FRANCIS NELSON BRAMAN, M.D.,
of New London, Conn., was born in Belchertown, Hampshire County,
Mass., May 18, 1836, being the second son of Nathaniel Park and Lucy
Ann (Crocker) Braman. The family came originally from Bremen, Germany;
and the Doctor belongs to the Flemish branch. The earliest direct ancestor
of whom he has any authentic account was a man of mathematical and mechanical
genius, the inventor and manufacturer of mathematical instruments. One
of his early ancestors was a Major in the English army, who, connected
in some way with the Rye House Plot, was twice imprisoned in the Tower,
and twice released.
Dr. Braman's great-grandfather, John Braman,
was a native of Washington County, Rhode Island. His grandfather,
John Braman, Jr., was a citizen of Groton, Conn., a competent farmer and
for a while manager of the Fisher's Island (N.Y.) property. He was man
of affairs, active in public matters in Groton, and was a soldier in the
Revolutionary army. He died in Mystic, Conn., at the age of seventy-five.
He was twice married, and was the father of sixteen children, fifteen of
whom attained maturity. His second wife Dr. Braman's grandmother,
was Mary Park, of Mystic or Groton, daughter of Nathaniel Park, of Revolutionary
fame. Her ancestry was English. She was the mother of four sons and four
daughters. The youngest of the family of sixteen is the only one living
today, Julia, widow of the late Abraham Mason, of Springfield,
Mass.
Nathaniel Park Braman, who was the oldest
child of his father's second marriage, was born on Fisher's Island, N.Y.,
in 1802. He was a farmer in good circumstances, and was active in town
affairs. He died in Clinton, Conn., in 1892, aged eighty-nine years and
eleven months. He was survived by his wife, Lucy, to whom he was united
in March, 1826. Her parents were Ezra and Hannah (Newbury) Crocker, of
Waterford, Conn. Her paternal grandfather, Steadman Newbury, of Waterford,
served throughout the Revolutionary War, and was afterward pensioned by
the government. He was a man of high repute, active in public and religious
matters, and was a member of the old Darrow Church of Waterford. He lived
to attain the great age of ninety-nine years and nine months. Mrs. Braman
was born in Waterford, Conn., April 4, 1808, and, though now in her ninetieth
year, is active in mind and body. Six children were born to her; and, losing
one daughter at the tender age of three years, she reared the following:
Nathaniel Perkins, now in Florida; Jane L., wife of James L. Davis, in
Clinton, Conn.; Francis N., the subject of this sketch; Alfred A. W., who
died in Chicago in 1893, in his forty-fourth year, having been a skilled
tool-maker, in business for a number of years in that city; and Ellen S.,
widow of Henry Weeden, now living in New Haven, Conn. Nathaniel P. Braman,
who is a skilled mechanic, was with the Remingtons, the Colts, and the
Winchester Arms Company at different times, and is now retired from active
business.
Francis Nelson Braman received his early
schooling at Belchertown, Palmer, and Wilbraham, Mass. he studied medicine
in Palmer and New London, and was two years a student in New York under
the eminent physicians, Drs. Mott, Mosley, and Austin Flint, Sr. In April,
1866, he opened an office in Salem, Conn.; and on New Year's Day, 1868,
he removed to New London, the field of his labors ever since. Dr. Braman
is a man of marked ability, and has long been regarded as a leader among
his contemporaries. He is a member of the American Medical Association,
the county and city medical societies, and has served as president of the
State Medical Society. Dr. Braman is physician in charge of the Smith Memorial
Home and a corporate member of the Board of the New London Memorial Hospital,
also chairman of the medical staff of the hospital. He has won the regard
of the citizens of New London, not only by his professional work and his
fine social qualities, but also by his disinterested efforts as a member
of the Board of Education six years, being chairman three years, to bring
the schools of the city to their present high standard. During his term
of service a new era in school matters was entered upon, the old and unsanitary
school buildings were condemned, a sentiment favoring school sanitation
was developed, and with it a liberal financial policy. This resulted in
the construction of two new edifices and the providing of ways and means
for a third.
Dr. Braman has always been active in church
and Y. M. C. A. work. At the present time he is Deacon of the Second Congregational
Church of New London and its treasurer. In politics he is a Republican.
Dr. Braman was married November 26, 1868,
to Miss Jennie E. Loomis, of Salem, Conn., daughter of the late Hubbell
and Sophronia (Strickland) Loomis, and has two promising sons— Francis
Loomis and Sidney Koyce. Mrs. Jennie E. Braman died May 2, 1895. On December
15, 1897, Dr. Braman formed a second matrimonial alliance with Miss Tulu
M. Tobias, daugther of Daniel J. and Matilda (Gawthrop) Tobias, of Chicago,
Ill.
(Photo attached)
Biographical Review Volume
XXVI
Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens
of
New London County Connecticut
Boston
Biographical Review Publishing Company
1898
pgs 30 - 33
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