Page 583

 

 

MELBON ROSCOE BRANT

 

Melbon Roscoe Brant, a well known representative of the legal fraternity of Bedford, was born at Fontanelle, Adair county, Iowa, October 23, 1880.  He is a son of Adam and Mary G. (Gregory) Brant, the former a native of Pennsylvania and the latter of Indiana.  The paternal grandfather was David Brant, who was likewise born in the Keystone State and was of Scotch-German descent.  He died there when only about thirty-five years of age.  His wife bore the maiden name of Elizabeth Taylor and, surviving her husband for many years, reached the age of sixty-six.  They were the parents of six children, of whom three are now living:  Adam, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri; Cyrus, whose home is in Frankfort, Indiana; and Hannah, the wife of Edward Simms, of Dayton, Indiana.

 

Adam Brant was for many years a farmer and live stock dealer and is now engaged in dealing in live stock at Kansas City, Missouri.  He wedded Miss Mary G. Gregory, a daughter of David Gregory, who was born in Indiana in pioneer times and was of Scotch-German lineage.  He devoted his life to general farming and died at the age of thirty-six years.  His wife also passed away at a comparatively early age.  In their family were four daughters and a son:  Mary G., who became Mrs. Brant; Sophia, who is married and lives in Portland, Oregon; Ida, who is married and resides in Eugene, Oregon; Maggie, the wife of James Hanna, of Hood River, Oregon; and Joseph B., a resident (page 584) of Chicago.  The marriage of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Brant was blessed with three sons and a daughter, as follows:  William J., a druggist of Glenwood, Iowa; Ramer E., a train dispatcher residing at El Reno, Oklahoma; Melbon R., of this review; and Elda June, the wife of Walter T. Matson, an attorney of Wichita, Kansas.  The parents are members of the United Brethren church and the warm esteem in which they are uniformly held indicates the integrity and uprightness of their lives.

 

Melbon R. Brant, whose name introduces this record, was reared in Adair county, Iowa, and was graduated from the Fontanelle high school with the class of 1898.  Desiring to follow a professional career, he then removed to Iowa City and entered the law department of the state university, from which he won his LL. B. degree when nineteen years of age.  Because of his youth he could not then be admitted to the bar but on the day on which he attained his majority he was licensed to practice in the courts of Iowa and opened his office in Bedford, where he still remains.  On the 1st of January, 1907, he was elected county attorney and in that office he discharged his duties with promptness and fidelity.  His record has at all times been that of a forceful lawyer, whose devotion to his clients' interests is proverbial and yet he never forgets that he owes a still higher allegiance to the majesty of the law.

 

On the 15th of January, 1907, Mr. Brant was married to Miss Fannie Fern Fordyce, a native of Platteville, Iowa, and a daughter of Arthur B. and Rachel (Bowers) Fordyce, who were natives of Pennsylvania and became early settlers of Taylor county, Iowa, where they reared their family of three children, the brothers of Mrs. Brant being John Fordyce, living in Platteville, and Benson W. Fordyce, who is practicing dentistry.  Mr. and Mrs. Brant have one child, Melbon Roscoe, Jr., born August 14, 1908.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Brant are members of the Methodist church and are held in high respect by all who know them by reason of their allegiance to those principles, movements and activities which are for the benefit of the individual and for the public good.  Fraternally he is connected with Bedford Lodge, No. 91, I. O. O. F., and politically is a republican.