Ferdinand A. Brader

Ferdinand Arnold Brader (December 7, 1833 – December 20, 1901) is known for his large detailed pencil drawings of farms and other dwellings in rural Pennsylvania and Ohio.
Life in Switzerland
Ferdinand Brader was born in Kaltbrunn, St. Gallen, Switzerland, the son of Johann Baptist Brader and Anna Maria Steiner. On August 28, 1860 he married Maria Katherina Karolina Glaus of Benken, St. Gallen and their son Carl Ferdinand was born December 20, 1864. Ferdinand Arnold Brader emigrated to Pennsylvania in the United States sometime in the early 1870s.
Life in Pennsylvania and Ohio
His first pencil drawings of farms and homes were made in Pennsylvania and dated 1879. Brader created about 300 pictures in Pennsylvania in the counties of Berks, Lancaster, Montgomery and Lebanon and as far west as the counties of Somerset, Beaver and Allegheny. Two Somerset County drawings recently located provide further details not only on farm life in the area...