Page 29 - United Brethren Preachers
P. 29
Volume 9 Preachers of U.B. and EUB Virginia Conferences December 26, 2024
Denomination ever produced, Dr. Brane’s total schooling was limited to 3 months in the Rocky Springs School
House, Frederick County, Md. Yet so pronounced was his ability that two of our colleges honored him with the
M.A. and D.D. degrees. Nine full pages of the Religious Telescope were used to tell the story of Dr. Brane’s
life when he died. In 30 years of ministerial work he received about 1,000 members into the church.
Dr. Brane died Apr. 7th, 1920, at Dayton, Ohio, where he was serving as associate editor of the Telescope.
He is interred in Benevola, Md. [Lycoming 2013]. GCAH Archives: His memoir is in the 1920 Miami
Conference Journal (p. 86). The picture at the upper left is from [Holdcraft 1938, p. 314]; the one at the
upper middle is from [Gibble 1951, p. 485]; and the one at the upper right is from [U.B. Yearbook 1908]. The
lower two pictures are from [Glovier 1965, pp. 68-73]; the one on the left was taken in 1873, the one on the
right in 1883. From [Gibble 1951, p. 477]:
The name of Dr. Brane became favorably known throughout the denomination by his writings as Associate Editor of the
Religious Telescope, a position he held from July 1909 until his death Apr. 7, 1920. His early life was saturated by the rich
traditions which arose from the founding of the denomination about Frederick, Maryland. He was born in the neighborhood
of the Peter Kemp home on Christmas Day in the year 1848, a son of Henry and Margaret Lauman Brane. The famous
Kemp house passed into the possession of a daughter of Peter Kemp, Esther by name, who married Valentine Doub. The
United Brethren continued to use the house as a place of worship until services were transferred to the Rocky Springs
Schoolhouse which was located about a mile west of the Kemp-Doub residence. Of this schoolhouse and his interest in it,
Dr. Brane wrote: “Here the writer worshipped on Sunday and wrestled with the ‘three R’s’ during the week. It is the
embodiment of some of the sweetest memories of my life, secular, social, and religious. In that old school-house I was
converted. Within those walls, one bright Sunday morning, I was formally received into the Church.” Rev. Brane received
quarterly conference license in 1870, was admitted to Va. Conf. in 1873, and was ordained in 1876. The charges he served
in that conference were: Potomac Mission, New Germany, Thurmont, Rockbridge, Berkeley Springs, and Dayton. In 1885-
86 he was presiding elder of the Shenandoah District. He transferred to the Maryland Conf. in 1887, and by its appointment
served Hagerstown, St. Paul’s Church; and the Church in Washington, D.C., of which he was the founder. The General
Conference of 1893 elected him Secretary of Church Erection, which office he held until Sep. of 1894. In the year 1896,
Rev. Brane transferred to East Pa. Conf. in which he retained membership to the time of his death. Very early in his
ministerial career, he had served the church at Mt. Airy in this conference, then a suburb of Philadelphia, 1876-77. Before
transferring to this conference he had a 2-year pastorate on the Pequea Charge; after transfer he was pastor at Trinity
Church, Lebanon, 1896-1906; and Otterbein Church, Reading, 1906-09. Dr. Brane had a keen interest in historical matters.
He wrote numerous short sketches of local church events. The Churches of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and of Frederick
County, Md., are especially indebted to him for his work as co-author with Daniel Eberly and I. H. Albright of the Landmark
History of the United Brethren Church.
BRANT: M. A. Brant served Reliance Circuit, 1960-63. Not listed in in 1968, 1969, or 1985 UMC General
Minutes.
BRASHEAR: Theodore F. Brashear (b. Mar. 5, 1825; d. Apr. 18, 1888) “learned the trade of shoemaker.
