3rd Page of the Socrates Brooks Court Case -- Dispute of his Will
(AMOS JOHNSON DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #177-#180)
Amos Johnson of Plymouth in Chenango County aged 58 years has duly sworn deposes & says . I am a brother of the widow of Socrates Brooks deceased and have been acquainted with Socrates Brooks about 30 years & I saw him frequently during his illness sometimes oftener than once a week and sometimes not as often and I heard him converse on different subjects. Sometimes when I was there he appeared to be possessed of his mental faculties. Sometimes he appeared stupid And drowsy and sometimes when he awoke out of sleep he appeared wild – I think I saw him appear wild when he awoke out o his sleep five or six times and he would appear wild sometimes ten minutes & sometimes 15 or 20 minutes and then he would appear rational. He did not appear wild to me at any other times except when he awoke out of sleep – The night I watched with him the Friday night before he died he appeared more drowsy some of the time than I had seen him before & I don’t know that I saw him appear drowsy at any other but that night when I watched with him – His mind appeared to be regular – at other times except when he was drowsy and when first awakening out of sleep – This wildness when he awoke prevailed more in the latter of his sickness than in the fore front of it – It is not an uncommon thing for sick persons to appear as he did when first awakened out of sleep especially when they are weak and yet be in possession of their faculties when they are full awakened – I have lost three daughters with consumption and thus I have been led to notice persons in consumptive complaints more.
/s/ Amos Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 1st day of
October 1841 Before Me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Amos Johnson on his cross examination says . I think I have seen Socrates Brooks appear drowsy and stupid for an hour at a time & possibly I may have seen him drowsy three times & possibly more & possibly not so many times. I did not see any thing that led me to believe he did not have his usual strength of mind. When the boys have told me things I have told them if they were so, Socrates Brooks could not be in his right mind. I would not think a father would be rational and turn his children outdoors—John Brooks worked for me seven or eight or ten years ago & I paid his father for it.
/s/ Amos Johnson
Subscribed and sworn this 1st day
Of October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(STEPHEN Y. HAMMOND DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #181-#183)
Stephen Y. Hammond of Norwich in Chenango County joiner aged about 32 years being duly sworn deposes & says – I have been well acquainted with Socrates Brooks for 8 years. I am a member of the Methodist Church. and I saw Socrates Brooks about every week after the death of his child to the time he was confined to his house – I saw him at meeting in Norwich village almost weekly. And once I saw him at my own house. And I frequently talked with him and in the course of the time I had a good deal of conversation with him – He was at my house once three or four hours. During that time and that time was chiefly spent in conversation upon religious subjects the mind of Socrates Brooks after the death of his child seemed to be seriously impressed ?(No. 3). I first saw him about 2 weeks after the death of his child & I think I heard him speak of the death of his child as having had an effect upon his mind and he had thought more upon the subject of religion since the death of his child – He said he supposed it was thought by others that he had not been friendly to the subject of religion formerly but he always had been friendly. He appearing desirous to converse upon religious subjects – In these conversations he appeared rational and I considered him a man of very good mind, I saw him twice after he was Confined. The first time the day he was Baptized and the last time the same week of his death.
/s/ S. Y. Hammond
Subscribed & sworn this first day of
October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(BETSEY JOHNSON DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #184-#199)
Betsey Johnson of Plymouth in the County of Chenango a witness producing and sworn on the part of the heirs on her oath says she is about 44 years of age & is the wife of Timothy Johnson & was well acquainted with Socrates Brooks in his lifetime & I have lived about a quarter of a mile from Socrates Brooks for 23 years and during that time I was in the habit of seeing Socrates Brooks more frequently than my other neighbors –Mr. Brooks was at our house often and he has worked there – I did not see him so much after the death of his child until his other children were taken sick I think in April last – I saw him a few times when his other children were sick and I saw him often as twice or three times a week on an average during his sickness. But there was two weeks in the time I did not go there. I watching with him twice. The first time I watched with him he had been sick six or seven weeks and the second night I watched was the night but one before he died – The two weeks I did not go there were in the in the fore part of his sickness I think. I conversed with Mr. Brooks some but he was weak and our conversation was principally upon his health. I thought his mind was weak. I thought I had seen him when he appeared to be out but not what we call crazy he did not know but little he appeared to be to me. The first time I saw him after he was taken sick he appeared more rational & sensible than he did a short time afterwards – He appeared childish and said there would not anyone do anything for him but Cassius. And again he said there would not anyone but his wife do any thing for him & again he said there would not any one do anything for him & he had to suffer & I thought he was childish. And I thought they were all doing the best they could for him. He appeared snappish to the children, the little boys & he did not seem to want them around him – He often told me his head felt bad before his nose bled – His nose bled the first night I set up with him & he said his head felt strange before it bled. I don’t recollect of his being snappish to his children when he was well – He told me he did not want Roswell to come home but he wished him well – I always thought Roswell was his favorite child in former times – He appeared like a child is the most I can tell you – I never heard him say anything about his will to my recollection. Mr. Brooks had turns when he would talk sensibly and then he would fall into a drowse and did not seem to know hardly any thing and his drowse would last some minutes. He would frequently when talking fall asleep like a child. During the nights I watched with him he did not think he slept any & I thought he did sleep some considerable. I should not think he possessed the same strength of mind he did when he was well. At the times when I saw him during his sickness – I don’t know whether he possessed faculties sufficient to transact business for I don’t know what faculties it would be necessary for him to have to do his business—I do not think he had a sound mind, capable of transacting business by what I could see.
