Henry Brantley was born in May 1825 and died April 15, 1888. Rebecca, his wife, was born in August 1833 and died October 26, 1880. They were born slaves near Clarksville, Montgomery County, Tennessee, and married at Springfield, Missouri. Fugitives from bondage, they came to Ravenna, Ohio, on 28 August 1862, where they lived honest and industrious lives.