Federal Writers' Project – Life Histories/2020/Fall/105/Section068/Henry Brandon

Overview
Henry Brandon is the son of George Brandon, of the UDC (United Daughters of the Confederacy), a wealthy and successful individual in the South. After George Brandon’s death, Henry was given much of the estate and properties that was left to him by his father as well as an inherence that funded his travels before his return. However due to circumstances, much of his land was stolen and dealt with irresponsibly that lead him down a path of drunken mess before meeting his love, Susan Harrison. But tragedy continuously befell Brandon because Harrison died before their marriage. Brandon then continued to lead a life of a drunk continuously blowing his money only getting help from an African American, Ben in which he freed because he had saved his life and certain situations that lead him to more money. Brandon claims his life was fulfilling and realistic in a sense.

Early Life
Little was known in the earlier life.

Later Life
During his years following his childhood. Henry Brandon attended Harvard University and graduated with a Law degree. Using his time after his studies at Harvard, he decided to go to Europe for travels and continue his scholarly journey in Paris with the funds given to him from inheriting his father’s estates, 7 plantations with a combined acreage of 11,000 acres, town property, $45,000 in cash, and $20,000 in railroad shares. However, a year into his travels, he began to run low on funding and was forced to return to the states to only to see that the land he put in his cousin, Jerry Hampton has been transferred to himself which led to Brandon’s anger and later murder of Hampton.

Brandon was let off light because of his father’s status as Captain George Brandon’s son but because of this event, Brandon began to lead a life of alcoholism and bad decisions involving selling and gambling his properties away, as well as his funds. Yet, even then, Brandon was then elected to be the State Senate only to continue drinking till he fell sick. After returning back on his feet, Brandon meets Susan Harrison in which he fell in love and gave up on alcohol for to start a life with her. Unfortunately, months before their wedding, Typhoid took Susan’s life and Brandon fell straight back down into his drunkard state.

Continuing his reckless behaviors, Brandon stopped caring for his crops and gave up on his land that he sold for less than it should’ve been worth. He returned to his homeplace with no money or place to live only to drink a bottle of horse liniment almost killing him when Ben, an African American slave, found him and took him to the doctors just in time. Brandon after awaking was informed, he still had $26,000 from his father’s estate to which he continued signed for Ben’s release and continued to spend it on drinking. Not long after, he became broke again only to have Ben take him in. For the next 15 years, Brandon stayed there and wrote 3 books to which were never published. Ben had passed and Brandon was starving when the president of the United Daughters of the Confederacy came and offered $15,000 for the place to which Brandon took to which he failed to spend correctly. Yet, the UDC continuously dotted on him for the next 15 years keeping him in a condition where he can continue living. The chairman of the county executive offered Brandon a WPA time-keeping job but he refused because he never worked in his life and he doesn’t want to start.

Death
His death was unclear and not stated anywhere in the interview.

United Daughters of Confederacy
The United Daughters of Confederacy (UDC) was an organization created in Nashville, Tennessee, 1894 and is an American hereditary association. They are created in remembrance of members of the Confederates and build statues and monuments of these men. They represent the memorials of those who had fought for the South and promote patriotism and good citizenship. The United Daughters of the Confederacy denounces any individual or group that promotes racial divisiveness or white supremacy (Wolfe). They have claimed to be preserving American’s ancestors’ contributions to the country and share American’s history. As one of the historians apart of the UDC had stated, “Mrs. E.T. Robeson, historian, announced her historical aims for the year had been to perpetuate southern history from its source, to find and eventually mark every historical spot in the state, to impress youth with their wonderful heritage, to show love for the Confederacy and loyalty to our country today by doing everything possible in the interest of both" (MacKethan 30). However, it does not stray from the fact that much of what they are preserving are individuals who have been more than likely a white supremacist and fought to continue slavery.

Alcoholism in America
Alcohol consumption negatively affected the economy and the people during the 19th century. Alcohol became a problem when the Puritans brought more alcohol than needed to how as time goes by, alcohol consumption was highly forbidden in the religious eyes and was thus limited. Even then, America did not cease how much alcohol was consumed and it became a huge problem affecting the economy throughout the 19th century to the 20th century (Scripps 4).

Typhoid Fever
Typhoid Fever is an illness caused by salmonella enterica serotype typhi bacteria. The spread of typhoid fever came from contaminated food and water or through close contact with someone who’s infected as the Mayo Clinic has stated in their overview of the illness. The symptoms that would appear usually are high fevers, headaches, abdominal pain, and either constipation or diarrhea (Mayo Clinic 2).