The following information came to me from a lady that does not have any Brooks ancestors. She came to have the Memoirs as she descended from Josephine's sister. She tells me: "It will be nice if someone is trying to connect and they find their link ....that is all I want." As this is not my direct line, I don't have any added information.
Ernest Brooks was the editor of the Bloomington Record and it was he who had Josephine's memoirs bound and published.
BIOGRAPHY--JESSE
BROOKS
From the Bloomington, Wis., Record, April 6, 1904.
Jesse Brooks, son of Socrates and Lucena (Johnson) Brooks, was born in Plymouth, New York, August 25, 1830, and died at his home in Bloomington, Wis., March 31, 1904, after a ten days' illness, aged 73 years, 7 months and 6 days.
After passing his boyhood days in Norwich, near his birthplace, he came west with the family in 1849, settling on government land, now known as the Capt. Schloesser farm, in Beetown township. His brother, Dr. Roswell Brooks, had preceded them, and upon their arrival he was practicing on Blake's Prairie.
Shortly after coming to Wisconsin Mr. Brooks engaged in teaching, in which profession he was decidedly successful, as evidenced by many of the early settlers who were his pupils. His first term was in the MacCartney schoolhouse in Cassville township, and Hon. Alex. R. MacCartney, of Lancaster, was one of his pupils. He also taught in the lower school at Beetown, in Little Grant, and in the Red and Ray schoolhouses on Blake's Prairie. He was a celebrated penman, and during that period he conducted night schools for the benefit of the grown folks. During the summer season he worked at the trade of plastering, and assisted in building the new village of Bloomington by plastering the new mill, built by D. W. Taft in 1852.
On November 4, 1855, Mr. Brooks married Miss Josephine Hayden, also a teacher, and they entered a farm of government land in Little Grant, where they lived the life of happy pioneer farmers for more than seven years. During his residence in that town he served as town clerk and member of the school board several years.
They removed to Bloomington village in March, 1863, where they have since resided, always having been closely identified with the material, intellectual and social growth and development of the village. During his entire career here he conducted a general office business, and for a time was engaged in the machine and buggy trade. His fellow townsmen elected him to many offices of honor and trust. He was town clerk and justice of the peace for many years, and served as village assessor during the past four years.
He was one of the leading organizers of the Blake's Prairie Agricultural Society thirty-eight years ago, and served for many years as secretary. The society has never missed an annual fair. Nearly all of the promoters of that worthy institution are gathered to their fathers.
He was a charter member of Bloomington Lodge No. 159, I 0. 0. F.--the last one of that devoted band who, one evening in December, 1868, pledged eternal fealty each to all in the enduring bonds of friendship, love and truth. He passed all the chairs and was secretary of the lodge for many years. He ever made it his purpose to do his duty to the extent of his ability, not only to the members of his lodge, but to his neighbors wherever found -- the brotherhood of man.
Late years he was a member of the M. E. church of this village, and lived his religion in his daily life -- in his devotion to his people and to his God.
Mr. Brooks had five brothers, John, Dr. Roswell, George, Cassius and Thesus, all of whom are dead. Dr. Roswell Brooks was a resident of Bloomington and practicing physician from 1860 to 1864, and sleeps in the Bloomington cemetery. Cassius was buried at Beetown. His only sister, Mrs. Lucy Cooper, lives at Oakdale, Nebraska.
The widow and six children survive, as follows: Dr. Mina B. Glasier, of Bloomington; Herbert J., of Neillsville, Wis.; Mrs. Daisy Brown and Ernest, of Bloomington; Dr. Everett H., of Appleton, and Lavern W., of Janesville. One son, Cassius H., died when seven years of age.
The funeral services were held at the M. E. church Sunday morning, and were in charge of the Odd Fellows. Rev. H. J. Witherbee preached an eloquent sermon, taking for the text Isaiah 33:17 -- "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty; they shall behold the land that is very far off." At the grave the beautiful ritual service of the I. 0. 0. F. was repeated. The floral tributes were beautiful and extensive, including gifts from Lancaster and Appleton friends. The attendance was very large, many friends of a lifetime having come to pay a last tribute to one whom to know was to respect.
