Benjamin Brandreth (1809-1880)

Benjamin Brandreth (1809-1880). Immigrant, Entrepreneur and Politician. A native of Leeds, England, Benjamin Brandreth immigrated to New York City in 1835 with his wife Harriot, four children and his grandfather's formula for an herbal laxative pill that he billed as a cure-all for various ills. These “patent medicines” were popular before the arrival of conventional medicine, and Dr. Brandreth's Vegetable Universal Pills became known around the world. , This success was largely due to Brandreth's pioneering use of newspaper advertising and hiring of “agents,” or salesmen. Herman Melville and Edgar Allan Poe mentioned his pills in their books. , After his wife's death, Brandreth relocated to Sing Sing (Ossining), though he kept a large presence in Manhattan. At the north end of the waterfront he created a compound that included a dock where ingredients arrived by river. His company was among Westchester County's earliest and most successful industries. After a brief second marriage he wed one of his workers, Virginia Graham, in 1840. They had 12 more children, some of whom are buried on the other side of this hill. In 1843, three years after becoming a naturalized citizen, Brandreth was elected village president. After completing a three-year term he served two terms as a New York State Senator, in 1850 and 1858. He had vast land holdings here and in the Adirondacks as well as a farm in Somers that would become Muscoot Farm. , Brandreth died suddenly of a heart attack at age 71, after mixing a batch of pills. The funeral was the largest in village history. His company endured, run by his descendants, and went on to produce many types of products, including Havahart animal traps. The business closed in 1979, the factory demolished in 2016.