OBIT: Plain Dealer, The (Cleveland, OH)
January 27, 1992
Column: OBITUARIES
BENJAMIN BRAINARD, 93, EXECUTIVE OF CLEVELAND TRUST
Edition: FINAL / ALL
Index Terms:
Estimated printed pages: 1
Article Text:
There will probably be plenty of mums today at Benjamin H. Brainard's funeral.
But don't expect them to be quite as pretty as the ones he and his wife, Anna Marie, used to grow.
The Brainards won many trophies from the national, state and local mum associations in the late 1960s and early 1970s. They later helped to judge the associations' contests.
Their hobby bloomed after Mr. Brainard retired from Cleveland Trust Co., his employer for 48 years. He was vice president of real estate loans.
Mr. Brainard died Friday at East Park Care Center, Brook Park, of heart failure. He was 93.
Mr. Brainard's ancestors came to Greater Cleveland nearly 200 years ago. They gave their name to Brainard Rd. on the East Side and much of their land to the public. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo occupies some of the Brainards' parcels.
Mr. Brainard was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1917. He spent a year at ?hio State University, then joined the Marines during World War I.
"He landed in France the day before the war ended," said his stepson, James A. Gibbs.
While working at the bank, he got a degree at night from John Marshall Law School.
Mr. Brainard is survived by his wife of 64 years, the former Anna Marie Nagy, of Brook Park; a son, John H. of Parker, Colo.; his stepson, of Mentor; a sister, Lorena Gumm of Phoenix; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
Services will be at 11 a.m. today at Busch funeral home, 4334 Pearl Rd.


OCCUPATION: Banker (real estate loans)

MILITARY:
Name: Benjamin Horace Brainard
Serial Number: No Serial Number
Race: W
Residence: Cleveland, O.
Enlistment Division: United States Marine Corps
Enlistment Location: Cleveland, O.
Enlistment Date: 14 Apr 1918
Birth Place: Cleveland, O.
Birth Date / Age: 13 Jan 1899
Assigns Comment: Parris Island Summary Court; Washington DC 5 June 1918; Overseas Depot Quantico Va 15 Oct 1918; Co B Machine Gun Battalion 5 Brigade France 10 Nov 1918; Hampton Roads Va 8 Aug 1919. American Expeditionary Forces 5 Nov 1918 to 30 July 1919. Discharge 13 Aug 1919. Character excellent File no 111840.
Volume #: 22

1. John H. BRAINARD

BURIAL: Just west of D.S. Brainard monument at Riverside Cemetery.

OBIT: Name: Brainard, George N.
Date: Sep 3 1942
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #009.
Notes: Brainard: George N., beloved husband of the late Elizabeth, father of Mrs. Meta I. Mitchell, Raymond R., Eleanore H., Mrs. Orrell O. Claus, Mrs. Rosabelle V. Braun, Benjamin H., Mrs. Lorena Gumm, and grandfather; passed away Sunday, Aug. 30, late residence, 2307 Broadview rd. Friends may call at the G. H. Busch & Son Funeral Home, 4334 Pearl rd., where services will be held Wedhesday, Sept. 2, at 3 p. m.

CENSUS: 1910 - 2307 Broadview Rd (at least it APPEARS to be Broadview)

BURIAL: Just west of D.S. Brainard monument at Riverside Cemetery.

OBIT: Name: Brainard, Elizabeth V.
Date: Feb 1 1928
Source: Source unknown; Cleveland Necrology File, Reel #009.
Notes: Brainard-Elizabeth V. (nee Richardson), beloved wife of George N., mother Meta I. Mitchell, Raymond R., Eleanore H., Orrell O. Claus, Rosabelle V. Braun, Benjamin H. and Lorena E., Monday, Jan. 30. Remains at the G. H. Bunch & Son Funeral Home, 4334 Pearl Road, until Wednesday a. m. Services at the late residence, ?307 Broadview Road, Wednesday, Feb. 1, at 2:30 p. m. Interment Riverside Cemetery.

