Downer Tenny Bramble Biography This biography appears on pages 315-316 in "History of Dakota Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. IV (1915) and was scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net. This file may be freely copied by individuals and non-profit organizations for their private use. Any other use, including publication, storage in a retrieval system, or transmission by electronic, mechanical, or other means requires the written approval of the file's author. This file is part of the SDGENWEB Archives. If you arrived here inside a frame or from a link from somewhere else, our front door is at http://usgwarchives.org/sd/sdfiles.htm DOWNER TENNY BRAMBLE. In every community there are men who can rightfully be termed the leaders in business in the sections in which they reside and to whose efforts the material advancement and prosperity of the district can be attributed; but there are few men who can be rightfully called the upbuilders of a great commonwealth. The press of South Dakota, however, unite in saying that but one or two other men did as much for Dakota in its territorial days as did Downer Tenny Bramble. He indeed left the impress of his individuality and ability for good upon the history of the state and no work of this character would be complete without extended reference to him. Mr. Bramble was born in Hartland, Vermont, February 28, 1832, a son of Charles Francis and Matilda (Jackman) Bramble. He attended school in his native village and when but sixteen years of age left the home farm, going to Nashville, Tennessee, where he clerked in a drug store owned by his two elder brothers, Gilman and George Francis Bramble. At a later date he went to New Orleans in the employ of the same brothers and after clerking in the drug store he turned his attention to general merchandising, trading from a wagon with the Yankton Indians. It was in the year 1856 that he arrived in the northwest, when this vast stretch of territory was largely uninhabited save by the red men. He located at Ponca. Nebraska, on the Missouri river, but in 1859 removed to Yankton, South Dakota. About 1862 he built a small store building, hauling the lumber from Sioux City, but the roads were in such condition that he could bring only a small amount at one time. He also hauled the stock of goods, which he sold to the Indians or traded to them in Yankton. His business career was marked by struggle yet also by steady advance, and at all times, whether dealing with the representatives of the red race or the white, he was thoroughly honorable, reliable and upright. For twenty-five years his name stood at the head of the firm of Bramble, Miner & Company of Yankton and was known throughout the territory. As the years went by there was a great change in the character of his patrons as the district became more and more thickly settled with a population from the east. His business affairs were carefully conducted and in time prosperity came to reward his labors. As the country became settled and there was opportunity for the establishment of other business interests, Mr. Bramble became a prominent factor in promoting the material development of city and county and in laying broad and deep the foundation upon which has been built the present progress and prosperity of the state. He became a stockholder in the First National Bank of Yankton, was president of the Excelsior Mill Company and held the ferry franchise permitting the operation of a ferry from Yankton to the Nebraska side of the Missouri river. He also organized, stocked and operated a freight line from Yankton through to all available points in the Black Hills the year following the massacre of General Custer and his troops. Four years afterward he opened another freighting line from eastern points through to Boise City and other points in Idaho and Montana. He was prominent in the work for the building of the Dakota Southern Railroad from Sioux City to Yankton. He seemed to readily recognize every possibility and took advantage of it and his efforts were of a character that ever contributed largely to the upbuilding and development of the state. Mr. Bramble was a member of the first military organization formed for defense against the Indians at Yankton in 1862, and served until the need for defense was over and the company, under Captain Tripp, was honorably discharged and disbanded. Mr. Bramble was equally well known in political circles. Throughout his entire life he gave unfaltering allegiance to the democratic party and always worked faithfully for the furtherance of all true democratic principles, feeling that in the party platform were found the best elements of good government. In 1861 he became a member of the council of the first territorial legislature, served as a member of the council of the second legislature in 1862, was a member of the house of the sixth legislature in 1866 and a member of the council of the tenth legislature in 1873. On the 15th of January, 1865, at Yankton, Mr. Bramble was married to Miss Virginia L, Vanderhule, the second daughter of Jesse D. and Hannah Woodward (Wicks) Vanderhule. The family of Jesse D. Vanderhule found a home at Yankton in the early '60s and he was the first proprietor of an exclusive drug store in the territory. To Mr. and Mrs. Bramble were born two sons: Harry Jesse, who passed away and was laid to rest in the Fort William McKinley cemetery near Manila, Philippine Islands; and Frank Litchfield Bramble, now living in Watertown. Mr. Bramble became a member of the Masonic fraternity in early life, was one of the nine original organizers of St. John's Lodge, No. 1, at Yankton, in 1863, and was master of that lodge in 1867. He held membership in the Episcopal church and guided his life by its teachings. It would be impossible to overestimate the worth of his work. He was among those who blazed out the paths that others have since trod in the settlement of the territory and in the development of the state and his name will ever deserve to be honored as that of one of the empire builders in South Dakota.