Re: Alcinous Bratton

Thank you so much for your response.

In doing my research, I put together the following, after locating info on A.T. Bratton in Nebraska.

Here's what I printed in the April issue of "The Bratton Bulletin."

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ALCINOUS T. BRATTON
Editor, Lawyer, Judge

Alcinous T. Bratton was born raised on a farm in Eden, Williams Co., Ohio. He was the son ofIra and Deborah W. (Thomas) Bratton, the great grandson of Samuel and Margaret Bratton. [For a family connection, Samuel was brother to our DAR patriot,James Bratton.]

Alcinous was born December 24, 1852, he helped on his father’s farm and received a common school education.He later taught school, prior to higher education.

He entered Angola Academy, in Steuben Co., New York, the spring of 1870 and taught school the winter of 1870-71. He again attended the academy the spring of 1871. He became principal of an academy in Alvarado, Indiana, in 1872-73.

He traveled to Michigan and joined the Sophomore class of Hillsdale College (spring 1873) and remained there until January 1874, when he became Principal of the academy in Fremont, Indiana. He held that position until July 1876.

A.T. entered the Law Department at Michigan University in Ann Arbor in April 1877, and wasadmitted to the bar at Angola,Indiana. He practiced his profession in the latter place until March 1879.

He married Miss Hattie M. StevensOctober 10, 1877. They, along with others, felt that the west beckoned. They traveled by wagon to Nebraska where they homesteaded near Beaver City in March 1879. They settled in and he practiced law.

In September 1879, he became editor of the Beaver City Times. This newspaper was known as a “Bright and newsy paper, with a large circulation.” The following April, in company with John T. Garner, he purchased the paper.

He was County Judge of Furnas County, Nebraska., from January 1881 to January 1882, and was then appointed County Attorney.

Mr. and Mrs. Bratton had two sons, Lillo A., born April 13, 1881, [mistakenly listed as a daughter , Lilly, in the 1900 census] and one son, Leslie E. Bratton born about 1886.

After a drought made things difficult in Beaver Valley, the family moved to Hastings, Nebraska, and resided at 751 Belleview Street. A.T. took on the publication of The Nebraskan newspaper there.

He eventually became interested in politics and was appointed as deputy clerk of the district court in 1901. He held that office (via bi-annual elections) through 1931. He became a member of the Nebraska constitutional convention in 1920.
Complications that followed an attack of influenza in 1932 caused Mr. Bratton to give up the office of City Clerk at the close of his term in April 1933. He suffered for threes years, failing to recover fully from that illness. He died at Lillo’s home on November 13, 1936, in Hastings, Adams County, Nebraska. He had been prominent in publicaffairs for over half of a century.

Survivors include his two sons, Lillo A. and Leslie E. [a Naval Commander residing in Denver at the time*]; two sisters, Mr. George M. Ryder of Harrison, Arkansas, and Mrs. Elvada Kimmell of Flint, Michigan; and four grandchildren, Leslie R. Bratton, Hastings; Hazel M. Bratton, Long Beach, California.; Betty Bratton Daley, of Denver; and Alice Bratton Writer alsoliving in Denver at the time.

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* See The Bratton Bulletin, July-September 2000 issue, pg. 7.

Sources:
History of the State of Nebraska, A.T. Andreas ©1882; Western Historical Co., Chicago, IL.

Hastings Tribune, Hastings, NE, Friday, November 13, 1936; “Death Takes Pioneer, A.T. Bratton”(pp. 1-3).