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SOME ACCOUNT
OF
Thomas Jefferson Brooks
1805=1882
AND
His Family
MASSACHUSETTS=INDIANA
1635=1906
AND
The Family Reunion
AUGUST 10, 1906.
PD
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NOV 2 4 1952 0 3 1
THE OCCASION.
The descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Susan
Poor Brooks, with a few relatives and invited guests
had their first general reunion in the grove at Mt.
Pleasant, Martin county, Indiana, August 10, 1906.
This was the first attempt to gather the family since
the times of more than a generation since when the
saint whom the middle aged call grandmother, and
whom our children never knew, gathered her children
and children's children and those of her sister at the
celebration of the, then unusual in Indiana, Puritan
Feast of Thanksgiving.
This reunion had its origin and impetus with Miss
Susan Brooks, of Wildvvoods Farm, and Mrs. Susan B.
Chenoweth, of Bloomington, tho soon all joined with
enthusiasm in "Lending a hand." The day was ideal,
the spirit was right, the larder was full, everything
tended to make it a joyous, happy day always to be
remembered as an event in life.
It was proposed at first to hold the meeting at
Wildwoods, the home of Col. Lewis Brooks. This
would have been appropriate as it lies within a mile of
the site of the former town Hindostan where Thomas
J. Brooks first settled in Indiana. It was changed to
Mt. Pleasant. This old town and vicinity was the
home and center of business activity of Mr. Brooks a
2
great part of his life. The town has passed away.
There remain a few of the old dwellings, notably the
brick residence of Lewis Brooks, a brother, built
about 1830. It is now a place of memory for the old-
er, and to the younger a town of fable and tradition,
and the home of ours who sleep the long sleep.
William B. Trask of Erie, Pa., was present, hav-
ing come to the reunion and to visit his kin. When his
mother taught school in Mt. Pleasant he lived with her
in the family of Thomas J. Brooks and attended the
school. Mr. Trask is only three score and ten, but he
has known soldiers of each war of this nation, the
Revolution, of 181 2, Mexican War, Civil War and
Spanish War.
Further particulars of the meeting appear in the
press notices which are here reprinted.
The Martin County News.
The Brooks family reunion held at "old" Mt.
Pleasant last Friday met every anticipation, as it was
an ideal day and the grounds had been well selected
and prepared for that event. This was the first reun-
ion held by the Brooks family and its success will
doubtless make it an annual affair in the future.
Mt. Pleasant was famous in the early history of
Martin county and was the county seat before the da}*
of railroads; and the arrival of the old stage coach run-
ning between Louisville, Ky., and Vincennes was at
that time an event that excited the inhabitants more
than the arrival of the daily trains at the present time.
Thomas J. Brooks came to this county in 1823 and
lived here until his death at Loogootee in 1882. He
was a native of Massachusetts to which colony his
ancestor, Thomas Brooks, came from England in
1635. The families present were the descendants of
Thomas J. Brooks and his wife, Susan, representing
the western branch of the Brooks family.
The morning was spent in greeting friends and
relatives who had not met in years and renewing old
friendships. A long table had been erected and it
was bountifully filled at both dinner and supper and
those present were loth to departjafter a well spent day.
One of the novel and perhaps most interesting
features was the meeting of Mrs. Rebecca Trask's
scholars of 1845. Sixty-one years ago, before the day
of public schools, Thomas J. Brooks built a school
house at Mt. Pleasant and brought his widowed sister,
Mrs. Rebecca Trask, a gifted Yankee school teacher
of Massachusetts, to Indiana, who taught in that
house. There were probably twenty-two scholars
who attended that school and nine of them, Col. Lewis
Brooks, William B. Trask, Major William Hough-
ton, John C. Cusack, L. L. Dilley, Emily Brooks
Campbell, Susan Brooks Niblack, Mason Rielly and
Mrs. John O' Brian, met for the first time in years.
There were two survivors, Col. James T. Rogers, of
this city, and Mrs. A. R. Brown, who were unable to
be present. It was to them a day to be remembered
through life as the pleasant reminiscences of the pion-
eer days and vivid scenes of childhood were recalled
to memory. The "school children" as they were
designated by those present, had their pictures taken
in a group and enjoyed the experience.
4
Several hours in the afternoon were spent in ad-
dresses, Major Will Houghton presiding. He spoke
in an eloquent and feeling manner of the first school
erected by Thomas Brooks sixty-one years ago and of
the benefit derived from the first knowledge instilled in
the minds of the youthful scholars by Mrs. Rebecca
Trask, the Yankee school teacher, which was the
foundation for their future life and success.
Mrs. Emily Brooks Campbell related incidents of
their school days which was greeted with laughter and
applause. There were many forgotten incidents
brought out during these talks that were refreshing
and interesting to the younger relatives as well as
those to whom memory made them dear,
William B. Trask made an excellent address on
early reminiscences and during which he said it was
not the first picnic that he had attended at that spot.
That while going to school, Lewis Brooks and himself
were sent to the department store at Mt. Pleasant
(which was not as large as John Wanamaker's but
in accordance with the size of the place carried as
great a variety of stock) for a jug of molasses, and
that before starting they slipped pieces of corn bread
in their pockets. As they returned with a stick
through the handle of the jug which they carried be-
tween them, they stopped under a tree at the spot
where they were then assembled and held their first
picnic. He also related how work was suspended in
the school by the passing of a company of soldiers en-
route for the Mexican war, and the wonderful progress
that has been made in the country.
5
Col. Brooks's address on his father, Thomas J.
Brooks, related an interesting story of his life and
pioneer days and how he came to locate at Mt. Pleas-
ant being attracted from Louisville, Ky., by the
manufacture of the Hindostan whetstone.
L. L. Dilley's address on "Our Pioneer Neigh-
bors" was very interesting and recalled names that a
few years since were familiar throughout the country
but now almost forgotton. He gave several amusing
instances of early life in Martin county that were
awarded with laughter and applause.
Thomas J. Brooks, who with his family have just
returned from a visit with the eastern relatives in
Massachusetts, gave a brief history of the family from
the landing of the first one in 1635. Among other
facts it appeared that the family had among their an-
cestors five soldiers of the Revolution, two of the
French and Indian wars, and two of the Narragansett
and King Philip's war with the Indians. He gave an
interesting sketch of the line of Brooks down to the
present time and also authentic authority tracing it back
thro many generations born on American soil.
After supper the reunion broke up and each wish-
ing the other many future years of health and happi-
ness and "God speed."
The Martin County Tribune.
The descendants of Thomas J. Brooks, who was
one of the early pioneers of Martin county and who
perhaps more than any other man helped to develop
the resources of our county and establish schools for
6
the education of the children in those primitive days
when free schools were unknown and good teachers
almost an impossibility, held a reunion on last Friday.
He settled in old Mt. Pleasant, living on a farm one
mile west of town and for many years was the leading
business man in the then metropolis of our county.
Sixty-five years ago he had built a comfortable
and well equipped school house which stood by the
Haysville road about one-fourth mile south of Mt. Pleas-
ant. He persuaded his sister, Mrs. Rebecca Trask,
to come from Massachusetts to take charge of the
school. She came with her only child Will Trask,
who was about the age of Col. Lewis Brooks and was
one of about 35 pupils in that memorable school.
The reunion was held in a locust grove near where
the old George Fraim residence stood. It is a roman-
tic spot and overlooked the old town, the site of the
cemetery where rest the ancestors of the Brooks fami-
ly and others who have "passed beyond."
The meeting was remarkably well attended.
Nearly all the descendants of Thomas J. and Susan
Brooks being present. Three of his children are liv-
ing and were in attendance, Mrs. Emily Campbell, of
Washington, Col. Lewis Brooks, of Wildwoods Farm,
and Mrs. Susan B. Niblack and husband, of Wheat-
land.
The morning hour was spent revisiting old scenes,
the school ground, the spring, cemetery and recalling
memories of "Auld Lang Syne."
Tables had been erected in the grove and at noon
a bountiful repast was spread under the direction of
Mrs. Maggie Brooks, ably assisted by Mrs. Mary
Shirley, Susie Brooks and others. Ample justice hav-
ing been done the splendid dinner the guests were
then assembled for the program of the day.
Major Houghton was asked to preside and make
an address on the subject "The Yankee School Ma'm
in Indiana." This was followed by Mrs. Emily
Campbell with "Earliest Recollections of Mt. Pleas-
ant." Next William Trask on the subject "Differences
of 60 years in Indiana," gave an amusing and instruc-
tive talk, reciting their trip from Massachusetts to
Indiana 65 years ago by stage, railroad, canal and
steamboat. The trip occupied three weeks that is now
made in thirty-six hours. Col. Brooks gave a clear
and concise statement of his father's life and career
the subject being "Thomas J. Brooks as a Pioneer
Citizen and what he did to Develop the Country." L.
L. Dilley gave a very interesting talk on "Their Pio-
neer Neighbors." He recalled the Reillys, Fraims,
Davises, Browns, Shermans, and many others whose
names are almost forgotten.
The event of the day was a paper by Hon. Thom-
as J. Brooks, of Bedford, on "Our Ancestors in the
East," in which he traced unbroken the Brooks line
from Thomas Brooks who came over from England in
1635 to his grandfather who lies buried in "God's
Acre" near where the old school stood.
Photographs were taken of the nine survivors of
Mrs. Trask's school. Also a group consisting of the
descendants of Thomas J. Brooks and a third group
containing all present.
8
At five o'clock the tables were again spread and
after a light repast goodbyes were spoken and the
guests departed. The day was ideal and the reunion
was greatly enjoyed by all.
It is a matter of regret among the survivors of
Mrs. Trask's school that Mrs. A. R. Brown was not
present. The fact that she was one of the pupils was
not brought to mind until too late to send for her. The
reunion of the old pupils was one of the pleasant epi-
sodes of the Brooks reunion.
THOSE PRESENT.