He was a member of Va. Conf. from 1848 until 1864, when he was sent to Elkhorn circuit in the Rock River
Conference. His first work in Va. Conf. was as a junior on the Hagerstown circuit.” He then served South
Branch, 1849-50; Buckhannon, 1851-52; Highland Mission, 1852-53; Rockingham, 1853-54; Myersville,
1855-56; Lacey Springs, 1857-57; Rockingham, 1857-59; Churchville, 1859-61; Woodstock, 1861-62;
Bethany Mission, 1862 (completed a part-year vacancy for the Pennsylvania Conf.) and Presiding Elder
(Southern Section, Virginia), 1862-63. In 1863 he transferred to Pa. Conf. and served Manchester Circuit,
1863-65. In 1865 he was given an open transfer “to any conference he wishes to join.” These included Rock
River Conference (Illinois), Iowa Conf., and Elkhorn Conf. (Dakota Territory and Northern Nebraska). “He was
scrupulously honest, thoroughly conscientious, and deeply sincere. His retentive memory enabled him to
improve rapidly, both in preaching and in general knowledge. He served some of the best charges in Iowa,
and was many years a presiding elder. Mr. Brashear was an able preacher, but from his unsuspecting nature
he could not see the point of a joke soon enough to dodge it, and in consequence was often victimized. It is
said of him that while attending a quarterly meeting and staying Saturday night at the home of the steward of
the church, he felt the need of having something more under his head. So he made a search in the darkness
and used something he found hanging on the wall. After breakfast the two men started to church, taking a
part of the elements with them and leaving the rest for the housewife to bring later. She failed to come
because she could not find the dress she wished to wear, and believed some rival had stolen it. When it was
too late to go to meeting she attended to the house work, and found the dress under the preacher’s pillow.
After leaving Virginia Mr. Brashear lived mainly at Vinton, Benton County, but died in Nebraska, whither he
had removed.” [Funkhouser 1921, pp. 133, 157; see also pp. 97, 126, 157, 253-262] and [Glovier 1965,
p. 89; Lycoming 2013].
BRAZER: Jacob Brazer (Braezer) became a member of Conference and licensed to preach in 1817. Not
long before his death, he was appointed a trustee of the Conference Benevolent Society in 1822. He lived at
Chambersburg, Pa., and died in 1822 [Funkhouser 1921, p. 125, 133, 231, 234; Glovier 1954, p. 87].
BREWBAKER: Dr. Charles Warren Brewbaker (b. Oct. 18, 1869, at
State Line, Pa.; d. May 11, 1961, at Dayton, Ohio; mar. Nellie Maude
Snoke (d. 1960) attended Va. Annual Conf. in Martinsburg, W.Va. in
1898, 1906, 1914, and 1919. He received his quarterly conference
Biographical Sketches 17
Denomination ever produced, Dr. Brane’s total schooling was limited to 3 months in the Rocky Springs School
House, Frederick County, Md. Yet so pronounced was his ability that two of our colleges honored him with the
M.A. and D.D. degrees. Nine full pages of the Religious Telescope were used to tell the story of Dr. Brane’s
life when he died. In 30 years of ministerial work he received about 1,000 members into the church.
Dr. Brane died Apr. 7th, 1920, at Dayton, Ohio, where he was serving as associate editor of the Telescope.
He is interred in Benevola, Md. [Lycoming 2013]. GCAH Archives: His memoir is in the 1920 Miami
Conference Journal (p. 86). The picture at the upper left is from [Holdcraft 1938, p. 314]; the one at the
upper middle is from [Gibble 1951, p. 485]; and the one at the upper right is from [U.B. Yearbook 1908]. The
lower two pictures are from [Glovier 1965, pp. 68-73]; the one on the left was taken in 1873, the one on the
right in 1883. From [Gibble 1951, p. 477]:
The name of Dr. Brane became favorably known throughout the denomination by his writings as Associate Editor of the
Religious Telescope, a position he held from July 1909 until his death Apr. 7, 1920. His early life was saturated by the rich
traditions which arose from the founding of the denomination about Frederick, Maryland. He was born in the neighborhood
of the Peter Kemp home on Christmas Day in the year 1848, a son of Henry and Margaret Lauman Brane. The famous
Kemp house passed into the possession of a daughter of Peter Kemp, Esther by name, who married Valentine Doub. The
United Brethren continued to use the house as a place of worship until services were transferred to the Rocky Springs
Schoolhouse which was located about a mile west of the Kemp-Doub residence. Of this schoolhouse and his interest in it,
Dr. Brane wrote: “Here the writer worshipped on Sunday and wrestled with the ‘three R’s’ during the week. It is the
embodiment of some of the sweetest memories of my life, secular, social, and religious. In that old school-house I was
converted. Within those walls, one bright Sunday morning, I was formally received into the Church.” Rev. Brane received
quarterly conference license in 1870, was admitted to Va. Conf. in 1873, and was ordained in 1876. The charges he served
in that conference were: Potomac Mission, New Germany, Thurmont, Rockbridge, Berkeley Springs, and Dayton. In 1885-
86 he was presiding elder of the Shenandoah District. He transferred to the Maryland Conf. in 1887, and by its appointment
served Hagerstown, St. Paul’s Church; and the Church in Washington, D.C., of which he was the founder. The General
Conference of 1893 elected him Secretary of Church Erection, which office he held until Sep. of 1894. In the year 1896,
Rev. Brane transferred to East Pa. Conf. in which he retained membership to the time of his death. Very early in his
ministerial career, he had served the church at Mt. Airy in this conference, then a suburb of Philadelphia, 1876-77. Before
transferring to this conference he had a 2-year pastorate on the Pequea Charge; after transfer he was pastor at Trinity
Church, Lebanon, 1896-1906; and Otterbein Church, Reading, 1906-09. Dr. Brane had a keen interest in historical matters.