Thus hath passed from the scenes of earth one whose life for the past forty years was closely interwoven with this community; one of that sturdy class of pioneers who came here when the soil was virgin wilderness, between whom exist enduring bonds of tenderest sympathy and affection. They withstood the hardships and privations of the frontier with pride in the ability of youth to endure. The fruitage of their labors is expressed in a beautiful country, enjoyed by their posterity.
Honor and generosity were his greatest virtues, and his hand followed the impulse of his heart at all times. His own interests were the last to consider. He will be remembered as a loving husband; a kind, indulgent father; a true neighbor and friend; a compassionate, merciful judge; ever fearless and faithful in the performance of duty; ever a peacemaker when there was dissension. lie will be greatly missed in the community in which he lived and labored.
BIOGRAPHY---JOSEPHINE
BROOKS
From the Bloomington, Wis., Record, September 10, 1919
Josephine Hayden, daughter of Ebenezer and Jane (Staples) Hayden, was born in Raymond, twenty miles from Portland, Maine, December 20, 1836, and died September 1, 1919, aged 82 years, 8 months, 11 days.
Up to her eighteenth year she lived in her native community in New England, receiving such education as the rural districts then afforded. In writing down some memories of her life, shortly before her death, she describes her girlhood days as happy and full of interest.
In 1854 she came west with the family. At that time the railroad was completed to Scales Mound, twelve miles east of Galena. The family had a wild ride in a lumbering big stage to Galena, and then engaged a livery to bring them to Beetown, where her brother, C. W. Hayden, and her uncle, Joseph Hayden, had come the year before. At that time Beetown was a lively mining town, and many people of culture and refinement from the East had settled there. The family passed their first night in Beetown in the old Edwards hotel, then kept by Wash. Garner.
During her first winter in Beetown she lived with the Wm. Cole family. Mr. Cole passed part of the winter in Madison as a member of the legislature. Her father taught the lower school and she was engaged as his assistant. There were 110 pupils' names on the register, and as many as 96 crowded the small room day after day. The benches were full, and pupils used blocks of wood for extra seats. But nearly all were earnest students, struggling for at least enough education to help them in their various vocations. The next year she taught in the MacCartney district, north of Cassville. In these two communities she formed the acquaintance of many whose names are closely identified with the development of the county; and many of the friendships then formed lasted a lifetime.
She was married to Jesse Brooks, also at that time a young teacher, on November 4, 1855, and the couple started life on a farm in the Red Schoolhouse settlement on Blake's Prairie. In 1856 they entered a 160-acre homestead in the town of Little Grant, and for seven years had the usual experiences of pioneer farmers in a new country.
In the spring of 1863 they sold their farm and moved to Bloomington village, where they lived the remainder of their lives, her time of residence here having been over 56 years. For a time they lived in the Hadley house, south of the rock school, and in the house now owned by Mrs. Griffin Hickok. They built the present home in 1870, and that has been the family home ever since. Mr. Brooks died March 31, 1904.
Seven children were born to this union :--Cassius H. who died when seven years of age; Dr. Mina B. Glasier, Mrs. Daisy Brown and Ernest Brooks of Bloomington; Herbert Jesse Brooks of Neillsville, Wis.; Dr. Everett H. Brooks of Appleton, Wis., and Lavern W. Brooks of Wichita, Kansas. There are living nine grandchildren, one sister and two brothers and their families, and other relatives.
For many years Mrs. Brooks was a member of the Baptist church. Bound by no creed, hers was a religion of the heart. It was always her purpose to do exactly as Christ would have her do. She was also a charter member of the Rebekah lodge.
Mrs. Brooks will be remembered for her many kindly deeds, and her gentle, loving nature. No one ever heard her say an unkind word. When she was able to endure the fatigue, no amount of service was too great for her to render in case of need. When sickness or trouble entered the home of a neighbor, her heart and her hand were always available. With several other good women of the village she cared for the sick of the community before modern methods were introduced. The wealth of her affection centered in her home and loved ones, and there found expression in constant devotion to the very last. Time has placed the crown of victory upon her brow. She has entered upon her reward. Her sufferings over, the inhibitions of the material cast aside, the beautiful spirit now abides with the Lord, whom she worshipped with absolute faith.
Funeral services were held at the home Thursday morning. Rev. A. N. Conklin offered prayer and read a brief biography of the life of the deceased. Rev. D. W. Phillips preached a comforting and uplifting sermon. In the presence of neighbors and friends the body was laid at rest in the cemetery on the hill.
Memories of a Busy Life
Written by Josephine (Hayden) Brooks, 1916-1919.
My Early Life
I was born December twentieth, eighteen hundred and thirty-six, in the town of Raymond, Maine. The place is near, or joined, my Grandfather Haydens farm. The house has long been gone.
I was the daughter of Ebenezer and Jane (Staples) Hayden. Father was the son of Jeremiah Hayden, one of the first settlers of Raymond, and wife, Margaret (Davis) Hayden.
I lived in this home four years, and the first event in my life that I can remember was moving from there to a farm at the head of Panthers Pond. That farm joined Grandfather Joseph (Dingiey) Staples place (my mothers father) and her mother, Elizabeth (Davis) Staples. Those were happy days, when I could run across lots to grandpas.
I went to school then in what was called the Rolfe schoolhouse. There was a fireplace in the schoolhouse that would easily take in cordwood. While our faces burned our backs would chill. We had only one aisle and two rows of benches, and those sitting near the wall would have to work their way out past the others to the aisle.
It was here that I became slightly acquainted with Greens grammar. If I had studied instead of gazing out at the hay-makers, I would have accomplished more; but I am glad that I watched the hay-makers, for that was a scene never forgotten. And how different from making hay today. Then it was all done by hand. There were most always three mowing. They always struck at the same time, and in perfect time, and how the scythes would ring when the men sharpened them. Threshing was done with a flail. Two men generally worked together, first one striking, then the other. When one flail went up the other went down, and the flails never struck each other.
Here was laid the foundation of my good health. I was a frail child, and roaming the fields and woods and living out of doors so much made me strong and well. I sometimes went hunting with my brothers.
One winter the snow was very deep, and stayed on the ground until late. Uncle Tom. Witham (mothers uncle--his wife was a sister to Grandmother Staples) told his son Mial to take a sack of corn to the mill, maybe a mile away, on his handsled across the fields over the tops of the fences. It was then the fifteenth of April. He told him that he would have it to tell his grandchildren when he was an old man. Mial is still living in 1916,
I remember the big drifts, and the long sloping sides, where we coasted down to the meadow many rods away.
Grandfather Staples lived near. His family consisted of himself and grandmother, Aunt Eliza, a single woman, Uncle Joe, and Aunts Mary and Sarah, two young girls about the age of my two oldest sisters. The four girls were much together and were very well contented.
Grandfather Staples was a shoemaker, and every fall father would buy a quantity of leather, and move Grandfather and his bench to our house, and he would shoe us all up for the winter. One year the leather gave out before my shoes were made, and they cut the tops off a pair of worn-out fine boots, and made me a very nice pair. I would like to see them beside a pair of childs shoes today.
Uncle Joe--dear old Uncle Joe! -- the best uncle anybody ever had! He never had much to say, but would surprise you when he did talk. He afterwards married, and his wifes name was Betsy Jane. They are all gone these many years, and I am an old woman in my eightieth year.
Uncle Nat. lived on the adjoining farm, and dear Aunt Esther was of the salt of the earth. They had a houseful of children, of whom Quimby, Minerva and Mary went to school with me.
Mother had two other sisters at that time--Aunt Lydia Jackson of Poland, and Aunt Paulina Davis of East Raymond; and another brother, John, who was a sailor. I never saw him but once, when he came home on a visit. I remember the rejoicing and feasting that went on while he was home.
My great-grandfather, Peter Staples, with his wife, Sally (Dingley) Staples, came from England when young, and settled in the town of Raymond, which afterward was divided, and the part they lived in was called Casco. We, also, lived there at one time. Grandfather Peter and Grandmother Sally had several children. Joseph D. was the eldest. Then came James, Frost, Elliott and Peter. There were two girls, Sally and Paulina, who never married. They lived on the home place with their mother, until she died at the age of 99 years and six months. My great-uncles were all old men before I ever saw them. Uncle Jim had one son, Whitman. Uncle Frost had two children, a boy and a girl. The son was killed by lightning while pitching hay. The girl married a man by the name of George Watkins, and had a family too numerous to mention. Uncle Elliott lived in Naples, and had a good sized family. I knew three sons, because they used to come to our house when I was little, and one, Charles, always brought me candy. Sam went to California, and was killed in the mines. Edward died only three or four years ago (this is 1918). Uncle Peter lived in Buxton, Maine, and had a good family; but it was so far away I never saw them. Grandmother Sally had a brother who settled in Casco, and he had two sons, Capt. Sam and Capt. Joe--men about the age of my great-uncles. They lived in Casco when we did. Sam had two sons. Mark and ______, and six girls. One girl married a man named Andrew Libby, and the others lived at home. One of them, Maria, taught our school.
I cannot forget the wild roses that grew along the pond shore. There were rods of them, and they were most beautiful. They grew three or four feet high, and formed a solid row, quite wide.
My sister Abba was born in this home.
When I was twelve or thirteen years of age father sold the place, and moved to Casco, on another farm. Here he built a new house. We were one mile from school, and a mile and a half from the Hawthorn Church, or, as everyone called it then, the Radeaux Meeting House, where I went to church and Sunday school. The church was just across the line in Raymond. The towns were divided by a small river, not more than a mile long, that connected Lake Sebago and Thomas Pond. There was a sawmill and store owned by the Mannings (Mrs. Hawthornes brothers) in early days. Their residence was on the Casco side.
We lived on a stage line, and one good-natured driver would pick up the children and take us to school, if he had no passengers.
There was a field of grain (rye, I believe) that was on a rocky hillside beside the road that I traveled to school, and men cut it with sickles. The land was very rocky, and they would gather the grain in one hand, and cut it with the sickle held in the other hand. Father soon after that bought a cradle. We thought it the most wonderful thing in the world.
We lived on this farm a year, or two, or three, and then moved to Raymond village. It seems to me that moving was the main event in my life. Dear old father always saw something a little better ahead.
Our place in Casco was on the road from Portland to Waterford and on up into New Hampshire. I have seen a half mile of teams loaded with produce going to Portland, from up country, and five or six stages (two and four horses) a day, in the winter. All had bells. In summer tourists went that way to the White Mountains and other resorts. It was a nice spot, and I dont know why we moved away.
We are told that my Grandfather Staples (Joseph D. Staples) was a cousin of Henry W. Longfellows mother. Mr. Longfellows mothers name was Frost, and grandfather had a brother, Frost Staples. Also, that my great-grandfather Clement Haydens wife was a sister to John Adams mother. We never have tried to trace the relationship, but some of the younger generation may want to.
While we were living in Casco my eldest sister, Elizabeth died of typhoid fever. She was twenty-one years old, and everyone loved her.
Mothers relatives, the Dingleys, lived in this neighborhood.
We moved to Raymond village, one-half mile from Uncle Davis Haydens. He lived on grandfathers old homestead. I enjoyed life here with cousin Louise and her brothers and sisters. I soon became acquainted with the young people in the village. I formed some girl friendships that have always lasted. Here I went to my first grown-up party. I was very bashful, and was glad when it was over.
We had a large school here. Many large boys and girls attended. Three months every year a student from Bowdoin College came and gave us extra schooling. There were not many who could go away to school at that time; so they brought the school to us. At this time I studied Comstocks Philosophy and Algebra.
We had lots of fun sliding down the mill hill on a one-horse sled in the evenings. Some boy, most always my brother Eben, sat on a small sled between the shafts, and steered the big one. We would go very fast down the long hill and across the bridge far on the other side.
In summer a goodly company of us would walk to the Radeaux Meeting House (the Hawthorne Church) on Sunday morning, a distance of three miles, to attend church. It was a lovely walk, and we all enjoyed it.
In 1840 father was elected to the Legislature, and spent the winter in Augusta; and I think it was the following year that he was appointed to fill a vacancy there, and went again. Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, afterward vice president of the United States, was speaker of the assembly. We lived at the head of the pond at that time, and I was four years old when he first went, but I can remember it well; also that he brought me a new dress, and told us stories from Nicholas Nickleby, having read it while away. He brought papers with pictures showing scenes from the book. 1 still can see how funny Squeers looked.
John Sawyer kept the only tavern in the village at the time that we moved there, and also the postoffice. He served in these positions for over fifty years. Sawyers Tavern was known for many miles. The hotel was the old Longley House. Mr. Sawyer was a son-in-law of old 'Squire Longley. They had a big family of young folks. September, 1916, I just received notice of the death of his daughter Sarah B., whose married name was Holden. She was a dear old schoolmate of mine.
Life in the village was short and very pleasant. Some of our schoolmates are still living in 1916. Father bought another farm only one mile from the village, on what we called the meadow road. The house set back from the road. There were two small houses connected by an openfaced woodshed. A thick grove stood between the house and the road.
In the winter father would hitch the oxen to a big log, and drive them out to the road to make a good path for Abba and me to walk in.
Young people didn't have so much for entertainment then as they have now. We went to all the apple bees and corn huskings, home dances, and sometimes a public ball.
It was on this farm that we found the most beautiful trailing arbutus that I ever saw. In places the ground would be pink with the blossoms
The woods were strewn with boulders, big and little, some as large as our woodshed. Father used to split them into slabs for cellar walls. They were covered with moss, and moss hung from many trees.
And what May parties we used to have. Everyone was loaded down with blossoms.
I was very happy there. In winter we would walk across the pond to Grandpa Staples and Uncle Nats, and in summer we would take the meadow road, along the shore of the pond, a little distance back, all the way.
Westward Ho!
When I was about seventeen, my brother Cephas came to Wisconsin. Uncle Joseph Hayden lived in Beetown, Wisconsin, at that time, and wrote to him to come. Father took the western fever, and in a year he had sold everything. On Monday, October 9, 1854, we rode to Portland, and there took a steamer for Boston, and Wisconsin.
I did not see much of Boston -- just rode to the railroad station, where we took a train for the West. The weather was lovely. The Green Mountains were all green, red and golden, as the frost had painted the maples and birches. In Vermont we saw great quantities of marble on trains, shipped to various places. We had a very pleasant trip most of the way.
The railroad was being built through to Galena, and the terminus was twelve miles east of that city. When we arrived at the end of the railroad, Scales Mound, there were stages waiting to take passengers to the city. We boarded one of them, and, with two or three other passengers, had a wild ride of twelve miles over rough roads through the darkness to Galena.
I was glad to get there without any broken bones. We had a nice place to stay all night, and father hired a team, in the morning, to take us and our trunks to Beetown. We had a very good ride. Everything was new and strange. We had a big sorrel team and a hack, and I even remember the drivers name, which was McIlhenny. That was sixty-one years ago.
We arrived at Beetown that night, after dark. We couldn't see the town. When I looked out of my window in the morning I looked right into a bluff about six feet away, and as I couldn't see to the top of it I didn't know how I was going to get out.
We stayed at the old Edwards House, kept by Wash. Garner at that time. Brother Cephas was there, and Uncle Joe came in the morning. The man who brought us from Galena took us down three miles to Uncle Joes, on Grant River. They had a cabin of one big room, and as there were six of us and seven of them, it was "packing" to get us in and make beds for us. They had everything to eat, and we had a good time. After our visit was out, Margaret and her baby and I went up town to board, she to Matt Walkers and I to Mr. Coles.
A School Teacher
Father taught the "lower school," as it was called, and I was his assistant. So I stayed on at Coles all winter, as Mr. Cole went to the Legislature at Madison that winter. Abba and Uncle Joes children walked across the ridge two miles to school. We had one hundred and ten scholars names on the register, and ninety-six day after day would crowd into that little schoolhouse. The seats would be full, and blocks of wood around the stove served as seats.
I had a very pleasant winter. There were many young people, and all were friendly, and we were soon acquainted.
In April, 1855, I saw the man that I afterwards married. I was washing a window at Coles, and was framed like a picture to be gazed at.
After school was out, I engaged the school at McCartneys, town of Cassville, and went before A. A. Bennett, town superintendent, for a certificate to teach in the town of Cassville. Then I went down on Rattlesnake Creek to get my contract signed.
When I first came to Beetown I started to walk down to Uncle Joes, and missed my way. I took the Potosi road instead of the right one. After traveling a long ways, I met an ox-team with a load of folks, and enquired the way. I had to go way back a long distance and take another road. I afterward knew the people, and they told me that I looked very frightened. It was nearly dark when I reached Uncle Joes.
A Term at Plum Grove
In May my school commenced at McCartneys. My salary was fifteen dollars per month and board. The board I obtained by boarding a few days at each home, a certain number for each scholar.
The people were very nice, and I enjoyed the change. It was a beautiful country, with many strange birds -- quail, prairie chickens, and millions of wild pigeons. When a flock would rise from the wheat fields it would sound like distant thunder. I have known one shot to bring down ten of the little beauties. And now there is not one known to be in the United States. In the fall the wheat fields were covered with wild geese, hunting for stray grains of wheat. The unbroken wild land was gay with flowers all summer. The name of the neighborhood was Plum Grove.
I taught the school three months for the great
sum of forty-five dollars, and left the place with the good will
of parents and love of the scholars, so far as I knew.
Married Life and a Homestead
After school closed I returned to Beetown, or rather to Grant River, to fathers, and worked the remainder of the summer and early fall getting ready to be married.
Was married November fourth, 1855, to Jesse Brooks. Rev. E. M. Lewis performed the ceremony.
We rented the old Beach place in the Red Schoolhouse settlement, in the town of Bloomington, (then Tafton) and there went to house-keeping.
1856
The next spring after the crops were in, we moved to Little Grant to break up some of our wild land, having entered a homestead from the government. We joined teams with William S. Powers, and both families lived in Arthur Lyness house. The house had only one room below, and a loft. Mrs. Powers had a bed and trundle bed, table and cupboard in one end of the room, and I the same (minus the trundle bed) in the other. Arthur boarded with Powers, and slept in the loft. We had a few boards over a stove where we did our cooking. Sundays we yoked up our oxen and came to Tafton to church.
When the breaking season was over, we went back to the farm and harvested our grain. In the meantime we had a house built on our land. The house was 14x24 feet, and had one room 14x14, two bedrooms and a little pantry. We lived in it the first winter with no plastering on walls or ceiling.
This year we attended a fourth of July celebration in Tafton. I am not sure it was this year (1856) but believe it was. It was held on the lots now occupied by the D. F. Brown home. A nice little grove of oak trees was there then, and it did very well. I remember Miss Laura Wilson was Goddess of Liberty, and Jesse read the Declaration of Independence. Everybody for miles around was there. Many of the women wore Shaker bonnets. Not long afterward nearly all the women wore them, as they could get nothing that suited the times so well.
Just before this time the Bracketts, Wilsons and Falleys came, and they had many young folks. Soon the Academy started, and that brought many to town. The first term was taught in one of the rooms in the building now occupied by Agnes Hope. When the new building was done Prof. and Mrs. Parsons took charge.
1857
We planted our crops and broke up more land.
September 1, 1857, our first child was born, a son, Cassius Hayden Brooks.
The winter of 1856-57 was a very hard one. There was four feet of snow in the woods, and it stayed on the ground, in the ravines, until May. We had a cold summer following.
We had the beginners hard times, but we enjoyed the pioneer life.
Wild game was plentiful. Deer would come near the house, stand and look at us, and then trot away over the ridge. One day a bear was chased into a tree near our house, and there shot. In the spring the little brook that ran down through the meadow was bordered with cowslips, and later wild roses took their place.
Jesse was town clerk and school district clerk, which brought many people to the house. Also, he was justice of the peace. All meetings of the board were held at our house. In muddy weather it was pretty bad.
We had much to discourage us. One year the chinch bugs took the wheat, and another the rust got it. One year we sold the wheat for 42 cents a bushel, after hauling it to Cassville with oxen. A trip took two days time. We sold beans for 75 cents per bushel.
1859
Mina was born November 5, 1859. She was a good baby, and did not bother much. As soon as she could run around, I would take both children into the field and husk corn, stack hay, or help do anything that I could.
I dont know how I ever did so much, besides doing the work for the family. I would do the washing after supper, and cook dinner while I was getting breakfast. I was very quick in those days, and could do a lot. I did all the sewing and knitting, and had to spin the yarn to knit with.
The first winter in our house was very cold. Water would freeze on the stove at night, left hot when we went to bed. I wore a hood and shawl part of the time, and kept a hot board to stand on when I washed the dishes.
Life in Town
When we had lived there seven years we sold the farm and moved to Bloomington. We had made only a living.
Herbert Jesse ("Jet") was born eleven days after we moved. We moved March 31, 1863, and he was born April 11.
There is not much to tell of our life in Bloomington. It was made up of little things that happen in almost every family.
The Civil War
It was the time of the Civil War, and some of our neighbors enlisted--men with families, and many young men. Some of them came back, but many did not.
Then came the draft. Jesse was drafted, but was exempt, being blind in one eye, and in poor health generally. If a man could raise $300 he could hire a substitute. Jesse took the $300 along, but did not have to use it.
I often wonder how many girls of the present day, 1916. would stick to a job like I had in Little Grant.
After the draft, we lived along in town. Jesses health was so poor that we didnt go onto another farm. We tried renting land, and he worked at plastering, but he was not able to do such heavy work.
In 1864 diphtheria broke out, and it was the first that we ever heard of the disease. The doctors didn't know what to do for it, and nearly everyone who took it died. Our blue-eyed boy, Cassius, was one of the victims. He died September 15, 1864. It was a great sorrow to us. He was a lovely child. He escaped many hard trials. I taught him the alphabet from the large letters in the Bible, as my school books had been left at home.
1866
December 22, 1866, Daisy was born.
Everybody was talking of the state of the country, and what was to be done next. Our children were growing up, and we still stayed in town.
Some time after, we bought the Hadley house, on the corner near the school-house. I used to go to the mill-pond pasture to milk the cows. Quite a walk.
1869
July 27, 1869, Ernest was born.
We had bought the house in Brooklyn where Grif Hickok now lives, and were living there at that time. We had not stayed very long in any one place, but always had a decent home, and we sent the children to church and school. We sold this house in a little while, and bought the land where we now live in Brooklyn, and built the house that we now live in, in 1870, or near that time. We have lived here all the time for forty-six years.
Everett Hayden was born September 5, 1872.
Lavern Wright was born November 27, 1875.
Jesse died March 31, 1904. We were married 48 years and 5 months. He was as good a man as ever lived.
My Parents Burial Place
My father and mother are buried in Crawford County, in a cemetery between Eastman and Seneca, on the Black River road, known at the time as the Shaw Burying Ground. Any of the Andrew Withee family -- George or Orris Withee, Jesse Griffin, Annie Gilder--will know the spot, for it is their burying ground. The graves are marked with a small headstone.
Written from Memory
I have written all of this from memory. The time covers all of my life, so far, 82 years. Of course, not all of the dates may be correct. If I had written it earlier, before receiving the stroke in November, 1914, it would have been better, for that greatly shattered my health in some ways. I am glad that I am well enough to wait on myself, however.
A Throne In a Tree
One of My Mothers Pleasant Memories
By Ernest Brooks
Oh, to reign on a throne in a mighty old tree!--
With the strong branches fashioned by nature for me,
And the blossoms and fruit intertwined with the green.--
Regal realm, royal court--homage due to the queen
Of a throne in a tree!
On this throne in a mighty, rough, rugged old tree,
Point of view for domains that are subject to me,
Perfect peace, sweet contentment, no trouble or care--
Childhoods measure of pleasure is overfull there
On a throne in a tree.
Rhythmic swing of the scythes in the fields of rich green,
And the cows graze in meadows or stand in the sheen
Of the clear placid lake; forest crowns the great hill,
While the stream turns the wheel of the mossy stone mill
Near a throne in a tree.
Theres the meadow larks song, and the drone of the bee;
Bluebird, robin and wren join the glad symphony.
From the air and the field comes a chorus replete
With the music of nature--a harmony sweet
For a throne in a tree.
Father Time with his sickle hath garnered the years.
Left behind was lifes dreamtide, its pleasures and tears,
With the good Pine Tree State, when the warm sunset glow
Proved a magnet to guide and inspire. Westward Ho!
Left a throne in a tree.
Yet the mind ever turns to the visions of youth,
When a trees branching limbs form a throne in real truth;
When. the blossoms and leaves with rare splendor adorn,
And the fruitage is sweet--fruit of Sodom not worn
Oer a throne in a tree.
May the heart ever cherish these memories dear,
And the fond recollections bring comfort and cheer
To maturity, coming with duty and stress;
With no humiliation for youths tenderness
And a throne in a tree.
The Hayden Family
PARENTS
Ebenezer Hayden--Barn Oct. 30, 1804. Died April 25, 1891.
Jane Staples Hayden--Born Nov. 29, 1803. Died Dec. 27, 1860.
CHILDREN
Elizabeth--Born April 20, 1827. Died 1848, at Raymond, Maine.
Margaret--Wife of Andrew Withee. Born August 8, 1829. Died 1908 at Seneca, Wisconsin.
Cephas Whitney--Born Sept. 22, 1831. Living (1921) at Parsons, Kansas.
Ebenezer Jr.--Born Jan. 22, 1834. Living (1921) at Eva, Oklahoma.
Josephine--Wife of Jesse Brooks. Born Dec. 20, 1836. Died Sept. 1, 1919, at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Abigail--Wife of Freeman Haynes. Born Sept. 17,
1842. Living (1921) at Madera, California.
The Brooks Family
PARENTS
Jesse Brooks--Born Aug. 25, 1830. Died March 31, 1904, at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Josephine (Hayden) Brooks--Born Dec. 20, 1836.
Died Sept 1, 1919, at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
CHILDREN
Cassius Hayden--Born Sept. 1, 1857. Died Sept. 15, 1864, at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Ermina Jane--Married W. H. Glasier. Born Nov. 5, 1859. Living (1921) at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Herbert Jesse--Born April 11, 1863. Living (1921) at Neillsville, Wisconsin.
Daisy--Married M. D. Brown. Born Dee. 22, 1866. Living (1921) at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Ernest--Born July 27, 1869. Living (1921) at Bloomington, Wisconsin.
Everett Hayden--Born Sept. 5, 1872. Living (1921) at Appleton, Wisconsin.
Lavern Wright--Born Nov. 27, 1875. Living (1921) Wichita, Kansas.