManus) Brazell, natives of Ireland. The father was brought to Canada by his parents when he was still a child and was reared in the Dominion, coming to the United States in 1854. After spending one winter in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he came to Allamakee county and was one of the pioneers in this part of Iowa and for some time thereafter a force in agricultural development. In the spring of 1855 he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of partly improved land and upon this carried forward the work of cultivation for ten years, erecting substantial outbuildings and beginning the construction of a modern home. This, however, was not yet completed when in 1865 he passed away at the age of sixty-one years. He had survived his wife some time, her death having occurred when she was forty-two years of age. They were devout members of the Roman Catholic church and well known in Taylor township, where they had resided since pioneer times. In their family were eight children, one of whom died in infancy; Anne, also deceased; Honora, the wife of William Fulcakdy, of Waukon; Bridget, who married J.M. Collins, of the same city; Nicholas, of this review; Mary, who married James Brophy, of Duluth, Minnesota; Helen, who died in childhood; and Lizzie, also deceased. The parents passed away when most of these children were still very young and when the subject of this review was a small child. The family remained upon the homestead for a number of years, all of the sons assisting in the work of its cultivation. Eventually the land came into possession of Nicholas Brazell, and he has from time to time added to it until he owns today five hundred and three acres on section 8, Taylor township. In the course of years he has made substantial improvements upon this property, erecting a modern barn, and the necessary outbuildings, and success has steadily rewarded his practical, progressive methods. He is president of the Farmers Cooperative Creamery at Harper's Ferry and is recognized in business circles as a man of force, sagacity and energy. In Allamakee county Mr. Brazell was united in marriage to Miss Ellen Hennessey, a daughter of John and Mary (O'Hara) Hennessey, natives of Ireland and early settlers in Taylor township. Mr and Mrs Brazell became the parents of seven children: John, who has passed away; William J., who is connected with the Bell Telephone Company of Minneapolis; Dominic, who lives at home; Leo C., and Clement P., also with their parents; Mary R., who is attending St. Mary's School at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin; and Nicholas Raymond, who lives at home. The family are devout members of the Roman Catholic Church. Mr. Brazell gives his political allegiance to the democratic party and has been honored by his fellow citizens by election to various positions of public trust and responsibility, serving for six years as township clerk, for eight years as trustee, and for a long period as a member of the school board. He is interested in anything that pertains to the welfare and development of the section in which he has so long resided, and along business and political lines has been a force in progress, being recognized today as a substantial farmer and a public-spirited, useful citizen.

-source: Past & Present of Allamakee County; by Ellery M. Hancock; S. J. Clarke Pub. Co.; 1913
-tarnscribed by Cathy Joynt-Labath

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