Photograph of Dr. J.F. Brendel
Source: History of Boone County, Indiana, by Hon. L.M. Crist, 1914.
J. F. BRENDEL, M. D. The name of Dr. J. F. Brendel, of Zionsville,
Boone county will
be held in lasting honor as one of the ablest physicians and surgeons
that ever gave loyal
service in behalf of suffering humanity in this locality, for
his life has been characterized
not only by the most adroit professional ability but also by the
most profound human
sympathy which overleaped mere sentiment to become an actuating
motive, for when a
youth he realized that there was no honor not founded on genuine
worth, that there was a
vital purpose in life and that the best and highest accomplishment
must come from a well-
trained mind and an altrustic heart. Those who know him well are
unstinted in their praise
of his superior ability and his genial and forceful individuality.
Older men in the profession
here have often relied upon his judgment and younger ones have
frequently sought his
counsel, all admitting his eminence.
Dr. Brendel was born in Hamilton county, Indiana, August 9,
1853. He is a son of
Frederick Brendel, who was born in North Carolina, and was a son
of John Brendel, a
native of Germany, from which country he emigrated to America
in an early day and
founded the home in the new world. Frederick Brendel spent his
earlier years in the old
Tar state, and devoted his life to farming for the most part,
however, conducted a grocery
store for some years and also a general store, and was a successful
man of affairs. He
married Elizabeth Jones, a native of Kentucky and a daughter of
Benjamin Jones, a
pioneer preacher and a widely-known man in his day, being one
of the picturesque circuit
riders in this country. He was of Scotch-English blood. The death
of Frederick Brendel
occurred in 1871, when past his three score and ten, he having
been born in 1800. His
wife was born in 1837 and her death occurred in 1856. Two children
were born to them,
Dr. J. F., of this sketch; and Dr. B. F., a prominent physician
of Cass county, Nebraska.
Dr. J. F. Brendel was reared in Hamilton county. He received
his early education in the
common and high schools and by close home study. In 1881 he went
to Cass county,
Nebraska and studied medicine with his brother, Dr. B. F. Brendel,
and he began
practicing medicine in 1883, and has thus been continuously in
the practice for a period of
thirty years. He studied medicine in the Indiana Physio Medical
College, from which he
was graduated in March, 1892. He also took a post-graduate course
in this institution in 1898.
He established himself in the practice in Boone county and he
and his son enjoy a large and
lucrative practice, maintaining an office at Zionsville, being
regarded among the leading general
practitioners of the county.
Dr. J. F. Brendel was married January 20, 1878 to Mary Miller,
who was born in 1860, in
Indiana, and is a daughter of Louis O. Miller, also a native of
this state. She has proven to
be a most faithful and helpful companion, and has borne her husband
three children,
namely: Mattie, who married Erna Harvey, cashier of the bank at
Zionsville; G. Stultz, the
second child lives in Zionsville; and Dr. O. E., the youngest
child, who was graduated from
the Indiana Physio Medical College at Indianapolis, May 9, 1907.
He is building up a large
practice, and he and his father have a finely equipped office,
well-furnished and in a
substantial building. The son married Helen Tarlton. The elder
doctor and family are
members of the Christian church, and fraternally he belongs to
the Independent Order of
Odd Fellows, Ancient Free and Accented Masons and Modern Woodmen
of America.
BRENDEL HARVEY JONES MILLER TARLTON
Submitted by Amy K. Davis