Members of the families of the children of Thomas
Jefferson and Susan Brooks.
Family of Col. Lewis Brooks:
Col. Lewis Brooks; his daughter Susan; son Dan-
iel; son Thomas Jefferson and his wife, Lorabel
Wallace, and daughter May; his son Lewis and his
wife Susan Stafford and sons, Fred, Lewis and Thom-
as J.; his daughter Amanda M. and her husband Al-
bert C. Hacker and children, Helen, Lewis Brooks
and Dorothy Bel; and daughter Annie and her hus-
band Edward H. Schwey and children Susie, Horace,
Emilie, Marian and Edna May; his son William
Francis and his wife Rose Zinkinand children, Mabel,
Mary and Grace Lucy.
Family of Emily Brooks Campbell:
Emily B. Campbell; her daughter Ida; her
daughter, Ethel C. Clements; her daughter, Eugenia
C. Chappell and children, Eugene, Freeman, Philena
and Miller; her daughter, Susan B. Chenoweth, was
unable to attend, but was represented by her children,
Ida, Ardys, Wilson and Ainslie; her daughter Mary
C. Shirley and children, Herman and Lois.
Family of Susan Brooks Niblack:
Susan B. Niblack and her husband Sandford L. ;
their son John H. Niblack and wife Ann Scroggin and
10
children, Martha, John, Herman and Griffiths Brooks;
their son William E. and wife Mollie and their child-
ren Howard and Sarah; their daughter Helen Niblack
McClure and her daughter Persis; their son and
daughter, Herman G. and Persis.
The family of Thomas J. Brooks, 2nd:
Lewis C. Brooks and his wife Maggie Reynolds,
and their children, Libbie and Hattie.
The family of Eustace Adams Brooks:
His daughter Grace Brooks.
The family of Seymour Waldo Brooks:
His son Onas W. Brooks.
Relatives.
Family of Rebecca B. Trask, sister of Thomas
J. Brooks:
Her son William B. Trask.
Family of Harriet Poor Houghton, sister of Mrs.
Thomas J. Brooks:
Her son Maj. William Houghton; Lemuel L. Dil-
ley, surviving husband of her daughter Jeanette, and
daughter Eula, and Kenner Dilley, their son, with his
wife Lota Eastman and children, Jeanette and Dorothy.
Friends.
Mason Rielley, John C. Cusack, Mr. and Mrs.
Moser, Mrs. John R. O'Brian, and Mrs. Hill.
Of the above, the members of Mrs. Trask's school
present were: Mr. William B. Trask, Col. Lewis
Brooks, Maj. Wm. Houghton, Mrs. Emily B. Camp-
bell, Mrs. Susan B. Niblack, Mrs. John R. O'Brian,
Mr. Mason Rielley and Mr. John C. Cusack.
ADDRESSES.
After the noon dinner several addresses were
made which are partially reported. With the excep-
tion of the first, all were impromptu and were after-
wards reduced to writing from memory.
Our Ancestors In the East
By
Thomas J. Brooks.
"To forget one's ancestors, is to be a brook without
a source, a tree without a root."
The subject to which I am expected to respond
this afternoon is too great in volume for either the op-
portunity of the speaker in investigation or the time of
the listeners. I have therefore limited it to the ances-
tors of the Thomas Jefferson Brooks from whom we
descend and who made his home in this then far west-
ern state, more than eighty years ago. Not only do
I make that limitation but limit the remarks to his an-
cestry in the direct line and in the Brooks name alone.
What I may say to you will show you that in the an-
cestry of the names of Dakin, Hoar, Billings, Merriam,
whose strains were part of the blood of Thomas J.
Brooks, there remains for us ample food for investiga-
tion and "remarks" for future reunions of great and
absorbing interest.
It seems to me, however, that the most fit subject
for thought and reading for our next reunion would be
in remembrance of the good woman, the helpmate of
Thomas Jefferson Brooks, Susannah Poor, and her
remarkable line of ancestry through the Poors, Chutes,
Thurstons and others.
At this reunion of the descendants of Thomas Jef-
13
ferson Brooks, assembled at Mt. Pleasant, the scene of
the greatest activities and successes of his life, it is
well to speak of his ancestry. He was born and
lived until eighteen years of age at beautiful Lincoln,
Massachusetts, in that part of the town which in 1754
was set off from Concord, that town of illustrious his-
tory, redolent of great deeds, stirring incidents and
wonderful men and women.
The first of the name in America was Thomas and
the first mention of the name that I find reads:
"Mr. Bulkely, then 52 years of age, embarked at
London, May 9, 1635, in the ship 'Susan and Ellen'
accompanied by William Buttrick and Thomas
Brooke." »
You will notice the spelling, Brooke. I find the
name in the old records spelled in different ways; and
that spelling was frequent.
This was Peter Bulkely, a minister from St.
John's College in Cambridge, a man of wealth,
benevolence and great learning, who became the lead-
er in the settlement of Concord, the first settlement in
English America above tidewater. Under his leader-
ship in the autumn of that year they bought of the
Indians six miles square and founded the town that
one da}T was to engage the attention of the world, and
which to-day is the Mecca of those who delight in the
history of their country and are interested in its litera-
ture. Their first shelter was in burrows in the hillside
where probably the oldest of their dead now lie
sleeping. "The forest rang in psalms, and the poor-
est of God's people in the whole world, unable to ex-
u
eel in numbers, strength or riches, resolved to strive
to excel in grace and in holiness." 2 This Buttrick 3
was the ancestor of Major John Buttrick, who at Con-
cord Bridge on the eventful April 19th, gave the first
order to fire on the British, "Fire, fellow soldiers, for
God's sake, fire." The response was the shot heard
round the world. Great company was this in which
our Thomas sailed for the new world.
Walcott says Mr. Bulkely's wife came over in an-
other ship to avoid some regulation or prohibition. Per-
haps Grace, the wife of our Thomas, came separately
also, for our author does not mention her sailing in the
Susan and Ellen, tho she may have come with her
husband.
Why Thomas failed to go to Concord with Mr.
Bulkely and Simon Willard we do not know. For
some reason he seems to have first settled in Water-
town, near Cambridge, where he was made a free-
man on December 7, 1636. 4 So this is our first date
in America — near three centuries ago. However, he
tarried but a short time but joined his former com-
rades at Concord and became a very active man in the
affairs of the town.
From Shattuck's History of Concord, (Boston,
1835,) I learn of his first mention in the town records
in 1638, when be was constable of the town.5 In
1640 he was, with Lt. Willard and William Wood,
appointed on a commission to value horses, cows,
oxen, goats and "hoggs" in Concord. 6
I don't know whether the lands in Concord were
at first held in common or not, but presume they were
15
largely so, for I find that in 1654 a committee of nine
were appointed to make a division of land and also to
provide for the care of the highways, etc. This divi-
sion was made and rules were made for the care of
certain highways by those residing in portions of the
town, which was all put in writing and signed by the
entire commission on January 7, 1654. This agree-
ment or rules remained in force for fifty years. Our
ancestor, Thomas Brooks, was a member of the com-
mission and signed the instrument. 7 In that same
year he was appointed to carry into effect the law to
prevent drunkenness among the Indians. 8
The importance of preserving land titles and hav-
ing them kept of record was early recognized, so that
we rind in 1663 the selectmen of Concord were de-
sired to get a new "Booke" in which to record the
titles to "the land that men now doe hold" and "the
thing tending to pece and to prevention of strife."
They desired the help of Rev. Bulkely, Minister, and
Thomas Brooks and Joseph Wheeler, names which
were afterwards prominent throughout the history of
Concord and Lincoln, which company set about it on
January 25th and called a meeting for the 29th, which
concluded to transcribe every man's title in a new
"Booke." 9
About that time Joshua Brooks, son of Thomas,
and through whom we are descended, appears to own
eleven lots, 195 acres. His brother Caleb had twelve
lots, 150 acres. 10 The name of Thomas Brooks does
not appear as a land owner. He probably had con-
veyed his lands to his sons.
16
At that time Thomas Dakin ( 1624-1708) who is
an ancestor of Mrs Bathsheba Brooks, wife of Daniel
Brooks, mother of Thomas Jefferson, was then the
owner of four lots, 87 acres.
In 1652 there was granted to the town of Concoid
additional lands on condition that they would be im-
proved by that town before other towns improved it.
The town probabl)* had neglected taking possession of
the lands and other towns had been helping themselves,
for after many years Thomas Brooks with five other
citizens of Concord was appointed "to take a survey
of the rest remayning." They made this survey and
reported to the town in May, 1665, that there were
seven thousand acres of land left. n
In addition to the public offices that have already
been mentioned as held by Thomas Brooks, he served
as deputy in the General Court, which was and yet re-
mains the name of the Legislature of Massachusetts,
in 1642, 1643, 1654, and 1659 to 1662. 12 So that you
can see that in the very beginning our people were
partial to public offices and places of trust. Thomas
Brooks was probably a merchant, for we find that in
1657 for £5 he bought of the General Court the right
to the fur trade in Concord. 13 This was undoubtedly
a valuable privilege to him as Concord was then one
of the outposts of the colony.
This Thomas Boooks was also spoken of as Cap-
tain. He was captain in the Militia. 14 I have found
no record of any particular military service performed
by him, but it is safe to say that he as well as all the
other male citizens of the town performed military
17
duty in protecting the settlement and colony from the
Indians. He died May 21st, 1667. 15
After the Restoration, Charles II appointed royal
commissioners to regulate the affairs of the colonies,
this being one of the steps to subvert the liberty of self
government that had been permitted the colonies dur-
ing the time of the Commonwealth. The people of
Massachusetts took alarm at once and resisted as well
as they could these efforts. In 1664 nine-three resi-
dents of Concord, freemen and others, addressed
themselves to the General Court in a paper, which we
might say was a prophecy by more than a century of
the Declaration of Independence, wherein they pledged
for resistance to the illegal acts of the Royal Commis-
sioners, their lives and their estates. We are proud
that the name of Thomas Brooks, our ancestor, leads
all the rest. 16 The Massachusetts people kept up the
contest with the Commissioners and Governor Andros
until the Revolution of 1688.
