Brian

William T. Brian, one of the old and favor-ably known citizens and a member of one of the pioneer families of the County, was born in 1845 in Douglas County, and is a son of William and Anna Lewis Brian, who were born in the same County. William Brian (father) located in what is known now as the Brian neighborhood in about the year 1843, where he entered a large tract of land at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, and adding to that later considerably more at thirteen dollars per acre. At the time of his death, in … Read more

William Brian, Sr., was born May 6, 18o6, in Ross County, Ohio, and in 1837 he came to Coles, now Douglas, County ; he entered about one thousand acres of land when coming here, and has owned as high as three thousand acres. He had learned the blacksmith’s trade in Ohio, and followed it about twenty years here. On one occasion, when shoeing a Methodist preacher’s horse, he nailed the shoes on with the toe-corks behind. The preacher remonstrated with him for doing so; his reply was, “The devil takes, after these Methodist preachers, and I thought I would make … Read more