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CommunityBrainard Family Items Donated To Grape Heritage AssociationPhotos
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Marshall recalls fondly his grandfather, Cephas Lemont Brainard, know to all as “C. L.” and who was the grandson of the original Portland settler by the same first name. A railroad ran through the C.L. Brainard farm property with a railcar siding present on the south side of Webster Road. In 1885 his grandfather founded the C. L. Brainard Grape Shipping Company which operated at the railroad siding. A two story gray block building still stands that was the grape packing and loading area for thousands of railroad carloads of grapes shipped out of the area to markets in Philadelphia, Chicago and as far west as Denver. This facility for loading grapes became known as the “Brainard Switch”. The railroad tracks are now gone and the railroad bed now serve as a “Rails to Trails” passageway. In 1921, Forest Brainard, Marshall’s father, and his uncle Frank, bought a steam powered plant for the manufacture of baskets in Stockton. It became the Brainard Basket Manufacturing Company and the largest grape basket factory in the U.S.A. At the time grapes were all picked by hand and most were repacked into 4, 8 and 12 quart wood baskets for sale to the table and home wine markets. Forest Brainard invented a wire handle basket which he patented and became popular as the “Climax” basket. The “C.L.” Brainard homestead residence on Route 380 south of Brocton is still in beautiful condition. It has been occupied by the George Travis family for nearly 50 years. A nearby house also still in nice condition was owned by his uncle Frank Brainard. When Marshall was very young his family and grandparents would spend winters in Delray, Florida, his grandfathers health benefiting from the warmer winter climate. So Marshall spent half of each of his first ten years of schooling in the Brocton School and half in the Jacksonville, Florida school system. His father had a degree in medicine from Syracuse University but did not practice in New York. After 20 years he left the grape and basket business and moved the family to California where he became a licensed medical doctor. Marshall attended the University of Florida but completed his senior year at UCLA in Los Angeles, California. He joined the U.S. Navy Air Corps and became a Navy Pilot, flying over 900 hours before going from active to reserve in 1944. He had a successful career in accounting and business finances, the last 27 years as Executive Director of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians. The furniture donated to the association was in the “C. L.” Brainard homestead living room when Marshall was a little boy. There are no marking of manufacturer on the piece, but it is believed to have been made by a Jamestown furniture company in the mid 1860’s. In addition to the secretary, Mr. Brainard gifted several chairs, family photos and a 200 page “History Of A Brainard Family 1649 - 2000” book to the Concord Grape Belt Heritage Association. In addition, a flax spinning wheel estimated to date back to maybe 1820, is being gifted to the McClurg Museum in Westfield. Andrew Dufresne, Executive Director of the CGBH Association, traveled to Fernandina Beach, Florida to collect the items and transport them back by cargo van. He spent three days with the Brainards. “It was a fun experience”, he says, “Mr. Brainard is still in good health and he drove me around Amelia Island and walked out to the ocean beach. I also did a video interview with him for our history files”. “The CGBH Association greatly appreciates the gifts” Dufresne said. “They are the first significant items we have for the Grape Heritage Discovery Center. They will help us tell the story of our grape heritage area. We welcome gifts, from postcard and small photo size to large grape farm equipment”. Dufresne can be contacted by email at and4833@windstream.net or 716-386-4833.
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