He wrote numerous short sketches of local church events. The Churches of Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and of Frederick
County, Md., are especially indebted to him for his work as co-author with Daniel Eberly and I. H. Albright of the Landmark
History of the United Brethren Church.
BRANT: M. A. Brant served Reliance Circuit, 1960-63. Not listed in in 1968, 1969, or 1985 UMC General
Minutes.
BRASHEAR: Theodore F. Brashear (b. Mar. 5, 1825; d. Apr. 18, 1888) “learned the trade of shoemaker.
He was a member of Va. Conf. from 1848 until 1864, when he was sent to Elkhorn circuit in the Rock River
Conference. His first work in Va. Conf. was as a junior on the Hagerstown circuit.” He then served South
Branch, 1849-50; Buckhannon, 1851-52; Highland Mission, 1852-53; Rockingham, 1853-54; Myersville,
1855-56; Lacey Springs, 1857-57; Rockingham, 1857-59; Churchville, 1859-61; Woodstock, 1861-62;
Bethany Mission, 1862 (completed a part-year vacancy for the Pennsylvania Conf.) and Presiding Elder
(Southern Section, Virginia), 1862-63. In 1863 he transferred to Pa. Conf. and served Manchester Circuit,
1863-65. In 1865 he was given an open transfer “to any conference he wishes to join.” These included Rock
River Conference (Illinois), Iowa Conf., and Elkhorn Conf. (Dakota Territory and Northern Nebraska). “He was
scrupulously honest, thoroughly conscientious, and deeply sincere. His retentive memory enabled him to
improve rapidly, both in preaching and in general knowledge. He served some of the best charges in Iowa,
and was many years a presiding elder. Mr. Brashear was an able preacher, but from his unsuspecting nature
he could not see the point of a joke soon enough to dodge it, and in consequence was often victimized. It is
said of him that while attending a quarterly meeting and staying Saturday night at the home of the steward of
the church, he felt the need of having something more under his head. So he made a search in the darkness
and used something he found hanging on the wall. After breakfast the two men started to church, taking a
part of the elements with them and leaving the rest for the housewife to bring later. She failed to come
because she could not find the dress she wished to wear, and believed some rival had stolen it. When it was
too late to go to meeting she attended to the house work, and found the dress under the preacher’s pillow.
After leaving Virginia Mr. Brashear lived mainly at Vinton, Benton County, but died in Nebraska, whither he
had removed.” [Funkhouser 1921, pp. 133, 157; see also pp. 97, 126, 157, 253-262] and [Glovier 1965,
p. 89; Lycoming 2013].
BRAZER: Jacob Brazer (Braezer) became a member of Conference and licensed to preach in 1817. Not
long before his death, he was appointed a trustee of the Conference Benevolent Society in 1822. He lived at
Chambersburg, Pa., and died in 1822 [Funkhouser 1921, p. 125, 133, 231, 234; Glovier 1954, p. 87].
BREWBAKER: Dr. Charles Warren Brewbaker (b. Oct. 18, 1869, at
State Line, Pa.; d. May 11, 1961, at Dayton, Ohio; mar. Nellie Maude
Snoke (d. 1960) attended Va. Annual Conf. in Martinsburg, W.Va. in
1898, 1906, 1914, and 1919. He received his quarterly conference
Biographical Sketches 17