Tne children of Thomas and Grace Brooks,
according to Shattuck 17 were Joshua, Caleb, who in
1670 went to Medford, Massachusetts, and from whom
was descended John Brooks, a distinguished soldier of
the Revolution and for several years Governor of
Massachusetts, 18 and also Bishop Phillips Brooks, V)
Gershom, Mary married to Wheeler of Concord,
Hugh, John of Woburn, Thomas, who went to Had-
don, Connecticutt, and perhaps others. Other records
give the names of but four children, Caleb, Gershom,
Joshua and Mary Wheeler. 20
Joshua went back to the old home of Watertown
IS
and married Hannah, the daughter of Captain Hugh
Mason, 21 and from him he probably learned the busi-
ness which he afterward followed. Joshua was a tan-
ner 22 and settled in that part of Concord which was
afterwards, in the year 1754, set °^ an^ became a part
of Lincoln, then established. The tannery existed for
near two centuries and was situate near the Brooks
Tavern in the Brooks village.
Concord must have taken to literary lines early,
for the town had a library as early as 1672. In that
year this Joshua and his brother Gershom were mem-
bers of a committee to recommend rules and regu-
lations to the selectmen and reported seventeen
articles of instruction to the selectmen, among others:
"3. That care be taken of the Booke of Marters and
other Bookes that belong to the town, that they be
kept from abusive usage and not be lent to persons
more than a month at a time." 23 It must be that many
of you have inherited your great love of books from
your ancestor, Joshua, though you may never have
seen the "Booke of Marters" and might find it grue-
some reading.
The children of Joshua and Hannah as given by
Shattuck 24 were Noah, Grace, married Potter, Daniel,
Thomas, Esther, married Whittmore, Joseph, Eliza-
beth, married Merriam, Job and Hugh. In the Gene-
alogical Dictionary and American Ancestory below
quoted, also appears as the first child, Hannah. She
was the namesake of her mother and 'probably died
young and unmarried, and for that reason is not men-
tioned in the other record.
19
The above named Daniel was born November 15,
1663, 25 and married on August 9, 1692, to Anna Mer-
riam, 26 and died October 18, 1733. Anna Merriam
was the daughter of John Merriam and his wife Mary
Cooper and was born September 7, 1669.
The children of Daniel Brooks and Anna Mer-
riam were 27 Daniel, Samuel, Ann, Job, our ancestor,
Mary and John. In addition to these, I find the fol-
lowing names in the Genealogical Dictionary, Vol. 1,
page 261, David, Timothy, Daniel and Josiah. The
second Daniel was probably born after the death of
the first child, Daniel, born in 1693. In early days it
was common to use the name the second time when
the child of the family had died before the birth of the
second of that name.
Job, the son of Daniel, was born April 16, 1698, 2S
and was married to Elizabeth Flagg of Woburn. They
had many children, but we have here only the record
of our ancestor John Brooks, who was born June 13,
1723, ^ and was married on October 23, 1745, to
Lucy Hoar. Book 2, p. 70 of Concord Records
reads, "John Brook and Lucy Hoar were married by
Ye Rev'nd Mr. Daniel Bliss, Oct. 23, 1745." 3°
I find in one of the family records this language
about John Brooks, "In 1743 there was a great revival
of religion in Concord among the young people. He
visited a Miss Lucy Hoar for the benefit of her pious
conversation, and after making her acquaintance,
offered her marriage, and the event was celebrated
October 23, 1745."
Lucy Hoar, who married John Brooks was a
20
daughter of Lt. Daniel Hoar. Her father was born
in Concord in 1680 and he married Dec. 20, 1705, 31
Sarah, the daughter of John and Sarah (Farewell)
Jones. Lucy was the fifth child, was born in 1724 and
died May 15, 1798. Lucy's oldest brother John had a
son Samuel, who was the father of Samuel Hoar, born
in 1778, graduated at Harvard in 1802, and who was in
his lifetime one of the best known and ablest lawyers
jn New England. He married Sarah, the daughter of
Roger Sherman, and among their children was Ebcn
Rockwood Hoar, who was Attorney General in Presi-
dent Grant's cabinet, and held many other distin-
guished positions, and George Frisbie Hoar, so long a
distinguished senator from Massachusetts. 32
Of John Brooks the following mention was made
in the Columbian Sentinel, published in Boston, August
12, 1812:
"Died in Lincoln, 2nd inst. Mr. John Brooks, JE
LXXXIX. He sustained the character of an honest
and industrious man and exemplary and devout
Christian. The number of his descendants as nearly
as can be ascertained are ten children, eighty-three
grandchildren, seventy-three great grandchildren and
two of the fifth generation."
The list of his descendants at the present day if
they could all be traced out would fill a great book and
be a fair population for a western county.
John Brooks's will was filed August 11, 1812, and
was signed April 24, 1799. There was a codicil to it
dated in 1807. The will was witnessed by Samuel
Hoar, Jr., and the codicil by Samuel Hoar. This was
21
the distinguished lawyer that has been mentioned who
was the grand nephew of Mrs. John Brooks. By this
will he bequeathed his lands and buildings in Lincoln
and Concord to his son, Daniel Brooks. Mention is
made in the will of his son Job and several daughters.
In the codicil, his wife is called Hannah, his first wife
Lucy having died some years prior thereto. Among
the children of John and Lucy Brooks was Daniel
Brooks, our ancestor, born September 6, 1764, married
by Rev. Charles Stearns 33 December 25, 1786, to
Bathsheba Dakin. He died September 22, 1839, and
with his wife is buried in the cemetery at Lincoln.
Bathsheba Dakin was born Januaiy 12, 1767, 34
and died October 20, 1747. She was the daughter of
Lieut. Samuel Dakin and Elizabeth Billings. This
Samuel Dakin was a minute man at Lexington. He
was also at Dorchester Heights in 1776, and at Sara-
toga in 1777. 35 His father Samuel was a captain in
the French and Indian War and was killed in that war
at Halfway Brook. 36 Captain Samuel was the son of
Deacon Joseph, also given in some genealogies as
Simon, who died March 13, 1744, aged seventy-five.37
Deacon Joseph was the son of Thomas Dakin who
was in Concord before 1650 and who died October 21,
1708. ^ Thomas Dakin has been mentioned hereto-
fore as one of the early land owners of Concord. The
gun of Lieut. Samuel Dakin is on the wall to the left
of the entrance in the Antiquarian Building at Concord.
Bathsheba Dakin was descended from Nathaniel
Billings, who is said to have been the first settler
within the present limits of Lincoln. 39 Nathan-
22
iel Billings died in 1673. His grave in the cemetery
on Main street in Concord identifies the oldest marked
grave in Concord. The stone is comparatively mod-
ern.
The property which it has been observed was
willed by John Brooks to his son Daniel is situated in
North Lincoln. The farm lies on the north of Sandy
Pond and was in the vicinity of what was known as
the Brooks Travern, which was until the time of the
building of the Fitchburg Railroad, now a branch of
the Boston and Maine, much patronized by the travelers
and freighters on their way from Boston to the upper
country. It was near the Brooks Tavern in North
Lincoln that Paul Revere was captured by the British
on the night of his famous ride. The British who
were marching out from Charlestown had scouts through
the country, and Revere, Dawes and Dr. Samuel
Proscott rode into a party of the British, and Revere
was captured. Prescott suddenly turned his horse,
leaped a stone wall and galloped on to Concord and
gave the alarm of the coming of the British, which
alarm called out the minute men of Concord and vicin-
ity. Revere was kept by the British until they heard
the tolling of the bell on the meeting house at Lexing-
ton, when they knew that the march had been discov-
ered and the country was being aroused. They made
Revere to dismount, cut the girth of his saddle and
left him. He ran to Lexington and there -joined the
forces of the patriots. He afterwards went to Woburn
to arouse the people.40
The story of the advance of the British to Con-
cord, their repulse, retreat and rout need not again be
23
told here, except that on their retreat through Lincoln
the fighting was the hardest. Just after they had
passed the Brooks Tavern the minute men from the
wooded roadside made an attack upon them and killed
eight of the British and the retreat became a rout.
Here three of the minute men were killed. 41 Five of
these British soldiers are buried in the old part of the
new cemetery at Lincoln, near Mr. Flint's residence,42
and three were buried by the roadside.43
At the time of the battle at Concord, Daniel
Brooks was but eleven years of age, and it is said that
he was a spectator of the same in violation of his
mother's command, and it is a part of the oral history
of the family that he served in the War of the Revolu-
tion. The records of the town of Lincoln show that
in 1 781 a committee was appointed to hire men and
money was voted to pay them. Mention of this is also
made by Shattuck in his history. There is no record
of the names of those who enlisted in response to that
endeavor. In Vol. 2 page 570 of the "Massachusetts
Soldiers & Sailors" we find the entry, "Brooks,
Daniel, Private, Capt. John Hayward's Co., Col.
Webb's Regiment. Enlisted September 1, 1781, dis-
charged December 4, 17S1, served three months and
thirteen days." This is undoubtedly the Daniel
Brooks of whom we are speaking, the son of John and
Lucy Brooks. There can be no question of his ser-
vice in the army. Though he was very young you will
notice he served until the war was virtually closed.
His discharge was after the surrender of Cornwallis.
