James H. Brayman, of the firm of Goul & Brayman, grain and feed merchants of Sand Lake, Nelson Township, Kent county, Mich., was born here July 3, 1858, the only child of James H. Brayman, a pioneer from Cattaraugus county, N. Y., where he was born in 1819.

James H. Brayman, Sr., had been a tailor in early life, but on coming to Michigan, in 1852, became an agriculturist. He purchased eighty acres of wooded land in Nelson township, for $100 and spent his first night here at the home of William H. Bailey, the first white settler here. On taking possession of his land he found shelter under a tent of blankets, which sufficed until he had erected a log cabin for more permanent use. He passed through all the hardships and rough experiences of a pioneer, and for s long time the red men were the most frequent among his visitors, as not a stick of timber had yet been removed from the present site of the town of Sand Lake. White neighbors lived at a distance of ten miles from his farm, ox-teams were the only means of transportation through the pathless wilderness, and the implements used in farming would now be considered to be of the most primitive character. But he was persevering and industrious, and moreover public spirited, and was largely instrumental in having erected the first school-house in his district, and this school-house was of course built of logs. He became not only a farmer, but an expert woodsman, and cleared off with his single ax over 200 acres of woodland.

Mr. Brayman, Sr., was likewise a genuine patriot, and enlisted, in 1961, in company K., First Michigan engineers, for three years, or during the war, but showed he was a veteran in 1863, and served until the close of the struggle for the suppression of the Rebellion, receiving an honorable discharge in 1865. He was with the army of the Cumberland through all its campaigns and engagements, going with Gen. Sherman on his famous march to the sea, and made a clear and glorious record for himself and a name that has become a proud inheritance to his descendants. On his return to Kent county he resumed his farming, and died an honored man on April 14, 1885. His wife, who was bore the maiden name of Mary R. Bradley, was born in Delaware county, N.Y., in 1819, was the first teacher in the district No. 1, Nelson township, Kent county, Mich., and passed away November 20, 1889, her remains being interred besides those of her husband in Sand Lake cemetery.

James H. Brayman, the subject proper of this memoir, received a fair common school education and was a tiller of the soil until 1888, when he engaged in dealing in hardware and agricultural implements for two years, and then entered into a partnership with T. J. Blanchard, these two constituting the pioneer firm, in Nelson township, in the hardware, furniture and undertaking line. They erected a handsome store in Sand Lake at a cost of $2,000, but this store was consumed in the general conflagration which destroyed the greater part of the town in 1895. In the meantime, however, Mr. Brayman had formed a partnership, in 1891, with J. E. Goul, in the grain, feed and elevator business, an account of which may be found in the sketch of Mr. Goul on another page of this volume.

Mr. Brayman has been twice married. His first wife, Minnie Pierson, was called from his side within two months after the wedding, and for his second companion he chose Miss Ada Wilkson, a native of Kent county, whom he married September 10, 1890, the result of this union being two sons and two daughters, named Halla, Ford, Margie and Gale. Mrs. Brayman was educated in the schools of Sand Lake, and before her marriage had been for some years a teacher.

In his political principles Mr. Brayman is a stanch democrat and cast his first presidential vote for Gen. Winfield S. Hancock in 1880. Officially he has served as a member of the village council and is the present secretary of the school, taking great interest in public education and insisting on the employment of the best teachers, as far as the funds in the treasurer will permit. He and his amiable wife are greatly respected by the residents of Sand Lake and Nelson township, and their children are being reared with the view of making them also good and useful citizens.