MARRIAGE: RICHARDSON, LIZZIE V and BRAINARD, GEORGE N 0028 0065

1. Meta Irene BRAINARD b. 6 Oct 1885, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 11 Nov 1963, Avon, Lorain, Ohio.
2. Raymond R. BRAINARD b. 24 Jun 1887, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 23 Jan 1961, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
3. Orville W. BRAINARD [child] b. 1889; d. 8 Jan 1893, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
4. Olga K. BRAINARD [infant] b. 1891; d. 14 Jan 1893, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
5. Eleanor H. BRAINARD b. 17 Jun 1893, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 9 Oct 1944, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
6. Orrell O. BRAINARD b. 15 Dec 1894, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 1 Dec 1980, Millersburg, Holmes, Ohio.
7. Rosabelle V. BRAINARD b. 4 Feb 1897, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 9 Mar 1979, Walnut Creek, Holmes, Ohio.
8. 1. Benjamin Horace BRAINARD b. 13 Jan 1899, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 24 Jan 1992, Brookpark, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
9. Lorena E. BRAINARD b. 17 Mar 1901, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 28 Aug 1994, Scottsdale, Maricopa, Arizona.
10. Marjorie L. BRAINARD [infant] b. Feb 1904, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 21 May 1904, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

DEATH:
Horace Brainard died Decemeber 5, 1897 in South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga County, Ohio according to Record of Interment Riverside Cemetery

MARRIAGE:
BRAINERD, EUNICE S and BRAINARD, HORACE vol.0005 pg.0019 (Cuyahoga County Marriage License Index)

DEATH:
Eunice L. Brainard died December 14, 1905 per Record of Interment Riverside Cemetery and Record of Death from Dept. of Health, Cleveland City Hall. She died at 140 Broadview Rd. Cleveland

Married:
MARRIAGE:
Horace Brainard married Eunice L. Brainard on November 15, 1849 at Willoughby. Marriage Record Book 5, Cuyahoga County, Pg. 19

1. Chauncey Wellman BRAINARD b. 1 Feb 1851, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 19 Jul 1927, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
2. Russell Bigelow BRAINARD b. 25 Feb 1854, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 9 Jan 1931, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
3. Lucy M. BRAINARD b. 27 Jan 1857, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 9 Mar 1881, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
4. 2. George N. BRAINARD b. 18 Sep 1862, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 30 Aug 1942, Lakewood, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

Came from Pennsylvania to Old Brooklyn in 1858.

Benjamin L. Richardson was born November 4, 1834 in Bucks County, Pennsylvania and died July 26, 1897. His date of birth is on his monument in Section 22, Lot 10 of Riverside Cemetery on Pearl Road in Cleveland. The monument also lists the date of death. The cemetery record lists his place of death as S. Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio and the same date of death. His interment No. is 5920.
(per Barbara Mitchell)

Emma P. Howell was the wife of Benjamin L. Richardson. She was born January 8, 1837 as per monument in Riverside Cemetery on Pearl Road, Cleveland, Sec. 24, Lot 159, Pg. 188. She was born in Trenton, Mercer County, New Jersey.
She died February 17, 1907 in Cleveland at her residence 2307 Broad Street. This is per the interment records at Riverside Cemetery. Marriage date is unknown.
(per Barbara Mitchell)

1. William J. RICHARDSON b. 29 Nov 1858, Brooklyn Hts. Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 5 Feb 1951, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
2. 3. Elizabeth V. RICHARDSON b. 21 Mar 1861, Brooklyn Heights, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 30 Jan 1928, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
3. Joseph E. RICHARDSON b. 7 Oct 1863, Brooklyn Hts. Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 3 Mar 1949, Brooklyn Hts. Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
4. Hamilton H. RICHARDSON b. 11 Apr 1869, Brooklyn Hts., Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 13 May 1960, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
5. Jesse K. RICHARDSON b. 6 Oct 1871, Brooklyn Hts., Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 29 Dec 1951, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
6. Georgianna RICHARDSON b. 24 Oct 1873, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA; d. 27 Apr 1949, Brooklyn Hts. Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
7. [infant] RICHARDSON b. 18 Apr 1877, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 15 Jul 1877, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

As early as 1814, Seth BRAINARD with his wife Delilah came from Haddam, Ct., and bought a large tract of land, adding to it from time to time, until it numbered 100 acres. A fine inheritance for their children.

Some of the land that Seth owned was in Mayfield Township and was distributed amongst his children after his death.

