George W. Bratten was born on April 11, 1850, in Ripley county, Indiana. He is the son of William D. Bratten and Martha (Rounds) Bratten. William D. Bratten was born near Baltimore, Maryland. He was a farmer and moved to Ripley county when a small child. He was the owner of a tract of land . He was a member of the Baptist church. He was twice married. His first wife, who was the mother of the subject of this sketch, was Martha Rounds, who was a daughter of Joshua Rounds. He also moved to Ripley county and was a landowner. He was a member of the Baptist church. William Bratten, the father of William D. Bratten, was born in Maryland and after his marriage he moved his family to Ripley county, Indiana. He was the owner of about three hundred acres of land, an was a member of the Baptist church. The children of William D. Bratten and his first wife are as follow: Julia, who is deceased; Joshua, lives in Harrisonville, Missouri; Martha, who is deceased; Rosella, who is deceased; George W., the subject of this sketch, and Elizabeth, who is deceased. William D. Bratten married May Bielby, a widow, whose maiden name was Dixon, for his second wife, and the children by the second wife are as follow: Sarah, William Orange and Geneva, who is deceased. William D. Bratten was a member of the Milan Lodge No. 41, Free and Accepted masons. He died about 1878..

George W. Bratten was educated in the common schools in Ripley county. He was married in Marion county and lived there until about 1890, when he moved to Buck Creek township, Hancock county, where he bought a tract of forty acres of land which he sold in 1906. He now owns a tract of eighty acres in Vernon township, Hancock county, and does general farming. He is a member of the Christian church at Oaklandon. He is also a member of Oaklandon Lodge No. 140, Free and Accepted Masons. He was married on December 26, 1879, to Mary J. Lingle, who was born in Ripley county, November 23, 1857, and who is the daughter of John and Mary A. (Williamson) Lingle. John A. Lingle was a merchant at Pierceville, Indiana. Their children were Sarah, Marcellus, Mary A., Jeptha and John. The grandfather of the wife of the subject of this sketch was Lawrence Lingle, who moved from South Carolina to Indiana. He was a farmer and a member of the Presbyterian church. He married Elizabeth Mock. The children of George W. Bratten are William D., Theodosa, Fred . and Guy G.

Transcribed from History of Hancock County, Indiana, Its People, Industries and Institutions by George J. Richman, B. L., Federal Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana, 1916. Page 1107-1108.

Submitted by Sylvia (Rose) Duda, Laingsburg, MI November 17, 2001.

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