For his pay he received a warrant, which when turned
into money he invested in a lot on the east side of
n
Sand}' Pond. This lot, or a portion of it, is still
owned by his granddaughter, Mrs. Emily Chapin,
who lives at Lincoln. The Captain Hay ward men-
tioned was from Acton. Acton was only a few miles
from Lincoln, Concord lying between. There were
several Brookses whose war history is given in the vol-
ume above mentioned some of whom came from Lin-
coln, but other than Daniel there were none in our di-
rect line of ancestry. In the account of the 150th
anniversary of the Town of Lincoln, published by the
town in 1904, p. 238, appears the name of Daniel
Brooks as one who served in the Revolution. He and
wife with some of their descendants lie buried in one
of the cemeteries of Lincoln. On his grave is the
marker by the S. A. R. as you can see by the picture
shown you to-day.
The town records of Lincoln show that in July,
1781, the town meeting voted money "to pay the men
already raised to go to R. I. and also an)' others that
may be called to go N. Y." The names of those who
went into the war were never recorded in the town re-
cords. They were regarded as traitors by the British,
and the New Englander did not think it wise to write
a record that might be troublesome if the patriotic
cause met with ultimate defeat.
Daniel Brooks must have enlisted in the last
class. His term began in the September following the
vote. He told his son, Thomas Jefferson, that he
served in New York and was discharged at Saratoga
without money and was compelled to walk home.
One of his descendants 44 writes me of him,
25
"Mother (Mrs. Emily Chapin of Lincoln) and grand-
mother tell me this story. When grandfather (Col.
Daniel) was discharged, the government had no money
to pay the soldiers, so, he with other penniless com-
rades started to walk home from New York, begging
their way from village to village. Either because villager
were indifferent or too poor to respond to so many and
frequent calls upon their hospitality, he became so ex-
hausted from sickness, hunger and weariness, that he
sat down upon a door step expecting to die. The
mistress of the house saw him and had him brought
into the house, and cared for him until he was able to
go on again."
From the town of Lincoln thirteen of our name
alone served in the Revolutionary army. The whole
number from the town was more than one hundred
fifty. This is a glorious record, for Lincoln is a small
town and was then as now sparsely settled, there be-
ing no village or city within its borders. Probably
seven hundred would count the inhabitants in those
days.
Daniel Brooks after the war continued in the
militia and the town records of Lincoln which were
shown to me by Mr. Chapin show his promotion in the
military service and increase of title. Some years
after the war he was spoken of as captain and then
on through the grades to colonel, which office he held
in 1812 and resigned, according to Drake's History of
Middlesex County, together with Major Flint, expect-
ing to get a commission in the National Army, but in
that he was disappointed.
General Eleazer Brooks of Lincoln, who is so
26
well known in the military history of revolutionary
Massachusetts, was a brother of John Brooks, father
of Col. Daniel. Of him it has been said:
"Among the most prominent names in Lincoln at
the time of its incorporation is that of Brooks, and in
the fourth generation from the settlement, the Hon.
Eleazer Brooks is a citizen to do honor to any town.
Endowed by nature with a frame of extraordinary vig-
or he was a born athlete in the days when boys had
not yet been taught to think that to be a magnificent
animal is the first if not only the duty of man. Pre-
vented by slender means from attaining that culture
which Lincoln has always sought for her sons, he
educated himself in the teeth of all obstacles, and
proved a dangerous foe in discussion for those whose
learning had been conducted more according to rule.
He early received a commission from Governor Hut-
chinson in the militia, but resigned it when events
showed that the country must defend its rights. His
pen composed the eloquent letter in which the citizens
of Lincoln united with their Boston brethren to protest
against the tea tax; though with a longing intimation
that tea is not altogether pernicious if properly used.
He was a member of the first Provincial Congress, was
present on the eventful nineteenth of April, and before
the action at Lexington was known, gave sage advice
against beginning the war by the Provincials. He
early enlisted in the defence of his country; command-
ed a regiment of which we hear at Ticonderoga and
Dorchester Heights, at White Plains and Saratoga,
and rose to the rank of brigadier. He was none the
less active in all civic relations, leading his fellow citi-
27
zens in their opposition to the abortive state constitu-
tion of 1778 and their acceptance of that of 1780. His
name stands on the honored roll of those who voted
for the national constitution of 1787. He served his
town and his country as a representative, counsellor
and senator for many years with the profound respect
and esteem of all who knew him, for his indomitable
energy, his commanding spirit, his outspoken sincerity,
his penetrating judgment, his unflinching allegiance to
duty and to God." 4S
Daniel and Bathsheba had children: Daniel,
Bathsheba, John, Tryphena, Lucy Hoar, Grosvenor,
Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and Rebecca.
Daniel, born December 22, 1787, went to the
west and died at Martin county, Indiana, and was
buried in the Brooks Graveyard here at Mt. Pleasant.
He has no surviving descendants.
Bathsheba, born February 18, 17S9, married
Elijah Fiske, whose surviving descendants are: her
two great grandchildren, Sarah and Charles Tarbell,
children of her daughter Martha's son Charles; also
Cornelius Fiske, lawyer of New York City.
We have no record of John who died young.
Tryphena, born August 11, 1794. married Cyrus
Smith. They became the owners of the farm in Lin-
coln and lived there during most of their lifetime.
Daniel and Bathsheba Brooks in later life lived with
their daughter Tryphena Smith until their death. Try-
phena Smith is survived by descendants: Emily,
widow of James Lorin Chapin. She is living, and her
two sons, Cyrus Chapin of Boston and Lincoln, with
28
his children, George Chapin of Lincoln, with his
children, and Carrie Brooks Chapin, also of Lincoln.
Lewis Smith, the son of Tryphena, died recently at
Portsmouth, New Hampshire. His widow and son
Howard survive him. Maria, another daughter of
Tryphena Smith, married Leonard Thompson, whom
she survives, living at Woburn, with her lives her
daughter, Mrs. Nellie Smith Shaw. Mrs. Shaw,
whose husband is dead, had daughters, Sybil, married
to Mr. Elliott Trull, and Marian Shaw. With Mrs.
Thompson are also Ethel Smith Burbeck and Bertha
May Burbeck, children of Jennie Lind Burbeck, now
dead, daughter of Mrs. Thompson. Benn Thompson
Burbeck, the brother of Ethel and Bertha, lived with
his father in New Hampshire, but is now dead. Mrs.
Thompson has two sons, Lewis Waldo, who married
Helen Brigham. They have no children and live at
Woburn. The other son, Edgar Bradford Thompson,
married Gertrude Stoker and lived at Oak Park, 111.
Lucy Hoar Brooks was born September 7, 1796,
married Calvin Smith. Their surviving children are
Cyrus Grosvenor at Lincoln, who has sons, Thomas
Wilbur and Edward Irving; Lucy Smith, daughter of
Lucy Brooks Smith, married Huddleston. She lives
at Maiden, Mass. I know her children, Lucy Hud-
dleston and son Frank T. Huddleston, all living at
Maiden.
Lewis Brooks was born January 2, 1802. He
early went to the west was a merchant in Martin
county, Indiana, and afterwards at New Albany,
Indiana, where he engaged in the wholesale busi-
ness and died. He married Mary Merriam in
29
Orange county, Indiana, whose family were Vermont
people and were a prominent family at the town where
he first located. This town was Hindostan, which
was located at the Falls one mile north of Wildwoods,
the present home of Col. Lewis Brooks. The town
long since disappeared. Lewis Brooks had several
children who died in infancy and youth and are buried
with the others of our name in the "Brooks Grave-
yard" near by, and two daughters, Eliza, who married
Augustus Wise and always lived at Vincennes. She
died this present year. Her children live at Vin-
cennes yet. The other daughter, Carrie, married
Champney, the artist, lived and died at Woburn,
Mass. She is survived by one daughter, who lives
with her father, and a son Kenneth.
Rebecca Brooks, born August 10, 1808, was the
youngest child of Daniel; married Rev. Trask. Her
son William now lives in Erie, Pennsylvania. He is
to-day among us an honored guest and welcome kins-
man. She was one of the first school teachers of this
county. She came here under the patronage of
Thomas Jefferson Brooks, who in the main supported
the school. The scene of her labors was near this
spot. To her energy and aptitude as a teacher many
of the citizens of this county owe their intellectual
awakening and thirst for the better. Mrs. Trask was
a pupil of Mary Lyon at the famous Mt. Holyoke, and
undoubtedly brought to pioneer Mt. Pleasant the im-
press, spirit and influence of that famous woman. Be-
fore she came to this county, she had been a teacher
in the state normal at Lexington, and in the Female
Seminary of Charlestown, Massachusetts, as well as
so
conducting a private school on her own account. I
will let her pupils speak further of her to-day.
Thomas Jefferson Brooks, son of Daniel, was
born December 29, 1805, and went to Martin county,
Indiana, in 1823. He first located at Hindostan, after-
wards, for a short time in Orange county, then at Mt.
Pleasant, and afterwards in business at Loogootee,
Indiana. He lived for many years on his farm one
mile west of the old town of Mt. Pleasant. He held
man}r offices of public trust in his lifetime and after
his death, December 11, 1882, now lies buried in
yonder God's acre. In August 5, 1830, he was
married to Susan Poore at Orleans, Indiana. She was
born at Newburyport, Mass., December, 15, 181 1,
and died January 12, 1874, at tne iarm ln Martin
county. Their children were Emily (Campbell),
Lewis, Susan (Niblack), Eustace Adams, Seymour
Waldo, Hannah, Grace (Gibson) and others who
died in infancy or early youth.
So of the Brookses there have been ten genera-
tions in America, of the speaker's family, for example:
Thomas 1
Joshua 2
Daniel 3
Job 4
John 5
Daniel 6
Thomas Jefferson 7
Lewis 8
Thomas Jefferson 9
May Brooks 10
31
No attempt has been made to trace out the kin-
ships, but only to give the direct line of descent. With
the aid of the facts here given the different relation-
ships may be traced.
