"On the 11th of August, 1854, Major Minter Brassfield, accompanied by his family, arrived where he now lives
in Section 32,Township 92, Range 26, and at once built him a log house which had puncheon floors and doors made
from the same style of lumber. It had shake roofing. Into this rude house he moved his family, he being the first
settler in the township and among the very first in Wright county..... the Stryker, Wilcox, Middleton settlement
in Troy township, with possibly two others on the east side along the Iowa river, only preceded him. However he
had lived as a hunter and trapper here as early as 1853.
Major Brassfield lived in his cabin home until the late fall, when he changed his location to a point some fifty
rods further up the river, on account of a fine spring he had discovered; and to save time and trouble in moving
his house, he built another of the same kind, except that it had hewed logs. The house is still standing (1877)
as a monument of pioneer days.
"H.W.Montgomery arrived with his family, Oct 4,1854, and about the same time as John Boyles. The former settled
four miles up the river in Section 17, Township 92, Range 26, where he still resides. The latter built a cabin
in Section 28, about a mile northeast of Brassfield's farm, on what was later known as the Barnes farm. All the
log houses built that fall were of the very primitive construction, as was Major Brassfield's, and were entirely
innocent of window's. It was inconvenient to have the doors open, so light was admitted through the roof by moving
a "shingle," thus making a real "sky light." An ample fire-place, built of sticks and plastered
with clay, furnished the heating apparatus....rude but comfortable, as the writer knows from experience.
"At that time, Homer, forty-five miles distant, was the nearest post office. The nearest mill was at the mouth
of the Boone River, five miles beyond Homer; and Boonesboro, distanced sixty-five mles, was the nearest market
town. Kentucky Grove - The exact location of this settlement is unknown. It is the earliest settlement on the U.
S. Postal Service records, and dates back to the time our county was called Risley. The post office was opened
on August 8, 1851 and stayed in service only until June 21, 1852.
Contributor's note: Checking the records for settlers that came to the county in 1851, I discovered that Major
Minter Brassfield was a Kentucky immigrant, who came to the county and settled near the present day Homer site.
He came in 1850 and purchased a claim from John Tolman. The only recorded settlers that came in 1850 were these
two plus Thomas Hogan, who took up a claim in Sec. 21-87-26 which in on the south side of the Boone River near
the Neese Cemetery. Since there was a post office Kentucky Grove recorded, and since the only immigrant with a
Kentucky connection who came here in 1850 was Brassfield, it is probable that the settlement was named by Brassfield.
He soon sold out and moved to Newcastle at the time that the post office was discontinued. He stayed in Newcastle
a short time before moving north to Wright County and founding his own town of Brassfield, which the locals changed
to Goldfield, as it sounded more prosperous.
Major Minter Brassfield would travel miles to race his horses. He raced a bay mare, a grey gelding, and a sorrell."
-contributed by John W. Brassfield jbrass@foothill.net
son of Morgan E. Brassfield
son of Cora M. Lamson
daughter of Lucy Ann Brassfield
daughter of Othnal Minter Brassfield
a picture and a short bio of Major Othnal Minter Brassfield, my gg grandfather.
http://www.foothill.net/~jbrass/genealogy/brassfield/pics/OthnalMinter.jpg
