JOHN BRENNAN was born on the 20th of June, 1811, in Kilkenny county, Ireland. When a boy, he learned the cooper's trade of his father, and worked at it till the year 1826, when he came to Canada, where he lived for two years. He then went to Rochester, New York, staying but a few months, from there to Ohio, where he worked on a canal for four years. Returning to New York, he lived on a farm a few years, and then moved to Fond du Lac county, Wisconsin, where he remained until the year 1864. He then came to his present home, where he has since lived. In April, 1844, he was married to Miss Seeneth Hollister. They have had seventeen children, all but two are living.

History of the Upper Mississippi Valley (1881) p. 365 [St George]