Max Braudy, Iron Man

Max and Rachel came from Lithuania and Latvia, respectively and found each other (I suspect) in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan.  I cannot find a notice of marriage,but their first five children were born there while Max was building his fortune in the iron business.  They moved to Grand Rapids before 1887 and lived at many locations on the near West Side, including 218 Jefferson, 193 Gold, 172 S Jefferson, 63 Chatham, and 66 Indiana (These are all pre-1912 address numbers).  Later they built a house at 87 Mount Vernon.  Both homes were within walking distance of the business on Alabama Street.

From the 1895 Sanborn Fire Map.

Clipped from:  The Men Behind the Guns in the Making of Greater Grand Rapids: An Illustrated Biographical and Industrial Reference Work, Giving the Lives of Professional Men Whose Interests are Centered in Michigan's Western Metropolis (Google eBook), Edward Altenbrandt, Dean-Hicks Printing Company, 1909 - Grand Rapids (Mich.) - 280 pages

MAX BRAUDY DIES
(Grandville Avenue Record, August 10, 1917 – Pg. 7)

A successful business career was brought to a close in the death of Max Braudy of Grand Rapids, where he was a large stockholder in banks and possessed large real estate holdings in the business districts. He was 63 years old.
At the age of 24 he came to America from Russian Poland, equipped only with pluck and persistence. On maturity his three sons were admitted in the iron firm which for a number of years has read M. Braudy & Sons.

Both Max and Rachel are buried in Greenwood Cemetery in the Jewish section on top of the hill.