Mason Brayman

Brayman, Mason. (Buffalo, New York, May 23, 1813--February 27, 1895, Ripon, Wisconsin). Baptist. Apprenticed as printer ca. 1830, admitted to the bar in 1836. Worked as a lawyer and editor in Monroe, Michigan, 1837-1839 and later in Wooster, Ohio; Louisville, Kentucky; and Springfield, Illinois. Advised William C. Buck in preparation of The Baptist Hymnal (1842) for which he contributed "Unto Our God on Judah's Hills," whose first stanza is as follows:

Unto our God on Judah's hills
Be songs of holy joy once more;
Let Canaan's rocks and sparkling rills
The king of heaven and earth adore.

In 1853, he moved to Chicago as attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad. President of the American Baptist Publication Society, 1855. Began a military career during the Civil War, serving at the battles of Belmont, Fort Henry, and Fort Donelson. At Pittsburgh Landing, he commanded a brigade and became a Brigadier General for meritorious conduct. At the close of war he returned to his editorial work. In 1876, President Grant appointed him governor of the territory of Idaho. Throughout his career he was active in Baptist churches and especially in religious publication. In Louisville, Kentucky, he was associated with Rev. William C. Buck and Rev. John M. Peck, who published the Baptist Banner and the Western Pioneer. Brayman's hymn "Hark! the rising anthem stealing o'er the land from sea to sea" appeared in Peck's revision of Dupuy's Hymn Book.

Two other hymns by Brayman are "Hark! 'tis the one creative word," sung at the dedication of the First Baptist Church of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and "Voyagers' Sabbath Hymn" (May, 1860) written while on the Mississippi River. He reportedly published a small volume of hymns for private circulation ca. 1877, in Ripon.

--Robert Douglas, Richard C. Shadinger, DNAH Archives