BURIAL:
Tombstone Inscriptions from Broadview Cemetery at Broadview and Spring St., Cuyahoga County, Ohio

BRAINARD: large monument toward the rear of the cemetery
South side of stone:
Deliliah wife of ____ Brainard Jan. 12, 18__, aged 32 years
Seth Brainard died September 13, 1877 aged 83 years
Samantha died Mar __ , 189_, aged 73 years

BRAINARD: monument is very old and worn
____ Brainard, (crack in stone) died ____ 182_, aged 32 years
Benj. Brainard ___ June __ 187__
____ce Brainard illegible

North side of Monument
Isahea Brainard died _____ age 8__ years
Matilda Wife of I. Brainard died April 15, 18__ aged 22 years
Artista Wife of __ Died October 18, 1817
Electa M. or H. wife of I. Brainard Died May 15, 1859 or 1839
Philander son of ___ Brainard died Aug. I, 1832 or 1839 aged 9 years
Nora ___ of ___ Brainard died April 6 or 16, 1838, aged 2 years

West side of Monument
J. Nelson Brainard died Feb. 7, 1899 aged 81 years
Carmelia wife of J. N. Brainard died Aug. 11, 1812
Betsy D. or B. died September 12, 181__ aged 8 years


Source of above: http://www.geocities.com/micheledanielle/broadview.html

Some called it the Brainerd Cemetery, others, Broadview Cemetery. Few knew it's deeded name and many didn't realize there was more?on the corner of Broadview and Spring than a family restaurant next to an empty lot. A plot of land on Seth Brainerd's farm.

BIOGRAPHY: Seth and Delilah Brainard came to Brooklyn Township in 1815 from Hadden Neck, Connecticut. When Simeon Chester, another early settler, died in 1821, he was buried on the Brainards' farm. In 1852, the land became an official cemetery when Seth and Delilah granted .6 acres to trustees Daniel Fish, Ashel Brainard, George Brainard and successors, to be used as a public burying ground.

The deed transferring the 100' x 114' parcel to Brooklyn Township, though, is dated October 25, 1860, and since then, the land has been exempt from property taxes. A Provision in the deed states that if the land ceases to be used as a cemetery, it is to revert back to Brainard or his heirs. When they died, Seth and Delilah were buried in the cemetery, too.

Full article:

Brooklyn Union Burying Ground

William Cullen Bryant, as you know, is the name of one of our neighborhood elementary schools. Bryant was a 19th century American poet, and his most famous work is the poem "Thanatopsis ". In it he wrote,
"All that tread the globe are but a handful to the tribes that slumber in its bosom."

How true! First the Indians, and then almost two hundred years of Brooklyn Township residents have been laid to rest in and around our neighborhood.

At different times in its history, the cemetery we come to rededicate today has been known as the Brainard (Brainerd) Burial Ground, Brooklyn Union Burial Ground, and Broadview Cemetery. It is one of the earliest burial places in the area of Brooklyn south of the Big Creek Valley and was originally part of a farm because in former times, people were often buried on private property.

Set and Delilah Brainard came to Brooklyn Township in 1815 from Hadden Neck, Connecticut. When Simeon Chester, another early settler, died in 1821, he was buried on the Brainards' farm. In 1852, the land became an official cemetery when Seth and Delilah granted .6 acres to trustees Daniel Fish, Ashel Brainard, George Brainard and successors, to be used as a public burying ground.

The deed transferring the 100' x 114' parcel to Brooklyn Township, though, is dated October 25, 1860, and since then, the land has been exempt from property taxes. A Provision in the deed states that if the land ceases to be used as a cemetery, it is to revert back to Brainard or his heirs. When they died, Seth and Delilah were buried in the cemetery, too.

Crosses or boards listing the name of the deceased and the date of death were typical grave markers in the early days. They have, of course, long since deteriorated.

Limestone from the Lake Erie Islands was another popular material for old headstones. A Limestone marker which lists Simeon, Matilda, Betsy and Abby remains at the Chester plot. (We believe that others have sunk into the ground.) The inscriptions are barely legible, the result of weather acting on the stones.

Numerous headstones at the cemetery are made from sandstone, which was most probably locally quarried. More recently headstones have been made from granite, a durable rock shipped here from out-of-state. About two years ago, a new granite headstone was placed at the previously unmarked graves of the Kluender family.