I have endeavored to give as well as I can those
of our kinspeople who yet live in Massachusetts. No
doubt there are names that I have not been able to
give you. You will notice that of those of our near
kin yet in the east none are named Brooks. This is
because of the family of Daniel Brooks, the sons who
grew to maturity went to the west, while the girls re-
mained and married. The old farm is now owned by
Lorenza Elnathan Brooks, no kin to us as far as
known. Of course there can be no question but that
the Brookses of Massachusetts, unless it be some of
the later arrivals in this country, and I know of none,
are all descendants of the first Thomas Brooks of Con-
cord.
On the hillside at Concord across the road from
Wright's Tavern and the Unitarian Church in "Bury-
ing Hill", the site of the caves in which the first set-
tlers sought refuge from the weather, and facing the
street on which the proud British under Smith and
Pitcairn in the morning vauntingly marched, and over
which in a few hours ingloriously retreated, lie buried
our early dead. There are no stones to mark the
graves of the first three generations, Thomas, Joshua
and Daniel, who were unquestionably interred there,
but there are the stones of Job and his wife, John
Brooks and his wife, Lucy Hoar, and her father Lieut.
Daniel Hoar, among the scores of other Brookses.
The son of John and Lucy Brooks, Daniel, is the first
and the only one of the name of Brooks in our line
buried in Lincoln. I give some of the inscriptions:
In the memory of Mr. Job Brooks who departed
this life Octr, ye 26th, 1788 in the 91st of his
years
He lived in the beliefs of ye truths of the
Gospel of Christ and died in hopes of
salvation through his merits and was considered
by survivors as coming to ye grave in a
full age as a shock of corn cometh in his
season.
"Now let my death be all serene
Exclaimed the ancient saint;
Since thy salvation I have seen
I die without complaint."
In Memory of
Mrs. Elizabeth Brooks Consort of
Mr. Job Brooks; she departed this life
Feb. 21, 1786; in the 90th year of her age.
After having lived with her said husband 65 years
She died in the belief of a resurrection to
a better life.
Though not till ninety some retire
Yet monuments around declare
How vast the number who expire
While youth & beauty promise fair.
[Coat of Arms.]
Here lies the remains
of
Mr. John Brooks
who died Aug. 2, 1812 Aet 90
He liv'd respected and died lamented.
Erected
in memory of Mrs. Lucy Brooks, wife
of Mr. John Brooks. She died May 15,
1788 Aet at 74 years
Her exemplarey life was better known to her friends
than can be described on this monument.
Retire my friends, forbear to weap
I am not dead but here I do sleep
Think how my soul doth soar above
And all my theam is praise and love.
[Coat of Arms.]
Paternal Coat Armor.
M. S.
Lieut Daniel Hoar
Obt Feb'r., ye 8th 1773 Aet: 93
By Honest industry & Prudent
Oeconomy he acquired a handsome
Fortune for a man in Privet Carragter. He
Injoy'd a long Life & uninterrupted
State of health blessings that
ever attend Exersies & Temperance.
S. V.
Here's the last end of Mortal story
He's Dead!
While on the subject of ancestry, etc., you must
know that your Susan (Susannah) Poor wife of
Thomas Jefferson, was descended from military ances-
try. In the genealogy of the Poore family entitled
"Memoirs and Genealogy of John Poore", by Alfred
Poore, Salem, Mass., 1881, we find that Henry Poore,
son of John, was born in 1650, was in the war against
the Narragansett Indians and in King Philip's War.
(Page 135). Joseph Poore, the son of Samuel, the
son of the said Henry, son of John, was at Lake
George in 1757 as a soldier in the French and Indian
War, and was one of the survivors of the massacre at
Ft. Wm. Henry. In the Revolution on the next day
after the battle of Lexington as a soldier he (Joseph)
34
marched to Cambridge, Mass., and was afterwards a
captain in the army of the Revolution. (Page 204).
Your descent from this man is as follows:
From Susannah, usually written Susan Poore
(wife of Thomas Jefferson Brooks), daughter of John
the son of the above named Joseph of Revolutionary
record. 46
While you are looking for Revolutionary ances-
tors, we know by the "Poore Book" and "The Gene-
alogy of the Chute Family," (p. 36) by William Ed-
ward Chute, Salem, Mass., that Susannah Poore, wife
of Thomas J. Brooks, was the daughter of John Poore
and his wife Hannah Chute. Hannah Chute Poore
born in Newburyport, Mass., August 21, 17S0, and
married John Poore and came to Indiana at an early
date. Her husband died leaving her with a large
family of small children and but very little propertj-.
She was the daughter of James Chute, the son of
Daniel Chute, all of Newburyport. Her father, James
is mentioned in the "Massachusetts Soldiers and Sail-
ors", Vol. 3, page 464, as follows: "James Chute,
Private, Capt. Jacob Gaerrish's Co., which marched
on the alarm of April 19, 1775, to Cambridge." In
Currie's History of Newbury 1902, on page 587, his
name is given as soldier of the Revolution. His fath-
er, Daniel Chute, served in the French and Indian
War, and in the Revolution marched in Joseph Poore's
company on the news of Lexington. 47
This meager recital is but the outline of a story
which, when told in its fullness is of absorbing inter-
est, of a family name of good New England stock,
35
made up mostly of the common mold, bearing its part
of the humdrum of every day life, but a name and his-
tory that bears no mark of shame, but, one of which
we have a right to be proud. Duty and service, labor
and endeavor, have been the shibboleth of each gener-
ation. Most have exhibited thro all the time many of
the elements of the Puritan character, and that per-
haps in a day when it is not always the fashion.
Some of my hearers who were not born Brookses,
but have taken the name, may have at times had de-
cided opinions concerning the Brooks character and
temperament. In our defense I have quoted from
Prof. Wm. Everett, the orator at the dedication of the
town house at Lincoln in 1892, who in speaking of the
act of the General Court in establishing the church
precinct, or parish, which preceded the incorporation
of the town, and that certain persons had been except-
ed from the operation of the act, said:
"With that tender respect for individuals, which
is at the bottom of all true New England institutions, a
goodly number of persons living within the proposed
bounds, but not having signed the petition for division,
were exempted from the operation of the act until
they should voluntarily accept its provisions. I ob-
serve among these stout conservatives, who did not
propose to do things simply because their neighbors
and relations did, a conspicuous number of the name
of Brooks. It is my constant pride to trace my Mid-
dlesex descent through this ancient name to a common
ancestor with the Brookses of Lincoln; and I rejoice to
see among them the same quality which has prevailed
36
in all of the name that ever I heard of, a quality which
can only be described by the New England word
cussedness. You cannot make a Brooks do anything
till he — or she — is quite ready to; and if the majority
is against them so much the worse for the majority; if
you do succeed in absorbing a Brooks, he is leaven,
salt, water, — anything but dough.
1, Walcott's Concord in Colonial Period, p. 1; 2, Bancroft's
His. U. S. Vol. 1 p. 257; 3, Brown, Beneath Old Roof Trees 118,
Shattuck 365; 4, Bond's Watertown, (1855), Manual of the Church
in Lincoln, 72, Drake's His. of Middlesex County, Vol. 2 p. 440,
443; 5, Shattuck's His. of Concord, (1835), p. 18; 6. lb. p. 19; 7,
lb. pp. 33, 34, 35; 8, lb. 45; 9, lb. 36; 10, lb. 37; 11, lb. p. 39;
12, lb. 235; 13, lb. 203; 14, Lincoln Church Man. 72; 15, Shattuck
364; 16, Address of Sen. Hoar, 250th Anniversary of Concord,
printed by the town, p. 29; 17, Shattuck, 365; 18. lb., Gen. Diet,
of N. Eng. Vol. 1 pp. 261, 2; 19, lb., and Drake, Vol. 2 p. 168; 20,
Gen. Diet. Vol. 1, p- 262 and American Ancestry Vol. 1. p. 10; 21,
Drake Vol. 2, pp. 34, 440; 22, lb. and Shattuck, 365; 23, Shattuck
45; 24, lb. 365; 25, Concord, Register of Births, etc., p. 11,
(printed); 26, lb. p. 36, (printed copy); 27, Shattuck 365; 28,
Concord Reg. p. 45, 29, Concord Reg. Ill (Printed); 30, lb.
p. 165; 31, lb. 64; 32, Autobiography of George F. Hoar, 33,
Records of Lincoln, Mass., pp. 145, 146; 34, lb. 57; 35, Mass.
Soldiers and Sailors of Rev. War, Vol. 4; 36, Shattuck 368; 37, lb.
194; 38, 367; 39, Drake Vol 2, p. 34; 40, Drake, Vol. 1, p. 118; 41,
Brown, Beneath Old Roof Trees, 225, Drake Vol. 2, p. 41; 42,
Brown, 226; 43, 2 Drake, Vol. 2, p. 41; 44, Miss Carrie Brooks
Chapin of Lincoln; 45, Prof. Wm. Everett's address at the Dedi-
cation of the Town House, Lincoln, 1892; 46, Gen. of the Poores by
Alfred Poore, Salem, 1881, pp. 257, 274, 275, 276; 47, Story of By-
field by John L. Ewell, p. 122.
"The Yankee School Ma'm in Indiana"
By
Maj. William Houghton, a nephew of Mrs.
Susan Poor Brooks.
I confess to some considerable degree of pride in
being asked to address this congregation of people re-
presenting the descendants of Purtain ancestors. I
always held a profound veneration for the Pilgrim
fathers who knelt upon that barren rock at Plymouth
and thanked God that they had reached a land that
promised civil and religious liberty. The climate of
that land was bleak; the soil was poor; the country
was hilly; and rocks abounded. Perhaps it was better
so, for out of their seeming disadvantages they laid
the foundation of our country's greatness.
Wendell Phillips said a half century ago, "As long-
as New England is made of granite and the nerves of
her sons of steel, so long she will continue to be the
brain of the New World. She will dominate the em-
pire of thought, whiten oceans with her sails, and
gather the wealth of the world within her harbors."
