Tuscola-Livingston-Shiawassee County MI Archives Biographies.....Brainerd, John W. 1840 - 
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Joy Fisher sdgenweb@yahoo.com February 5, 2007, 9:53 pm

Author: Chapman Bros. (1892)

JOHN W. BRAINERD. Vassar supports a large class of industries, and prominent
among those which may be seen upon its streets is the harness shop of Mr.
Brainerd. He has built up his business to that extent as to demand the work of
four hands, and here is manufactured an extensive variety of most excellent
goods which are known all over the county for their beauty and durability.

  Mr. Brainerd was born in the township of Hartland, Livingston County, Mich.,
February 7, 1840, and he is a son of Norman and Grace (Kent) Brainerd, the
father being a native of Connecticut and the mother of New York, and both
claiming their descent from English ancestry. The parents pursued agriculture
through life and became emigrants to Michigan in the early days of 1835. This
son was therefore reared upon a Michigan farm and knows all about pioneer life
and the fun and hard work which the boys had in the '40s and '50s. His fun in
all its fullness ended early as his father died when the lad was but twelve
years old, and after that heavier burdens fell upon him and in addition to this
his school days were cut short.

  In 1863 he began to work at harness-making, making his first endeavors in that
line at Hartland and afterward at Byron in Shiawassee County, where he remained
for two years before coming to Vassar, where he established himself in 1868.

  In the same year when he began business in Vassar our subject was married on
the 12th of May to Miss Adelaide L. Hildebrant, of Howell, Livingston County.
They are the happy parents of three children and their eldest, Charles L., was
born in Vassar, September 14, 1870. He is a graduate of Vassar High School and
of the Business College of East Saginaw, and is now filling the position of
Cashier in the First National Bank, of Marquette, Mich. The children who are
still under the parental roof are Roy L., who was born in Vassar April 8, 1885,
and Effie, whose birth occurred upon Independence Day, 1886.

  John W. Brainerd is a stanch Republican in his political views and a leader in
village politics, having been a member of the Council three terms of three years
each, and having been President of the village two years as well as being now on
the Board of Education. He has never been a seeker for office but his eminent
fitness for positions of responsibility and trust has led his neighbors and
friends to insist upon his acceptance of these offices.

  The Masonic order counts Mr. Brainerd as one of its influential members in
Vassar. He is one of a family of nine of whom five are still living, and the
father of this household died September 10, 1852, in Hartland, but the mother
who is still living and is now four-score and eight years old makes her home
with this son. His great-grandfather was a Colonel in the war of the Revolution
and it is with true patriotic pride that his descendants cherish the memory of
his devotion to our country in its days of greatest need.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

Portrait and Biographical Record of Genesee, Lapeer and Tuscola Counties,
Michigan, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens, Together with Biographies of all the Governors of the State, and of
the Presidents of the United States

Chicago:
Chapman Bros.
1892


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