Lawrence Bratcher.

Lawrence Bratcher was born in Grayson county Kentucky on April 15, 1883, and lived there until February, 1885, when his father moved to Comanche county and settled on a farm one and a half miles south of Protection Kansas, on the northeast quarter of section 15, township 33 south range 20.

Lawrence was one of the young cattle herders of the county and flowed small bunch of cattle at the age of five years and continued herding until he was ten years old.

Later he herded on a horse and herded from 200 to 750 head of cattle for his father and their neighbors.  He followed this life continually, Sunday and every day of the week, until he was nearly ten years of age.  At the age of ten he entered school in district no. 42, a mile south of his father's house, and at this time his associates were in the second and third readers, while he was in the primer, trying to learn to read.

At the age of fifteen years he passed the county examination for a third grade certificate and later attended the Southwestern Kansas Collage, located in Winfield, Kansas.

In the summer of 1904, he entered the race for the nomination of Register of Deeds of Comanche county, Kansas, and was successful in the convention and afterwards on the 8th., of November was elected by a good majority.

He has served two terms and is filling the last of second term now ( 1909 ).  At the time of his election he was the youngest Register of Deeds in the state, ( being Twenty-one years of age at this time ), if not the youngest county officer in the state.

He was married to Goldie Brown on December 25, 1904,and is residing in Goldwater, Kansas now.
His father was Zephaniah J. Bratcher. Mother was Minnir Millem Bratcher.