No one in Clyde is held in higher esteem than W.L. Brandon, proprietor and operator of the Clyde elevator. In 1877 Mr. Brandon, accompanied by a party of six relatives and friends, left their homes in Illinois to travel through Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas to look over the country with the intention of locating wherever they found the most interesting field. When they reached Clyde, they were pleased and impressed with that prosperous and thriving little city and the opportunities offered in the various avenues of business, and four of their number remained.

One of them, Willis Brandon, the photographer, a cousin of our subject, became a permanent resident. A brother, Washington Brandon, after a stay of two years removed to Wyoming. The other members of the party, after a brief sojourn returned to their Pennsylvania home. Shortly after his arrival Mr. Brandon secured a position with the Clyde Mill Company as stationary engineer and remained from the time of its opening until it was burned in 1884. He then went into the elevator of Mel Roach as manager and engineer, and subsequently became interested in the elevator he now owns; but later sold to Mr. Brown and leased the Roach elevator, then owned by the Clyde State Bank. This enterprise was burned March 26, 1898. The fire originated from the machinery and consumed eleven thousand bushels of grain, engendering a total loss - not one dollar of insurance. Mr. Brandon then bought the ground on which the elevator stood, of he Bank officials, and the following summer erected the elevator now owned by the Clyde Milling and Elevator Company, where he continued until May 1, 1901. In 1899 Mr. Brandon consolidated with the Clyde Milling and Elevator Company as a corporation and built the Clyde Mills. He sold his Interest in 1901, and bought the Clyde Elevator, the property of Stanley Roach, where he transacts an extensive business under the name of the Clyde Elevator. The capacity is about twenty thousand bushels. The building was erected in 1880 by Captain Hanson and an addition, or the north wing, was built on in 1884.

Mr. Brandon is a native of New Castle, Pennsylvania, born in 1857. He attended the common schools in that vicinity and at the age of nineteen years came to Illinois, where he lived on a farm. Mr. Brandon's paternal grandfather moved from Kentucky to Pennsylvania in the early settlement of that state. The Brandons were originally from England. His mother's people, the Alexanders, were from Scotland and settled in PennsyIvania. Mr. Brandon's parents are both living in New Castle at the ages of seventy-six and sixty-eight years respectively. He is one of six children, four boys and two girls, four of whom are living. The youngest brother, Samuel F., died from a railroad accident at Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, in 1892 Mrs. A. Morton, the eldest sister, died in Colorado in 1901. The youngest sister, Mrs. Joseph Harper, is a resident of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania. His brother, Washington Brandon, is a resident of Hutchinson, Kansas, and another brother, Elmer, of Steamboat Springs, Colorado,

Mr. Brandon was married in 1879 to Miss Eva Hay, a daughter of George W. Hay, one of the old settlers of Cloud county, and one of the first residents of Clyde. To Mr. and Mrs. Brandon have been born three children, two daughters and one son. Mildred, Amy and William. Mildred is the wife of A.C. Baker, of the Rock Island Elevator in Kansas City. They are the parents of two little sons, Willie and Burns, aged two and four years. Amy, a prepossessing and promising young woman, is a student of the Great Western Business College of Concordia.

Mr. Brandon bought the Kennedy residence in 1896. This is one of the most beautiful homes in Clyde; it has a frontage of two hundred and seventy-eight feet, surrounded by a Chinese Quince hedge, elegant lawn and fine shade trees. The residence is of the mansard architecture and was erected in 1881. Mr. Brandon is active in politics and affiliates with the Republican party. He was mayor of the city of Clyde in 1896-7 and has been a member of the council for several years. He has been a director and stockholder of the Elk State Bank since 1896. He is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. The family are members of the Presbyterian church.

Mr. Brandon is a quiet and unpretentious man, but wields an extended influence among his fellow townsmen and is one of the solid men of Cloud county; the kind that helps to forward every worthy enterprise not only by his counsel and advice, but by contributing from his stores of a worldly nature.