Converse-Laramie County WY Archives Biographies.....Brenning, H. L. 1851 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/wy/wyfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00001.html#0000031 July 21, 2008, 11:34 pm Author: Bowen & Co. (1903) H. L. BRENNING. In every flourishing community there are certain men, who, by their enterprise, straightforward business methods and public-spirit, maintain the prosperity and progressiveness of the place, and, when to these qualifications we can add the mechanical and technical skill of an architect and builder, we can see how forms of beauty in wood and brick will arise to beautify the town and by its improved appearance attract a desirable element to become its citizens. These reflections arise when considering the eminently useful life and labors of Henry L. Brenning, the popular architect and builder of Douglas, the monuments of whose architectural skill are everywhere patent to the observer. Mr. Brenning was born in the old town of Norwood, Mass., on March 25, 1851, the son of Thomas and Catherine (Hitchins) Brenning, natives of Norwood and New Hampshire. His paternal grandfather came from Quebec to Massachusetts, becoming a lifelong resident of the state, his son Thomas following farming in Norfolk county and raising a family of eight sons and three daughters. Henry L. Brenning was the youngest child of this family, and after receiving an excellent education he thoroughly learned the trades of carpenter and bridge builder in the extensive car shops at Norwood, there applying himself to labor in these lines and the acquisition of technical instruction in this connection until 1879, when he was carried to Leadville, Colo., on the wave of excitement over the rich mineral discoveries in that camp, there engaging in profitable employment as a bridge builder on the line of the Denver & Rio Grande Railway, in 1880 making his home in Denver. Not long thereafter he came to Boulder, Wyo., where he passed two years, thence removing to Cheyenne, and engaging in contracting and carpenter work in the construction of dwellings, etc., continuing in that city until i88d when he was attracted by the prospective advantages of the new town of Douglas and removed thither as one of its very earliest settlers, his wife being the first woman resident of the town. From that time to the present Mr. Brenning has been one of the busiest men of the place, having been the builder of every structure constructed of brick erected in the city, the first one of importance being the attractive building containing the First National Bank, since which construction his services and skill have been in constant requisition, erecting many business houses and numerous residences costing from $10,000 upwards. He has just completed the fine high school building of three stories, 35x104 feet in size, which was commenced in 1887, and is now giving attention to the erection of the elegant Unity Temple, which is 75x120 feet in size and of two stories, constructed of pressed brick. These and other notable specimens of his handiwork will long stand as monuments to his artistic taste, his work being of solid and enduring character and his industry and painstaking strongly manifest. Mr. Brenning belongs to both the Masonic and Odd Fellows fraternal societies and he is connected with Wyoming's leading industry as one of the three associates in the Table Mountain Sheep Co. He was married on December 1, 1875, at Fremont Temple, Huston, Mass., to Miss Annie E. Davis, a native of Quincy, Mass., and a daughter of Benjamin Long Davis, a descendant of early and honorable families of the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies. Their family consists of an adopted son, Roy F. Among the people of the section none stand in higher repute or have more numerous friends than Mr. and Mrs. Brenning. Additional Comments: Extracted from: PROGRESSIVE MEN OF THE STATE OF WYOMING ILLUSTRATED A people who take no pride in the noble achievements of remote ancestors, will never achieve anything worthy to he remembered with pride by remote generations.—.MACAULAY. CHICAGO, ILL. A. W. BOWEN &CO. PUBLISHERS AND ENGRAVERS 1903 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/wy/converse/bios/brenning24gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/wyfiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb