Matching family tree profiles for Lt. Thomas Brooks
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About Lt. Thomas Brooks
Families of Ancient New Haven by Donald Lines Jacobus, pg. 336, 796
Buried at Hillside Cemetery in Cheshire, CT
Alternat date of death: 7/20
Jean McKee wrote:
Well, my Dodger days may have passed but the Thomas Brooks Little League is being formed in Cheshire, CT ! I've been asked to throw out the first ball the end of April, so I have to get my pitching arm in shape by then. Don Nowak looked for some name that would have historical significance and chose Tom.
The Thomas in question is the son of Henry Brooks who came from England to New Haven, or there about, from Cheshire, England as reported in all the stories. Henry married Hannah Potter 21Dec. 1676, so that sets some time frames. About 1705 Thomas and Henry moved to what was then Wallingford and was called West Farms. Thomas joined by two other residents were the petitioners to the CT Legislature to separate from Wallingford and Thomas was the one to name it Cheshire in honor of his father. In 1733 Thomas's son Enos built the original part of the house we still live in and that has never been out of the family. As the recent visitors found, it is filled with the past, and I am struggling to capture all I can of it from the documents that hide in many places. Now you know that I must not dishonor those founding family members by a wild pitch as all of them pitched hay over 250 years with no trouble!! My Uncle was fabulous to watch with a scythe.
From the history of Cheshire more is learned of the Brooks family beginnings in America. Early, men went out from the parent town of Wallingford into Wallingford township and built homes in the wilderness and colonized what became Cheshire, CT. There were quite a number of settlers upon these lands, before the land had been "layed out." They did not posses legal titles, but it was understood that the Squatters would have the first right to take up their lands as soon as a discussion could be arranged. They appeared to be permanent settlers from 1696-1711. The land records at Wallingford locate 18 at West Farms and 11 at North Farms, on at west rocks and 2 at mill or more east of the present church.
Thomas Brooks (1679-1732) and Martha Hotchkiss Brooks had eleven children. It appears that many of them grew up and farmed the New Cheshire Parish area. Thomas and Martha married in 1702 and 1704/05 is the time they moved to the wilderness. Thomas appears to have been an only child. A most unlikely happening. But Thomas and Martha had a very large family and I have the names of fifty grandchildren. and there were more because I have missed four daughter children.-So it is not hard to guess their grandchildren reached seventy-five in number. Our branch on this tree was Henry, the tenth child named for his grandfather. It is interesting to note second son Thomas has created the family that traces itself to Brooks, Oregon. In these two-hundred years the number of Brooks cousins from Henry of 1639 must calculate in the thousands.
Thomas was very active in the community, fathering many proposals for church and land. "A vote of the First Ecclesiastical Society furnishes evidence that at the house of Capt. Thomas Brooks religious services were held previous to the erection of the first church in New Cheshire in 1723. Thomas Brooks died of smallpox in 1732 and his loss was deeply felt by the new organization. Early all the Brooks families in Cheshire of the different branches, trace their origin to Thomas!! *
NOTE*** In copying this there seems to be some confusion of names, especially Hannah Potter Blakeslee(married to Stephen) and Hannah Potter Blakley (married to Thomas.) Also Joshua is referred to as John(might be a middle or nickname or Joshua might be the middle name and John the first.) An interesting tidbit is that Stephen had 8 children and he was only 21 years of age when he died, obviously there is a mistake in the dates or Stephen was an active gentleman at an early age. The names Mary Cooper and Martha Cooper are used as wives names for the Henry Brooks (1723-1797]. Of course, Donna Jean McDaniel did state early on that these were uncorrected notes! More research needs to be done on these names. Vickie G. Baker Paver (October 1996)
Resources to look in:listed by DJ McDaniel
1. Families of Ancient New Haven (Jacobus)
2. Genealogy of Connecticut Families-N.E. History (Gen Rea-A929-IN)
Lt. Thomas/2c Brooks was born 27 March 1679 at New Haven, CT.1,2 There he married, 25 March 1702, Martha Hotchkiss, daughter of Joshua Hotchkiss and Mary Pardee, with whom he had 11 children, each of whom lived to marry. Says Jean McKee, "About 1705 Thomas and Henry moved to what was then Wallingford and was called West Farms. Thomas and two other residents petitioned the General Assembly to separate from Wallingford and Thomas was the one to name it Cheshire in honor of his father." He died of smallpox 20 July 1732 (c.r.) at age 53. Buried in Hillside Cemetery, Cheshire
I have finally invested in the "Families of Ancient New Haven" by Jacobus as it had so many others who were part of the scene and family. The past months I have been going through the Deeds in the Town Records trying to get the other side of the road sequence of ownership. Enos, Jr., gave Jere 100 acres, then he must have been having financial troubles as his son Jeremiah kept buying small pieces of property from him. Jere died owing money, so two plots were sold, one to Julius Brooks. Then Jeremiah dies and leaves things to Cornelia Brooks Paddock, but she and husband have arranged for James H. Dill, husband of her sister, to be Trustee for her. Then it goes off in pieces again. Then James H. Dill's son, James Brooks Dill, tries to buy up all the old farm again up to a point. Then JBD suddenly dies at 53, so on it goes. Included in the property was a mill, the maps show it as a distillery, but also did cider according to records, and that piece kept changing hands, often seeming to be leased to someone. And, the meadow we own across the street went through various hands after Cornelia with bankruptcies and such, so worth hours of searching and reading to get that sequence straight. At one point, my great grandmother and gg aunt rushed up town to see if there were no liens on the property and bought it so no "unsightly" distillery would go up there. Now working on what the roads were in that property. One definitely abandoned by the town, but working to figure out whether the other was just a private passway or something abandoned, or what was its status. Read, read, read but find some fun things of interest. When I finish the main project must go back and get everyone's mark, which takes up pages. (Jean McKee)
Here is who married James H. Dill. I need to add who James Brooks Dill married. I have it in his file. Catherine born 7 June 1821 married James H. Dill Jul 14, 1846.