We believe his words were true, and that our immense
prosperity has been largely due to those restless, brainy
sons of New England who led in the westward march
of empire, and impressed their individuality over all
the north land. Among the many who left New Eng-
land homes to seek fortunes in the west were three
brothers, Daniel, Lewis and Thomas j. Brooks, who
38
came from Lincoln, Massachusetts, and settled in
Martin county. Thomas J. Brooks was the youngest
and we see to-day three score of his descendants, met
in his honor.
Now this brings me to my subject, "The Yankee
School Ma'm in Indiana." Thomas J. Brooks was
the Patron Saint of Education in this county. Through
his efforts a comfortable and well equipped school
house was built in sight of the place where we are now
standing; and he induced his sister, Mrs. Rebecca
Trask, to make the long and arduous trip from Massa-
chusetts, to take charge of the school. This was in
1845, sixty-one years ago. I was then not quite six
years old, but the recollections of that first introduction
to the "Yankee School Ma'm" are as vivid as if it
were but yesterday. I was the most pronounced tow-
head among the twenty-five or thirty children who at-
tended; and my recollection is, I was the greenest
looking of the lot. I had a copy of Webster's Spell-
ing Book with which the oldest people here were all
familiar. M3* mother had started me on my education-
al career and I had mastered the first few pages, as
far as "baker," the first word of two syllables. At
the beginning of my examination I announced my pro-
ficiency in spelling including "baker." But Yankee
School Ma'ms were not taking anything for granted.
I was put through a very effective "civil service ex-
amination" which I passed successful!)'. She then
looked at me and said, "Can you read?': I was thun-
der struck. Read ! why the theory was to learn the
spelling book through and then learn to read. I told
her I could not read. She said, "I think you can
89
read," and gave me the example, "It is an ox." I
spelled and pronounced each syllable. "Now," she
said, "Spell to yourself, and pronounce aloud." Won-
derful revelation. That sentence told me instantly
what reading was. I was ordered to get a new reader
and went home that night, the proudest boy in the set-
tlement. To Mrs. Trask I and all others who were
her pupils, owe a correct start on the road to education
which was worth much to us in after years.
I desire here to mention two other "Yankee
School Ma'ms" who continued the work of education
in the "Old School House." Miss Lucy Fiske, of
Massachusetts, succeeded Mrs. Trask. She was a
niece of Thomas J. Brooks, thoroughly equipped for
her work and brought us on in the same masterly way.
The third was Sarah S. Getchell, of Maine. She was
a most excellent teacher and to her I am indebted for
what proficiency I gained in advanced studies. To
these three "Yankee School Ma'ms", I owe all the
education I ever received. They taught us to think
and analyze, to master by short cuts and new mothods
the problems of the school room. Their discipline
was rigid but always maintained without the use of the
rod. They were never excited and never lost their
temper. They appealed to our honor, took a personal
interest in our advancement, and imbued us with the
principles of manhood and good citizenship. The
word "can't" was eliminated from their dictionary.
They impressed us that whatever in others was possi-
ble, we might ourselves attain. It gives me great
pleasure today, even at this late date, to pay some little
tribute of gratitude to their memory.
"Earliest Recollections of Mt. Pleasant"
By
Mrs- Emily B. Campbell, daughter of Thomas J. Brooks.
Perhaps the earliest recollection that comes to me,
is that of my first clay at school in the old log house,
which stood just north of the old brick house where
Riley Routt now lives. The floor was of puncheons,
and when I seemed to apply myself with little diligence
to my studies, the teacher, Kitty Ann Brown, threat-
ened to lift a puncheon and put me under the floor. I
was so nearly paralyzed with fright by this threat that
it is little wonder I did not learn the lesson. She mod-
ified this threat, however, by marking a big "D" for
dunce in my hand. That made me so ashamed, I ran
home and climbed into the cradle and shut my eyes
tight. She sent one of the big girls after me, and
when she found me apparently asleep she went back
and reported the matter to the teacher. Miss Brown
must have concluded that a cradle was rather a more
appropriate place for a four year old child than a
backless puncheon seat in the school room, for she let
the matter rest.
There could not have been more than twenty
houses in Mt. Pleasant at this time, 1836. There were
three stores, father's, Barney Riley's and George
Fraim's. Mr. Riley's store was across the road to the
south and Mr. Fraim's across the road in front of
father's store. At this time we lived in the Routt
brick house, which was built by my uncle Lewis in
1832, and was quiet a mansion for those days. In 1837
we moved out to the farm. Mr. Anthony moved into
the brick and lived there several years.
The old brick court house stood on the slope of
the hill south east of father's store. It was here the
church services were held, the Methodist and New
Light (or Christian) being the first demoninations to
come to the place.
"Difference of Sixty Years in Indiana"
By
William B. Trask, a nephew of Thomas J. Brooks, and
son of Rebecca Brooks Trask.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Relatives and Friends:
I need not assure you how I appreciate the pleas-
ure of being with you on this enjoyable occasion.
When I am called for an after dinner speech, I do
not feel quite as comfortable as the prophet Daniel did
when he went into the Lions' Den. Daniel said, you
know, that this was surely one occasion when he
would not be called on for an after dinner speech.
Perhaps you people who are here assembled this
afternoon may think this is the first picnic ever held
on these historic grounds. But if you do, I assure,
you are mistaken. And there is another gentleman
present who can corroborate me. Some sixty odd
years ago Thomas J. Brooks was living in the suburbs
of what was then Mt. Pleasant, about a mile below
here. And one hot July afternoon Aunt Susan re-
quested two boys there, to go to the town and buy a
two gallon jug of molasses. Now these boys were
wise beyond their years. Before they started they
supplied themselves with a plentiful supply of corn
bread. They then proceeded along the hot and dusty
road till they reached the town of Mt. Pleasant and
43
going down the main street they came to the depart-
ment store of Brooks and Gibson which then stood on
the corner of the next street beyond us. This was the
first department store I knew of, and while it may not
have been quite as large as that of Marshall Fields of
Chicago, or John Wanamaker of Philadelphia, it was
not exceeded (?) by either of them in the variety of
goods which they carried.
There was the stationery department, and the
millineiy, and the cutlery and the grocery, and the
book, and the agricultural implement departments, and
many others, besides the provision departments, where
I have seen as many as 400 dressed hogs at one time.
I do not recall any passenger elevators, nor any tele-
phones, nor do I remember to have seen any automo-
biles roll up to the doors. Well, the boys proceeded to
the grocery department and bought the jug of molasses
and then inserting a stick through the handle, each
boy taking hold of one end, they started on the return
trip. Having arrived at the outskirts of the metropolis
about this very spot, the)- retired under the shade of a
tree, and there was where the corn bread came in. I
am confident that none of that corn bread ever reached
home and how much of the molasses got there history
does not state. That I think was the first picnic held
on these grounds.
This is a reunion of the Brooks family, and al-
though I do not bear the honored name of Brooks, yet
I have as much Brooks blood in me as any of you.
My mother was a Brooks but she changed her name,
very fortunately for me; otherwise I probably would
nut have been present with you on this very enjoyable
u
occasion. This is an occasion for reminiscences and
I will tell you how my mother and I came to come out
here. In 1845 Thomas J. Brooks came to Massachu-
setts to see his mother and three sisters then living
there; and, when he got ready to return he persuaded
my mother to come back with him and I came with
them. We lived in Lexington about ten miles from
Boston. We took the wagon ride to Boston, thence
by rail to Providence, and then by steam boat to New
York, then by rail to Philadelphia, and then by rail to
Harnsburg, which at that time was as far west as any
railroad reached. There we took the canal. The
motive power was a pair of mules, behind which fol-
lowed a small colored boy who kept up to the limit of
their speed which was about two and a half miles an
hour. The canal eventually brought us to Pittsburg.
If I recollect right we were about five days on the
canal. I had never been between Harrisburg and
Pittsburg since till last winter when I happened to be
in Pittsburg; and took the train for New York. While
riding along between Altoona and Harrisburg the train
followed the banks of the old canal for quite a number
of miles and all of a sudden the old journey that I took
in 1845, with my mother and Uncle Thomas came to
my mind. We made the former journey in five days,
and I made the latter in five hours, showing the won-
derful progress in travel during my life time. From
Pittsburg we took a steamboat, one of the stern-wheel
kind, down the Ohio to Cincinnati, and then a better
boat to Louisville and from there to Mt. Pleasant by
stage, having been on our journey about three weeks
and the same can be made now in about thirty hours.
45
My old schoolmate and presiding officer of the
day, Major Houghton, has aptly described the "Old
School House" which stood in front of the little ceme-
tery down yonder. I recall one incident which he has
not mentioned but I presume will recur to the memor-
ies of the scholars when I relate it.
One afternoon we heard the tap of the drum
through the open window. It was at first very indis-
tinct but gradually grew louder and louder. Such an
unusual occurence in the quiet village aroused the
whole school, and the teacher very wisely dismissed,
and we all hurried over to town to see what was going
on. We found there a company of men wrho had en-
listed for the Mexican War and were marching to New
Albany where they were to take the boat down the
i river.
The school as I recollect it could not have had
more than twenty or twenty-five scholars and I do not
think when it was open any two had books alike.
Many of the scholars of six, eight and ten years of age
could not even read. I think that was the be<rinnin<i
of regular schools in this vicinity. My Uncle Thomas
J. Brooks is entitled to the credit of starting that
school and in getting my mother out here to teach and
afterwards getting my Cousin Lucy Fiske here to con-
tinue it. After that period I think the people realized
the need of good schools and kept them up. We used
to have school week days and Sunday school on Sun-
days conducted by Mr. Bryant.
I visited here again in 1869 and missed from my
circle of relatives the well known forms of my Uncle
Daniel and wife, and my cousins, Harriet and Thomas.
And now I come once more and am greeted with a
much larger number of kin than before. I have not
the language to express my thanks to you all for the
affectionate, cordial, and sincere welcome I have re-
ceived from each and all of you both young and old.
