David H. Brackett was born around 1843 in Maine to John W. Brackett and Olive Fall. His father was a farmer who owned $3,000 of real estate and $300 of personal property in 1860. He grew up and attended school in North Berwick, Maine. He enlisted in the Union army on September 30, 1862, and mustered in as a private in Company B of the 27^th Maine Infantry later that day. He was eventually promoted to corporal.

 

The men spent their nine-month term of enlistment helping defend Washington, D.C., and they mustered out on July 17, 1863. Brackett returned to North Berwick after leaving the army. He married Alice Chase there on June 30, 1867, and they had at least three children: Alice, born around 1872; Orrin, born around 1875; and John, born around 1882. He worked as a farmer, and by 1870, he owned $2,000 of real estate and $1,000 of personal property. He remained in North Berwick for the rest of his life. He applied for a federal pension in February 1899 and eventually secured one. By 1920, he was living in his son John’s household there. He died in North Berwick on August 25, 1925.

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