Private William E. Bratton

Photo:  Wayside sign at the Old Pioneer Cemetery near William Bratton’s grave.  Creative Commons, 2.

Quick Facts

Significance:

Member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition

Place of Birth:

July 27, 1778

Date of Death:

1841

Place of Burial:

Waynetown, Indiana

Cemetery Name:

Old Pioneer Cemetery

Private William E. Bratton was born on July 27, 1778. Originally of Scots-Irish descent, the Bratton family moved from Augusta County, Virginia to Kentucky in 1790.  As such, he was recruited for the Lewis and Clark Expedition by William Clark and became a part of the “nine young men from Kentucky.” He enlisted on October 20, 1803 and served primarily as a hunter, blacksmithing assistant, and gunsmith. 

He was also placed in charge of the salt works on the Pacific coast, where over a seven-week period the five men extracted about 28 gallons of salt from seawater.  In early 1806, Bratton is frequently mentioned in the journals due to his severe lower back pain which continued until early June.  

Upon his return from the Expedition, Bratton settled in Kentucky and Missouri.  He served in the War of 1812 and fought in the Battle of Tippecanoe.  After his discharge from the Army, Bratton became a farmer and married in 1819 to Mary H. “Polly” Maxwell.  They parented eight sons and two daughters and the family lived in Ohio and Indiana.  He served as justice of the peace and was active in church and educational positions. 

William Bratton died in 1841 and is buried in the Old Pioneer Cemetery in Waynetown, Indiana.