Every body has come forward and taken me by the
hand and said, "Cousin William, I am glad to see
you." Such a hospitable greeting from so large a
number of my kinfolk I never had before. And it
was particularly nice of my cousin, the Colonel, to ask
so many of my schoolmates here to meet me to-day,
many of whom I have not seen for over sixty years.
Including myself, there are nine out of the twenty
odd scholars here to-day — a remarkable circumstance.
Only one thing saddens my return and that is the forms
of those that have, since I was here last, crossed the
great divide. I miss Grandmother Poore, Uncle
Thomas, Aunt Susan, Cousins Thomas, Eustace,
Seymour, Hannah and Grace. And now I thank you
all for your kindly greeting, your generous hospitali-
ty, and hope that at some future time I may have the
pleasure of renewing our acquaintance.
'Thomas J. Brooks, a Pioneer Citizen"
By
Col. Lewis Brooks, son of Thomas J. Brooks.
Relatives and Friends:
Being called upon to respond to "Thomas J.
Brooks, a Pioneer Citizen," I can only state a few of
the most salient facts. He was born at Lincoln,
Massachusetts, a few miles from Boston, on December
29, 1805. As he approached manhood, the west, of
which Indiana was then on the border, seemed to invite
his kind. An older brother being already established
at Hindostan, then the principal town of this part of
the country and county seat of this county, he natural-
ly turned his steps in this direction. 1823 found him
sailing in a schooner from Boston to Baltimore with
his possessions in a wallet as they in those days called a
"grip." He accompanied a teamster hauling mer-
chandise to Wheeling, Va., on the Ohio, walking
nearly all the way. There he joined a party of emi-
grants who were going down the Ohio on a flat boat.
It was the fall season, tne river being low, they spent
a goodly portion of their time on sand bars.
When he reached Louisville, Kentucky, he found
that the stage, which by weekly visits connected Hin-
dostan with civilization, had left the previous day.
Rather than delay he walked to Hindostan. arriving one
U8
nightfall proud and happy. This was in December,
1823.
In 1845 I went with him to Louisville to buy
goods. He showed me the log cabin just east of the
Blue river, whose hospitality he had enjoyed one night
of that eventful journey. On the next morning of that
December night he removed his clothing and waded
the river and marched on to the promised land. We
can scarcely realize the changes that have occurred
since that day except by comparison. That trip took
four months of time and now it is all accomplished in
a few days — not by schooner, flat boats, or tired feet,
but in Pullman palaces.
He with others of his class had courage, tenacity
of purpose, and confidence in themselves. The Great
West, of such material as this American citizen, was
formed. He remained for a short time at Hindostan
assisting his brother in the merchandising, whetstone
and pork packing business, and then went down White
river twenty-five or thirty miles to Portersville, where
he conducted a branch of the Hindostan business.
Before this time suitable stones for whetstones
had been discovered near French Lick, now the fam-
ous health resort. The older brother, Lewis, had
been attracted there, and operated a factory and store.
The business was moved to Hindostan to utilize the
water power of the falls. There were no canals, the
roads were but trails, and of course it was before the
day of railroads. So, on the spring floods the hog
products and whetstones would be sent by flat boat
down the river's long journey to New Orleans, from
19
whence Hindostan whetstones were sent all over the
world, and though they are yet made and sent to mar-
ket by other routes, are still known by that name.
Father related an experience of those days of a win-
ter of heavy ice and severe cold which ended in a sud-
den thaw and rise in the river which cleared it of all
craft including a flat boat ready for loading. Consid-
ering the boat lost, all the country turned out and
built a complete, large boat in eight days and nights,
ready for its long journey to the Gulf. This was with-
out any saw mill. All of the lumber was "whip
sawed" from the log by hand. On the down trip
they found the lost boat unharmed in the Wabash.
Word was sent home. A party of forty men in canoes
went after it and brought it back up stream to Hindostan
where it was loaded and sent on its original mission.
Father moved to Orange Valley in Orange county
in 1828, where he engaged in business on his own ac-
count. He built a comfortable two room cabin of
whip sawed logs with a "lean to." This building is
in a good state of preservation and is occupied by the
owner of the land.
On August 5, 1830, he was married to our moth-
er, Susan Poor, at Orleans in Orange county. In 1833
he moved to the farm a mile west of Mt. Pleasant, where
most of his family were born and where he lived until
he went to Loogootee in the last years of his life.
He was an ardent believer in the betterment of
his fellow man, especially along educational lines. He
was in the forefront in all efforts to establish and main-
tain schools, and his interest never flagged until his
death. He established mercantile and pork packing
50
business in Mt. Pleasant in 1840, and in the first year
lost some money although they bought the dressed
hogs at two cents a pound. He was successful and
afterward in 1854 at Loogootee started a similar busi-
ness.
"The Pioneer Neighbor"
By
Lemuel L. Dilley.
Neighbors and Friends:
Just why I am called on for a talk of the neigh-
bors of sixty years ago, I know not. It may be on
account of my extreme old age in early life. It is true
that I am six days older than Major Houghton. It is
true that he and I attended our first school together,
taught by the "Yankee School Ma'am," Mrs. Rebecca
Trask. The Major has told you of his examination
on being admitted to the academy. My quiz, how-
ever, was less elaborate. First, "What is your age?"
"Dun know, guess about twenty." "Oh, no, not that
old." After further consideration, I risked another
guess of ten. That was the end for the time being.
But Dr. Williams, whom some of you remember, took
up the matter, saying, "20-10" and afterwards applied
the multiplication table and said 20 times 10 = 200
years old. So, I was known as the old man ever
afterwards. This, I suppose, accounts for my being
before you to-day with this response.
Uncle Thomas J. Brooks, in whose memory we
meet here to-day, was one of the first men I recollect
here. This was the county seat, my father was coun-
ty sheriff, coming from the eastern part of the county
to a farm adjoining the farm of Mr. Brooks. He was
therefore our nearest and most intimate neighbor. Mr.
Brooks, as I remember him then, was rather austere,
strictly business, never jesting and a man who left his
impress on those around him.
In those days there was Thomas M. Gibson, Mr.
Brooks's partner in business at Mt. Pleasant for many
years, whom we all remember; the Bryants, James R.
and Robert, Deacon Force who ran the carding mill with
the old horse treadmill power, John Rielly and Barney
Rielly, whose son Mason was one of Mrs. Trask's
pupils and is with us to-day, Mason J., who was known
as "Shug" Sherman from New York State, Dr. Sher-
man from Ohio, Lewis R. Rogers, an F. F. V., who
kept the tavern, Uncle John Anthony with his "Buz-
zard" as Uncle Brooks would have afterwards called
it, Mr. Lord of rattlesnake fame, Col. James Wood
and his sons, John and Sentney. All of these were
then in business in the then busy town of Mt. Pleasant,
now but a memory.
Near the town and parts of the real life of the
neighborhood were the LaMars, James Rainey, Doyle
O'Brian, Mr. Cusack, father of our fellow scholar
John C. Cusack, and Judge Thomas Gootee, whose
name is perpetuated in a large list of descendants and
the last two syllables in the name of the town of Loo-
gootee to which Mt. Pleasant was moved.
It is natural that to me the Houghtons are best
remembered — Grandmother Houghton and family,
Aaron, Wm. Hilary, Saxon, Albert and Aunt Eliza of
whose acquaintance and association I am ever proud,
as I found in that family my wife, Jeanette Houghton,
53
Mrs. Hilary Houghton and Mrs. Brooks, Aunt Susan's
sister, whose maiden name was Poor, were emigrants
in childhood to this state from Newburyport, Massa-
chusetts.
After all, these words bring but sadness when I
realize that all, save one sleep in the silent cities of
the dead that are almost within the sound of my voice.
I cannot close without a word to those of that first
school, who remain and are with us. Here are Will
Trask, Col. Lewis Brooks, Emily Brooks Campbell,
Susan Brooks Niblack, Major Wm. Houghton, Georg-
iana Harris O'Brian, Mason Rielly, and John C. Cus-
ack and myself; there are also Mary Anthony Brown,
and Col. James T. Rogers of this county and Celia
Trimble of St. Louis, Mo. The large majority have
gone over the "great divide," among whom are
Pheobe Houghton Lockwood, Sallie Rogers, wife of
Dr. and Capt. Noblett of 21st Ind. Vol., John and
Harry Rogers.
I must not forget to-day Thomas J. Brooks, 2nd.,
who but a mere youth of 22 was a captain in the 80
Reg. Ind. Vol. (the one his brother Lewis command-
ed) received at Perryville, Ky., the wound that took
him to a soldier's grave. Uncle Thomas had but two
sons old enough for the great war. They volunteered.
One sleeps as a soldier, the other is here. Thomas
and I were boy friends. Books were scarce. We
often studied from the same page at the same time.
There are so many others of whom I would like
to speak, but the time remaining with us is short. In
conclusion, while we have differed man)' times in
5If
many ways, we have been neighbors and always
friends. To me Old Mt. Pleasant, with its surround-
ings and associations has ever been the greatest spot
on earth. I thank you.
THE FAMILY.
Thomas Jefferson Brooks, b. Dec. 29, 1805, d. Dec.
11, 1883, m. Aug. 5, 1830, Susan Poor, b. Dec. 15,
1811, d. Jan. 12, 1874.
Emily Brooks, b. May 6, 1832, in Orange Co.,
Ind., m. Dec. 20. 1855, John C. L. Campbell,
b. Oct. 27, 1828, in Iredell Co., N. C, d. Feb.
*5> T^93- Lives at Bloomington, Ind.
Harlan Anderson, b. Oct. 10, 1857, m. Fran-
ces Irene Goodin June 4, 1882, b. Aug. 26,
1854, d. Nov. 12, 1901.
Burling Alford, b. Mar. 19, 1883.
Emilie Bernice, b. July 15, 1885.
Sada, b. Jan. 20, 1890.
Mary Jessie, b. July 15, 1892.