For a time it was fashionable for markers to have epitaphs -- short compositions in prose or verse written in tribute to the dead person -- inscribed on them, but none of the headstones still standing in this cemetery have epitaphs.
adstone in Broadview Cemetery -- Bunn, Hester, Dawson, McDiarmid, Reeve, Schwartz, Spinney, Stadler, Thorn and Voelker.

We have been told that more Brainards, Glovers, Roethkes, Stumpfs, Wengers, plus Flecks, Herrmanns and Pupikofers (and, of course, Kluenders) were also buried there. One of the Flecks, interred in 1923, is thought to be the last person laid to rest in this cemetery.

In 1940, the WPA compiled a huge book of plat maps showing where war veterans are buried in Cleveland cemeteries. It lists two such individuals in this cemetery -- Daniel Fish, a veteran of the War of 1812, and Charles H. Kohlmann, a veteran of the Civil War. And indeed two of the remaining family markers bear the names Fish and Kohlmann. Note that Fish and Kohlmann were not killed in the wars, but had served in them.

The surnames on the other old markers on plots in the cemetery are Reeve (on Chester's marker), McDiarmid, Spinney and Stadler. A broken-off marker bears the name Bunn.

When larger, more prestigious cemeteries were organized, it became common for families to move the remains of their loved ones. Bodies disinterred from Broadview Cemetery were generally transferred to: Brookmere (est. 1836), at the end of short Broadview; Riverside (est. 1876) on Pearl Road (then Pearl Street), north of the Brooklyn-Brighton Bridge; and Brooklyn Heights (est. 1902), at Broadview and Schaaf Roads, extending to State Road (then West 35th Street).

Disinterment was not an easy task in the days when there were no concrete vaults to protect the wooden caskets. Clay near the surface of the soil caused rainwater to collect around the casket, and eventually the water so deteriorated the casket that removing it in one piece was impossible. The sight of fragments of wood on the ground was a sure sign that someone had been exhumed recently.
The gravel driveway along the north side of the cemetery was the entrance funeral processions used. It was lined with sugar maple trees, some of which are still standing. Other maple trees also once grew along the front of the cemetery along Broadview Road. Every March, the cemetery's neighbors tapped the trees and hung buckets beneath the taps, to have their own source of the sweet syrup.

In the southwest corner of the cemetery, where Barb's Restaurant is today, there was a place for the people who were visiting the cemetery to park their horses and buggies. Although many people were concerned in 1962 when The Red Barn purchased that section of the property, the more common belief is that there were never any burials in that area. In fact, we have also been told that an icehouse was once located at the corner of Broadview and Spring Roads.

In the past, families decorated graves differently from the way people do today. Instead of bringing artificial or cut flowers, each spring they planted annuals on the graves.

Wildflowers -- violets and lilies-of-the-valley -- grew in the cemetery, too. A huge lilac bush stood in the center of it; an "old-timer" told us that it was as big as two garages, and had paths cut through it.
The cemetery also served as a playground for neighborhood youngsters. The girls played with their dolls, the boys played baseball and football (balls frequently got lost in that big lilac bush) and both sexes played tag. That is a far cry from the sign, which now mandates that children not accompanied by parents are to keep out.

Over the years, tales have circulated about a mass burial reputed to have occurred in this cemetery. In Kathryn Wilmer's seco?d book about Old Brooklyn, the grave was supposed to have held the remains of the victims of a flood in the Cuyahoga Valley in the 1890s. (Actually, the famed flood occurred in 1913).

Another story was that at the turn of the century, a boat from Conneaut or thereabouts sank in Lake Erie near the East Ninth Street pier, and that those who drowned were buried here. Searches through books about boating tragedies on Lake Erie fail to confirm that such an accident occurred, or that the victims were buried out here in the country.

In 1913, Broadview Cemetery was forfeited to the State of Ohio, which asked the City of Cleveland to maintain it. For many years, that was accomplished through the City's Division of Parks, Recreation and Properties (out of Brookmere Cemetery). In approximately 1985, however, the City's Public Service Department took over the responsibility for cutting the grass.

In 1964 and 1965, The Early Settlers Association of the Western Reserve attempted to have the City fence in the cemetery and erect a sign there, but their efforts were not successful. In fact, Ohio Cemeteries, a 1978 publication of The Ohio Genealogical Society, lists Broadview Cemetery as "abandoned". Although that may have appeared to be the case, it is not reality.

The Historical Society of Old Brooklyn has been looking after his cemetery for almost ten years. We think it is as special a little plot of land as two other small cemeteries in the vicinity. They are the Foote Family Cemetery in Brooklyn Heights, north of Schaaf Road, a private burial ground where Edwin Foote (one of Moses Cleavelend's surveyors), Mabel Foote (the school teacher murdered in Parma in 1921), and numerous other members of the Foote family are buried; and the Brooklyn Centre Burying Grounds, almost hidden on Garden Avenue, a little street north of Denison Avenue and east of Pearl Road in Brooklyn Centre, once a portion of Ebenezer Fish's farm, and the final resting place of many of the early Fish settlers.

We would like to acknowledge the people, many of whom are now deceased, who have shared with us their knowledge about old cemeteries in general and this cemetery in particular -- John Bellamy from The Cuyahoga County Library, Mabel Tate Blair, John Busch, Blanche Chester, Paul Clifford of the Mineralogy Department of the Natural History Museum, Delores Kaul Filips, Ruth Ketteringham, Barney Killian, Clarke Martin, Kenneth Rankin, Carl Reed, John Sopka, Addeen Bauers Sweitzer, Norman Waag, and numerous public officials.

As long as our organization exists, we will continue to weed and water what we have planted here.

Reprinted with permission by the author.
If you have any further questions or want to tell us about the preservation of an Ohio cemetery, please contact us at ohcps@aol.com

BIRTH:
Delilah Brainard was born December 4, 1787 according to Chatham Vital Records in Barbour Collection, Vol. 1, Pg. 11
(per Barbara Mitchell)

DEATH:
Year of death is in question. Obtained from monument at Broadview Cemetery that was badly weathered. See Notes in Seth Brainard's record.

Married:
Seth Brainard married Delilah Brainard on August 27, 1812 in East Hampton, Connecticut at the Haddam Neck Cong. Church according to Connecticut Vital Records, Volume 3, Page 61 and Vol. 4, Pg. 86
(per Barbara Mitchell)

1. James Nelson BRAINARD b. 30 Dec 1812, Middle Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut; d. 7 Feb 1899, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
2. Eunice R. BRAINARD b. 13 Jul 1814, Middle Haddam, Middlesex, Connecticut; d. 16 Sep 1892, Brooklyn Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA.
3. Asahel N. BRAINARD b. 16 Jan 1816, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 6 Jan 1899, Brooklyn Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA.
4. Aristarchus BRAINARD, [infant] b. 1817, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 1817, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
5. Timothy BRAINARD, [infant] b. 1818, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 1818, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
6. Samantha BRAINARD b. 30 May 1820, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 1890/1899, Brooklyn Village, Cuyahoga, Ohio, USA.
7. Miriam BRAINARD b. 1 May 1822, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 5 Nov 1895, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
8. 4. Horace BRAINARD b. 6 May 1825, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 5 Dec 1897, South Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
9. Riley BRAINARD b. 16 Dec 1831, Brooklyn, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 19 Jan 1908, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

1. Aristarchus BRAINARD b. 6 Jul 1829, Haddam Neck, Middlesex, Connecticut; d. 8 Feb 1910, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
2. 5. Eunice L. BRAINARD b. 11 Feb 1831, Haddam Neck, Middlesex Co., Connecticut; d. 14 Dec 1905, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
3. Elizabeth Mahala BRAINARD b. 11 Apr 1832, Middle Haddam, Middlesex Co., Connecticut; d. 5 Mar 1874, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
4. Harriet Susan BRAINARD b. 5 Sep 1835, Haddam Neck, Middlesex Co., Connecticut; d. 27 Feb 1917, Cleveland, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
5. Sally A. BRAINARD b. 7 Dec 1833, ,, Connecticut; d. 11 Apr 1910, Nottingham, Cuyahoga, Ohio; bur. 14 Apr 1910.
6. Julia BRAINARD b. 4 Aug 1841, , Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 8 Sep 1918, Willoughby, Lake, Ohio.
7. Anna M. BRAINARD b. 8 Nov 1843, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio; d. 19 Feb 1891, Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio.
8. BRAINARD b. Mayfield, Cuyahoga, Ohio.

RESIDENCES: 24 Schaaf Rd/

BIOGRAPHY: Came to Ohio from Pennsylvania.