My Genealogy Hound

BENJAMIN C. BRAINARD, chairman of the Board of Selectmen of South Hadley Falls, is a son of Benjamin C. and Eunice P. (Ashley) Brainard, and was born in that town, May 19, 1841. The father was a native of South Hadley Falls, and followed the trade of a blacksmith for several years. He established a factory for the manufacture of agricultural tools at Chicopee, Mass., and personally conducted it for fifteen years. He then engaged in the grocery business as a member of the firm of Day & Brainard. After carrying this on for some time, he retired from the firm, and was appointed Postmaster, a position which he held until two years before his death, which occurred November 19, 1866. He was a representative man of South Hadley Falls, and occupied a prominent position in the community. His wife, who was born in West Springfield, Mass., became the mother of four children, as follows: Joseph, who died in infancy; Ann S., who married A. W. Fay, of Barre, Mass., and now resides in South Deerfield; Benjamin C., the subject of this sketch; and Mary J., principal of the Bridge Street School in Holyoke. She died December 27, 1892.

Benjamin C. Brainard had received a good common-school education at the age of fourteen, when he became errand boy in the office of the Glasgow Company in South Hadley Falls. He gradually worked his way up from one position to another until he was made superintendent and finally general agent of the company. He then went to New Jersey, where he was placed in charge of the Washington Mills, the largest enterprise of its kind in that State. He remained there for several years, and then returned in 1890 to South Hadley Falls, where he has since resided. He is widely known and is in much demand as an expert in all matters pertaining to cotton-mills and their machinery. Mr. Brainard is a Republican in politics, and has served with distinction in various positions of public trust. He was first elected a Selectman in 1884. He has also been Chief Engineer of the fire department, a member of the School Board, for several years a Water Commissioner, Treasurer of the Water Board, and in 1893 was Representative of his district in the legislature, when he served as a member of the Committee upon Election Laws. Among the non-political offices he has held were those of Treasurer of the Cemetery Association and Vice-President of the Mechanics Savings Bank of Holyoke. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and was one of the organizers of the Lodge in South Hadley Falls.

In 1868 Mr. Brainard was united in marriage to Sarah Abbie Bickford, of Saco, Me. Her parents, now deceased, were: Thomas Bickford, a native of Massachusetts; and Lydia (Bean) Bickford, who was born in New Hampshire. Mr. and Mrs. Brainard have one daughter, Florence A., who has received a liberal education, and is now assistant principal of the South Hadley Falls High School. Mr. Brainard is a generous contributor to movements designed for the benefit of his native town. His present position of prosperity can be justly credited to his own energy and industry.