I spent most of the winter here reading the Town Records on the deeds and the Town Meeting Records. 100 pages of the latter still to go as it is slow going with the old script and faded pages. All sorts of interesting information, such as the school being condemned by the state health authorities. The Town was just going to farm out the children to schools in other nearby towns. Then Julia Humiston gave the town money enough to build a new school! She was a treasure to the town. Had no descendants, so kept giving things, such as the water troth for the horses, and left money to use to beautify the town. Recently, the Committee who dispenses the interest accrued from her estate, put some attractive benches in the are of the Town Green, so she keeps on giving.
From Gravestone picture: Son of Henry Brooks from Cheshire, England and father of Captain Enos Brooks Settled in Cheshire Colony 1705. He was first in petitioning the General Assembly for organization of Cong'l (Congregational) Church, also for school privileges. He was foremost in every good work, a devout Christian, self sacrificing and unceasing in his labors for the infant settlement of Cheshire.
Sources
Geneaologies of Families- NEHGS Register A929- IN Compiled by D. J. McDaniel
Families of Ancient New Haven--Jacobus Media: Book
Compendium of American Genealogy--Vol. V p. 420 page 710 Story of Thomas
History of New Haven Colony-- J. L/ Rockey- New York, ww Preston Co., 1892
Cheshire, New Haven, Connecticut Burials Thomas Brooks
Savage--Genealogical Dictionary of Early Settlers Media: Book
FTM 3 12 03 2000 people.FTW Media: Other Text: Date of Import: Apr 22, 2003
Lt. Thomas/2c Brooks was born 27 Mar 1679 at New Haven, CT.1,2 There he married, 25 Mar 1702, Martha Hotchkiss, daughter of Joshua Hotchkiss and Mary Pardee, with whom he had 11 children, each of whom lived to marry.1,3 23 Apr 1705, William and Mary Tyler sold him "102 akers" of Second Division land, in the West Farms section of Wallingford (now Cheshire), CT, "called the Lothrop farm," lying one mile from the New Haven Mill river, and 8 acres adjoining laid out on the east side of this farm. Att an ajurned town meeting the ninth January, 1706-07, the town admeated Thomas Broox an inhabetant upon thatt land he purchest.4 In 1718 Thomas Brooks, with Stephen Hotchkiss and Matthew Bellamy, on behalf of the residents of West Farms, unsuccessfuly petitioned the assembly to be "constituted a distinct society." In 1723 the appeal was renewed, and the General Assembly persuaded to allow the formation of a new parish, which, at the urging of Thomas Brooks, was named Cheshire, in honor of his father Henry's birthplace.5 Thomas Brooks, Nathaniel Bunnell and John Hitchcock were appointed "a Comtee to manage ye affairs of the society for the year insuing." Oct. 10, 1723, Thomas Brooks and others petitioned to erect their own meetinghouse. In the meantime, a Congregational church was gathered, consisting of 11 men and 15 women, which met at the homes of Thomas Brooks and John Hotchkiss. Thomas Brooks was a member of the committee which arranged to settle Mr. Hall as their first minister, 4 Dec 1723.6 Appointed appointed ensign of the Cheshire train-band by the General Court, 13 May 1725, and lieutenant in Oct 1731.7 He died of smallpox 20 Jul 1732 (c.r.) at age 53.1 Buried in Hillside Cemetery, Cheshire, CT.8
https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=23689754
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Lt. Thomas Brooks's Timeline
| 1679 |
March 27, 1679
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1703 |
May 28, 1703
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1704 |
May 14, 1704
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America
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| 1706 |
February 14, 1706
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony, British Colonial America
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| 1707 |
February 15, 1707
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1711 |
September 10, 1711
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1714 |
February 21, 1714
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1716 |
April 23, 1716
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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| 1718 |
1718
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Wallingford, New Haven County, Connecticut Colony
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