John Francis Brand is a descendant of the Westerly, Rhode Island Brand families. The Cyclopedia of Michigan was published in 1890 by the Western Publishing and Engraving Company of New York and Detroit. On page 171 and 172 of this publication you can find a biography for John F. Brand and it reads:

John F. Brand, of Saginaw. There are not many men in Saginaw City who have a more genuine claim to respect and popularity than he whose name heads this sketch. Men may achieve prominence in any one position; they may become notoriously well known, it my be; but it is of a different kind of popular notice that we would treat. It is the intention of the writer, by plain, unvarnished narration, to tell the story of one who has secured to himself name and character by the possession of those traits which bind men together one to the other with hooks of steel. Many years ago-to be more exact, in the early part of the present century-a young lad named Nathan Brand made the journey from Westerly, Rhode Island, to a place know as Leonardsville, in Madison County, New York, entirely on foot. It was a distance of several hundred miles, and the boy was but eleven years of age. He had but one objective point, and that was to find an uncle who was located at the place named. In these days of rapid transit and luxurious modes of travel, it is hard to conceive of such a pilgrimage as this, and by such a mere child. But it is of such grit that New England boys and girls-her men and women-were made. It was the possession of just such a ground-work, mental and physical, which made the American Republic a possibility to its settlers. It was the possession of these qualities, in all their fullness, which made the volunteers from the North invincible in the late war, and which insured to the whole people a united Nation of freemen. This digression was a necessity; for it will supply the reason, if any were needed, why the Brand family history is replete with the names of men who have conquered fate and wrested good fortune from adverse circumstances. Young Nathan Brand reached his destination safely, and thenceforward made Leonardsville his home. In due time he established a important industry at that point, and he obtained the celebrity attaching to a pioneer inventor and manufacturer. His skill in inventing many important devices, especially in the making of hoes and forks-a necessity in every agricultural region-made him famous; and many of his ides are still in vogue in every manufactory of those implements in the United States. He is now (1890) eighty-two years of age, hale and hearty, and is a resident of Llion, New York. It is of such parentage that John F. Brand, the subject of this sketch, springs; and it is of this parentage that he is justly proud. He was born in Leonardsville, New York, December 14, 1845. His mother, Clarinda Brand, was born in the vicinity of the same town, and died in 1876. John attended common school until he was thirteen; but, unlike many boys of that day, he was fortunate enough to secure the advantages of a finishing educational touch at the Whitestone Academy. He did not obtain this opportunity, however, until he was in his sixteenth year, nor did he enjoy the advantage very long; for, one year from that time, when the country was calling upon its brave men to rise in defense of their liberties, young Brand volunteered for the war. He enlisted in Company G, One Hundred and Fourteenth New York Regiment. He was but seventeen; and yet the same spirit which animated the father to make the long and perilous journey of his youth, single-handed and alone, inspired the son to give his earliest manhood to the service of the Nation. His enlistment occurred in 1862. His regiment, with which he remained during the war, formed part of Bank’s expedition to New Orleans. It rendered glorious duty in Western Louisiana; aided in the siege of Port Hudson; was then withdrawn to the North, and became part of Sheridan’s army serving valiantly in the Shenandoah Valley campaign, and engaging in the battle of Cedar Creek. Like many others-like the vast majority of those who enlisted-young brand obtained no military rank. To him, as to them, the motive which actuated his enlistment was the patriotic desire to preserve the integrity of the Union. If that were accomplished, then was his work well done; and the discharge papers which he received, when mustered out of the army, claimed for him that he had been loyal, steadfast, and true. On leaving the army he located at Llion, New York; but the fatigues and hardships of the war, the marching through and camping in deadly swamps, had made sad havoc with his constitution, and he was obliged to remain idle for a year, in order to recuperate his wasted forces. After recovering his health somewhat, he procured employment in the Remington Armory, and there he remained for two years. He then made a trip to Saginaw, and, liking the place, he started a small mercantile business there. This was in 1868, and he continued in this business until 1875, when he sold out and once more returned to his old home in Leonardsville, and remained there some years. But in 1878 he again turned his face westward, again settled in Saginaw, and this has been his home ever since. The love for manufacturing enterprises comes naturally to him, for it is an inherited trait. At first, Mr. Brand rented the old Saginaw City Mills, and entered upon the manufacture of flour and feed; and to this was added another dissimilar industry, but an industry peculiar to the region-the making of shingles. To these two enterprises he added still another-the making of salt; and here he found the employments for which he was best fitted. His ventures were successful, so muc so that in 1882 he erected a new flouring and shingle mill. It was the first all roller flour-mill in Michigan, with a capacity of two hundred barrels of flour per day; and it has run almost continuously from that time. In 1880, however, Mr. brand formed a co-partnership with Mr. A. C. Harden, and the concern of Brand & Hardin has no superior, in its various lines of business, in the entire West. The enterprise, in all of its parts, has been a success from the outset, for the reason that its projector aimed first to excel all competitors in the quality of the goods. His pride was to produce the best articles, to deal honestly by all men, to trust the result to the Supreme Ruler and Arbiter; and success, under those conditions, was a foregone conclusion. And as John Brand has sown in the past, so shall he reap in the future. By his upright dealing, by his sterling honesty, he has formed friendships which are among his most valued possessions. It has been well said that the man who causes one blade of grass to grow where none grew before, is a benefactor to his race. Brand & Hardin are benefactors in this sense, and in many ways. They have given employment to many, and they have given an excellent reputation to the city in which they make their home, by the character of the enterprises they have established in her midst. In 1870, Mr. Brand was married to Emily P., daughter of Daniel Hardin, of Saginaw. A friend, in giving his estimate of John F. Brand, recently said of him: ‘The purity and nobility of his personal character make the characteristics of a beautiful, well-rounded life. Men who know him are proud of the acquaintanceship .’ What better record could any man have made? What better legacy can he leave to those he loves, and those who love him?”