Jonas Brantner 1
- Born: 1816, Maryland 1
- Marriage (1): Margaret Smith on an unknown date
- Died: 1875, Arapahoe, CO at age 59 2
 General Notes:
He was 50 in 1870, married, living in Arapahoe County, Colorado.
----------------------------------------
NOTES: In 1849, Jonas and Samuel got the gold fever and went to the California Gold Rush - they made at least two trips. In 1859 they went from Ohio to Colorado in the gold rush here. The two of them built the original log cabin house that is the historic Four Mile House and Park - oldest dwelling in the city of Denver. The spring of 1860 found them north of Denver near Henderson Island where they homesteaded and built the first irrigation canal out of the South Platte River, Brantner Ditch. (Info received from Lauren Brantner).
----------------------------------------
The boyhood of Van Buren Kelsey was passed quietly upon a farm in Ohio until, in 1859, when he was twenty years old, he became infected with the gold fever. He left home with a company who were provided with two horse-teams. They went to Cincinnati, and followed the general course of the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri Rivers as far as Boonville, Mo. In Johnson, KS., one of the party, Jonas Brantner, bought a herd of cattle, and young Kelsey assisted him in driving them across the plains. They arrived at Cherry Creek about July 10 and camped some five miles above Denver. For the next three years our subject continued in the employ of Mr. Brantner, and by strict economy had saved enough of his earnings to enable himself to go into business on his own account. Having bought a herd of yearlings he came to Weld County and led a pastoral life for the next five years. In 1866 he took up a claim within five miles of Denver, but later sold this land to John Castor. It is now a part of the McCool ranch. In 1860 he and Jonas Brantner commenced work on the Brantner ditch, the first one made in Arapahoe, and it still goes by the name it formerly bore. In 1876 Mr. Kelsey purchased his present ranch of one hundred and sixty acres, the boundaries of which homestead he has since increased to two hundred and forty acres. The land is watered by the Platteville Irrigating Canal and is fertile and productive. The owner has been occupied in general farming and stock raising, and has given some time and attention to the dairy business as well. His success he has wrought out by himself, without outside assistance, and he is entitled to much credit for his excellent judgment and management.
----------------------------------------
Noted events in his life were:
• He appeared on the 1820 US Census in Election District 2, Washington County, MD on August 1820. 3
1820 US Census
Page 193, Roll 46
Election District 2, Washington County, Maryland
Males under 10: 3 - (Levi, age 5; Jonas, age 4; Samuel Brantner, age 0)
(Living with parents.)
.
• He appeared on the 1830 US Census in Monroe Township, Richland County, OH on June 1830. 4
1830 US Census
Page 160, Roll 139
Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio
Males
10-15: 2 (Jonas, age 14 and Samuel Brantner, age 10, step-sons)
(Living with mother and step-father.)
.
• He appeared on the 1840 US Census in Monroe Township, Richland County, OH on June 1840. 5
1840 US Census
Page 82A, Roll 423
Monroe Township, Richland County, Ohio
Males
20-30: 2 = (Levi Brantner, son, age 25; Jonas Brantner, son, age 24)
(Living with apparently widowed mother.)
.
• He appeared on the 1850 US Census in Trinity River, CA on 23 October 1850. 1
1850 US Census
Page 69B, Dwelling 190, Family 198, Roll 36
Trinity River, Trinity County, California
Jonas Brantner..34..MD..Miner
(Living in what apparently is a group camp of miners.)
.
Jonas married Margaret Smith, daughter of Unknown and Unknown, on an unknown date. (Margaret Smith was born about 1812 and died on an unknown date.)
|
