Brainard, Dewitt Clinton (1828-1897)

Biography

According to the obituary published in the Shaker Manifesto, Dewitt Clinton Brainard came to live with the Shakers at two years of age. He lived most, if not all, of his life at the Second Family at Mount Lebanon, where he worked as a shoemaker and in the seed industry. He was also a trustee and an elder. As a trustee, his name appeared on advertisements and product packages for many Shaker sale goods including applesauce, string beans, and dried sweet corn.  His passing was even recorded in a brief obituary in the New York Times which described him as "one of the leading Shakers of the Mount Lebanon Community" and noted, "He was held in high esteem by the Community." (https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1897/05/12/102401410.pdf, accessed 8/1/2018).