Reside at Kansas City, Mo.
Ida, b. Oct. 13, 1859. Lives at Bloomington,
Ind.
Eugenia, b. July 4, 1861, m. Oct. 16, 1887,
Stephen White Chappell, b. Mch. 30, 1845.
Eugene Brooks, b. Aug. 22, 1889.
Freeman White, b, Jan. 7, 1892.
Philena, b. Feb. 4, 1894.
Watys Miller, b. Feb. June 30, 1898.
Now reside at Algiers City, Pike Co.,
Ind.
56
Mary, b. Dec. 23, 1863, m. June 13, 1887,
James S. Shirley, b. Aug. 5, 1857, d. July
1, 1890.
Herman Vincent, b. May 22, 1888.
Mary Lois, b. Feb. 25, 1891,
Reside at Washington, Ind.
Susan Brooks, b. Jan. 22, 1867, m. Sept. 4,
1889, Samuel Albert Chenoweth, b. Mch.
13, 1856, d. Mch. 29, 1904, at Shoals, Ind.
Ida Alberta, b. June 14, 1890.
Laura Ardys, b. Oct. 26, 1891.
Wilson, b. June 29, 1893.
Ainslie Campbell, b. June 24, 1895.
Address Bloomington, Ind.
Ethel, b. Dec. 22, 1869, m. Feb. 20, 1900,
Harvey J. Clements, b. Oct. 21, 1868.
Address Converse, Ind.
John Milton, b. Feb. 24, 1873, at Mt. Pleas-
ant.
Address Walsenburg, Colo.
Daniel Brooks, b. Dec. 15, 1833, d. Feb. 23, 1838.
Lewis Brooks, b. Oct. 29, 1835, m. June 17, 1856.
Amanda M. Crooks, b. June 28, 1838, d. June
21, 1893, dau. of James and Hester (Raney)
Crooks. Lives at Wildwoods, near Shoals, Ind.
Thomas Jefferson, b. April 22, 1857, m. Aug.
13, 1890, Lorabel Wallace, b. Apr. 30,
1868, dau. of Armstrong and Sarah
(Tomey) Wallace. Live at Bedford, Ind.
May Brooks, b. Sept. 2, 1892.
57
Mary Hester, b. Sept. 17, 1858, d. Apr. 10,
1859.
Susan, b. Oct. 26, i860. Lives at Wildwoods,
near Shoals.
Anna, b. Nov. 12, 1862, m. June 11, 1882,
Edward Henry Schwey, b. Oct. 7, 1856,
son of Henry and Mary Ursula (Kellar)
Schwey, b. Beringen, Switzerland.
Susie Lena, b. Mch. 17, 1884.
Carl Henry, b. Aug. 1, 1885, d. May 8,
1887.
Horace William, b. June 4, 188S.
Emilie, b. June 25, 1891.
Marian Amanda, b. Feb. 11, 1895.
Edna May, b. Sep. 30, 1900.
All live at Loogootee, Ind.
Lewis, b. May 25, 1865, m. Nov. 27, 1888,
to Susan Stafford, b. Feb. 13, 1866.
Frederick Stafford, b. Sep. 1, 1889.
Lewis, b. June 15, 1894.
Thomas Jefferson, b, Feb. 19, 1901.
All live at Shoals, Ind.
Amanda, b. May 25, 1865, m. June 5, 1890,
Albert C. Hacker, son of John and Teresa
(Urich) Hacker.
Helen, b. Apr. 23, 1891.
Lewis Brooks, b. Jan. 1894,
Dorothy Bel, b. Jan. 2, 1902.
All live at Shoals, Ind.
May, b. May 1, 1867, d. Jan. 13, 1901.
Emily, b. Mch. 25, 1869. Lives at Wildwoods.
sn
William Francis, b. Aug. 2, 1871, m. Oct. 5,
1899, Rose D. Zinkan, b. Sept. 8, 1876.
Mabel Louise, b. Mch. 7, 1901.
William Francis, b. May 4, 1902, d.
May 26, 1902.
Mary Rosalind, b. July 12, 1903.
Grace Lucy, b. Mch. 5, 1905.
All live at Bedford Indiana.
Horace Greeley, b. Apr. 26, 1873, m. May
1903, Amelia Luesing.
Horace Greeley, b. Mch. 11, 1904.
Henry Luesing, b. Dec. 9, 1905.
Live in Louisville, Ky.
Daniel, b. Aug. 13, 1876. Lives at Wildwoods,
near Shoals, Ind.
Harriet Brooks, b. Aug. 28, 1837, d- Aug. 25,
1852.
Susan Brooks, b. Jan. 1, 1841, in Martin Co.,
Indiana, one mile west of Mt. Pleasant, m. Sept.
15, 1859, Sandford Lee Niblack, son of John and
Martha (Hargrave) Niblack, b. March 21, 1836.
Live at Wheatland, Knox Co., Ind.
Emma, b. Aug. 18, i860, m. Hugh Samuel Mc-
Mahan, son of Hugh and lietsey (Hope)
McMahan.
Winnifred, b. July 22, 1889, d. Feb. 23,
1 901.
Hugh Sandford, b. Feb. 3, 1892.
Helen Elizabeth, b. Feb. 5, 1894.
Richard Hope, b. Jan. 1902.
All live in St. Louis, Mo.
59
John Hargrave Niblack, b. Oct. 5, 1863, m.
Nannie Jessup M'Clure, d. July 31, 1900,
afterward, Feb. 23, 1904, m. Anna Scrog-
gin.
John Lewis, b. Aug. 14, 1897.
Martha, b. Aug. 14, 1897.
Herman M'Clure, b. July. 15, 1900.
Griffith Brooks, b. June 4, 1906.
All live at Coalmont, Clay Co., Ind.
William Eustace, b. Jan. 30, 1866, m. Oct.
9, 1895, Mary Miranda Skeen, b. May 19,
1876.
Howard Skeen, b. Jul}- 12, 1896.
Sarah, b. July 18, 1899.
All live at Wheatland, Ind.
Grace Brooks, b. Feb. 7, 1868, m. Dr.
James Wesley Benham, son of James
and Catherine (Weaver) Benham. Live
at Columbus, Ind.
Sandford Weaver, b. May 14, 1899.
Earl Stimson, b. March 29, 1870, m. Dec.
24. 1899, to Mabel Connerly. Live at
Terre Haute, Vigo Co., Ind.
Helen, b. Oct. 24, 1900.
Edith, b. July 18, 1871, in Wheatland,
Knox Co., d. Aug. 17, 1873.
Herman Grosvenor, b. July 17, 1874. Lives at
Cincinnati, Ohio.
Susan, b. Dec. 12, 1876, d. Sept. 20, 1877.
Helen, b. Feb. 26, 1879, m. Dec. 11, 1902, Cur-
tis Thornton M'Clure, son of William Thornton
60
and Sallie (Bunting) M'Clure, b. Sept. 1,1876.
Persis, b. Oct. 21, 1903.
Address Vincennes, Ind.
Persis Niblack, b. Feb. 28, 1884.
Lives at Wheatland, Ind.
Thomas Jefferson Brooks, Capt. 80 Ind. Vol., b.
April 12, 1839, wounded at Perryville, Ky.,Oct.
8, 1862, died from his wounds Feb. 27, 1863, m.
Sept. 6, i860, Elizabeth Carnahan, b. Oct. 12,
1839, d- Feb. 1, 1881.
Lewis C. Brooks, b. May 30, 1862, m. Apr.
23, 1882, Margaret Reynolds, b. Aug. 13,
1864, dau. of Thomas and Esther (Jick)
Reynolds.
Elizabeth Esther, b. June 1, 1883.
Harriet, b. May 16, 1885.
Fred Reynolds, b. Sept. 12, 1891.
All live at Loogootee, Ind.
Cyrus Smith Brooks, b. May 1, 1843, d. Mar. 25,
1844.
Mary Chute Brooks, b. May 21, 1845, d. Oct. 17,
i855.
Hannah Elizabeth Brooks, b. Sept. 26, 1847, d.
Aug. 10, 1873.
Eustace Adams Brooks, b. Mch. 6, 1850, d. Apr. 8,
1904, m. Mch. 3, 1874, at Loogootee, Martha
Eunice Trueblood, b. Feb. 11, 1853, d. Aug.
26, 1877, afterward Apr. 13, 18S8, m. at Spanish
Fort, Texas, Mrs. Eugenia B. (Patton) Crier
b. Aug. 17, 1855, who lives at Spanish Fort,
Texas.
61
Shirley Dakin, b. Jan. 12, 1875.
Grace Niblack, b. Jan. 26, 1877.
Live at Washington, Ind.
Lewis Clark, b. Mch. 12, 1890.
Lives at Spanish Fort, Texas.
Horace Brooks, b. June 5 ,1852, d. Aug. 15, 1854.
Seymour Waldo Brooks, b. Feb. 27, 1855, d. Feb.
6, 1893, m. at Loogootee, Ind., Mch. 9, 1876,
Mary E. Crecelius, who died Sept. 4, 1885.
Afterward, Sept. 5, 1886, m. Blanche Crecelius
who lives at Louisville, Ky.
Onas Wilson, b. Dec. 5, 1876, m. at Loogoo-
tee, Ind., June 24, 1902, Anna May Ber-
trand, d. Feb. 12, 1905. Druggist in India-
napolis, Ind.
Seymour Waldo, b. Mch. 29, 1880, m. Sept.
22, 1902, Pearl V. Kessler. Live in India-
napolis.
Infant son, d. October 20, 1882.
Mollie Helen, b. July 11, 1888, m. William
Carter, Aug. 24, 1906. Lives in Louisville,
Ky.
Grace Brooks, b. Mch. 18, 1857, d. Aug. 5, 1891,
at Topeka, Kans., m. 1883, Peyton Randolph
Gibson, s. of Thcmas M. Gibson.
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