Brenton Archibald MCLEOD

Father: Archibald Alexander MCLEOD
Mother: Esther Ann ROGERS

Family 1: Frances Dorothy WATTLES
  1. Myrna Joy MCLEOD
  2. Thomas James MCLEOD 
                                                                        _Lieutenant William MACLEOD _
                                                   _Alexander MACLEOD _|_Flora MACLEOD ______________
                               _Archibald MCLEOD _|
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                              |                   |_Ann FRASER ________|_____________________________
 _Archibald Alexander MCLEOD _|
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|                             |_Annie HENRY ______|
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|--Brenton Archibald MCLEOD 
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|_Esther Ann ROGERS __________|
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INDEX

Notes

!SOURCE: Scott Richard McLeod, smcleod@@landoflakes.com [The following biographical narrative is based upon information gleaned from the Brenton McLeod Family Tree, and interviews with Brenton Archibald McLeod's son, Thomas James McLeod.] Brenton was born and raised in a rural farm community called Tintah Township in Traverse County Minnesota. When his family relocated to St. Paul Minnesota, he remained in Tintah. He took a job with a railroad. Seeing first hand the way companies treated their employees at the time, this is where he became a very "pro-union" worker. This opinion changed slowly over his life as unions changed and he felt that became as bad as the companies they were created to fight. With the divorce of his parents, Brenton joined his family in St. Paul to offer financial and emotional support for the family. Brenton's son Tom recalls that he believes Brenton had desired to go to the seminary and join the ministry. This is a dream we was forced to give up with his parents divorce. Brenton graduated from St. Paul College Of Law in St. Paul Minnesota Brenton met his wife Frances at a State of Minnesota office where they both worked. He joined Dick Reynolds to start a law firm named "Reynolds and McLeod" specializing in workman's compensation. When Dick Reynolds died of a heart attack, Brenton brought a new lawyer named Kirt Gillmoore into the company and they became "McLeod and Gillmoore". Brenton's legal practice continued to specialize in worker compensation. He represented some 30 or more insurance companies in workman's compensation issues. In October of 1961, Brenton and Frances were seriously injured in a car accident. While driving home from the Lost Spur Supper Club, a malfunction in the steering of their car caused them to loose control and drive into a barrier. Brenton suffered a very serious head injury. Frances broke most of the bones in her face. Were it not for the fact that a policeman witnessed the accident and called for help immediately, they would likely have bleed to death. While in the Emergency Room, Brenton suffered a heart attack. Several ribs were broken attempting to revive him. And while he survived, the staff was so busy working on his heart, the head wound was ignored and he wound up with a permanent scare on his forehead after that. Frances also recovered, but reconstructive surgery left one eye noticeably lower than the other. She frequently wore darkening sun glasses to help hide this. Brenton was a laid back, calm and easy type of man. I recall one occasion with my father, while buying a car. He recalled his father hated to negotiate for cars and he never did. His job had him haggling all day long and he refused to do it in his free time. Frances on the other hand, often spoke her mind easily. She may well have been the epitomy of the "woman behind the man". My father recalls a dinner hosted at the governors mansion that helped Brenton network his career. This was a dinner he didn't want to attend, but did so at the insistence of Frances. Brenton and Frances were very active in the church. They helped form discussion groups all through out the State of Minnesota. Brenton was also a member of the Equestrian Order of the Knights of the Holy Sepulchre.

Created by Sparrowhawk 1.0 (4/17/1996) on Mon Apr 2 10:50:12 2001