/s/ Betsey Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 3d day
Of September 1841 Before me
Samuel Mckoon Surrogate
The said Betsey Johnson on her cross examination says. Along in June I mean, when I speak of the first of his sickness that is when he began to be confined to his house –The first night I watched his nose bled & that was six or seven weeks after he was confined to his house & I don’t know whether it was before or after the first of August as I kept no account of the time. He talked a little about his farming business before haying. He asked me how we got along and whether we were going to have much hay & I said he was afraid there would not be but little this year to keep cattle on. I heard him say the little boys would not do any thing if he was not with them. After he was taken down sick and was more confined to his house. I don’t recollect of ever hearing him speak a word on the subject of religion. I don’t know that I can relate any thing that he said that made me think his mind was weak except what I have mentioned & I don’t know that I can mention any thing that caused him to appear to one to be out except what I have mentioned. When he appeared to be talking to himself I did not understand what he said & I tried to hear him but I am considerably deaf and persons have to speak louder than usual for me to understand them distinctly. I am sometimes more deaf than at other times. Sometimes when he was sick he spoke as loud as he did when he was well and at others he spoke lower & I never noticed whether he spoke low most or not. I think it was in the fore part of his sickness when he said no one would do anything for him but Cassius & he spoke of his wife also in the fore part of his sickness. The times when he appeared to be drowsy & would lie and not appear to know any thing would last for or five minutes and after he was over his drowsiness he did not appear sensible & did not appear to take notice. Sometimes he appeared to talk sensibly as he used to. The first & last time I watched with him he groaned and appeared distressed & both times I thought he slept more than he thought he did. I don’t know as I can recollect any other impression which made me think him incapable of doing business except those I have detailed. Sometimes when I was talking with him he appeared about as sensible as usual & I did not think he was capable of doing business at any time when I saw him. He was naturally a capable & sensible man.
/s/ Betsey Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 30th day
Of September 1812 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Betsey Johnson on her redirect examination says. When Socrates Brooks seemed to be talking to himself or by himself he spoke so low that I could not understand any words he said. He appeared to be talking to himself & he appeared to use words. This was when he was not asleep but his eyes were closed and this was the case more than once and he would continue to talk to himself for some few minutes and after he discontinued talking to himself he would go to sleep. (Mrs. Brooks told me there were four wills wrote, and I told her I supposed he was suited with the last one and she said he told her he was not suited with the last one & told Uncle Ephraim Brooks so & she said she did not know the last will was going to be made and had no share in making it. I did not hear Mrs. Brooks say that she knew how he was going to make his will or dispose of his property. I heard Mrs. Brooks daughter-in-law ask Mrs. Brooks if Mr. Brooks had made a will and Mrs. Brooks made no answer. And she was out of wood & appeared to be in trouble & I told her I hoped she would take more comfort by and by & she said I know how it is going but I don’t know what she alluded to & this was the fore part of June before sheep shearing. Mrs. Brooks said as I understood her that she expected her husband did not mean to have the last twenty years put on in the will. Mrs. Brooks took care of her husband and I asked her how his mind appeared to be and what the state of his mind was and she said she did not like to have folks talk to him and said she did not believe he knew what he said half of the time. This was while he was sick and I don’t know as I can tell at what part time of the time of his sickness. Mrs. Brooks has never said to me that Mr. Brooks was out of his head but it would not do to have it go do not any thing like that I have never conversed with her respecting his capability to make this will. I do not recollect that I have talked with Mrs. Brooks but once respecting this will. Mrs. Brooks said she thought the will run( forty years if she did not live twenty. This conversation with Mrs. Brooks was last week). The evidence between the brackets taken under an objection & accepted to
/s/ Betsey Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 3d day
of September 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(OLIVER JANY DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #200-#205)
Oliver Jany of Plymouth in Chenango County farmer aged 63 years being duly sworn deposes & says I was acquainted with Socrates Brooks in his lifetime 40 years & I saw him twice during his illness & I heard him converse some. First I saw him about the middle of July I think but I cannot fix the time within a week or ten days. He did not converse much at that time and he appeared strange to me. He appeared senseless as I have seen persons appear in a possession. He did not appear to have any mind. I don’t know that I can mention anything in particular only he did not appear as he used to. When I went in I spoke to him and he turned and looked at me for some time and said nothing and I then asked him again how he did & he said he did not know as he was any better. I asked him who was doctoring him & he said not any body much & said Blinn Harris was there to see him once in a while. I asked him if he thought Harris did him any good and he said he thought not. I asked him if he had used the drops that my son had used which helped my son and he said he had taken them once or twice and Doct. Harris had requested him to lay them aside and he had done so. It was quite an effort to get him to talk at that time. The subject of religion was not spoken of & I was there ten or 15 minutes perhaps. This time he appeared so much different from what I had ever seen him before that I thought he either did not want to talk with me or his mind was frustrated or was not in his right mind. I did not think at that time he had sufficient mind to transact business.
/s/ Oliver Jany
Subscribed & sworn this 1st day
October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Oliver Jany on his cross examination says I live a mile and three quarters from Socrates Brooks & I went to see him about 10 o’clock in the forenoon when I went into the room there was a middle aged woman in the room with him that I did not know & Socrates Brooks was not asleep when I went in & I don’t think he was looking at anything in particular. He was sitting in his chair & he did not appear to be looking at anything in particular. He made no remark except when he answered my question & he said nothing but what I have told & when he did answer he answered regularly. My opinion of him is formed more from his looks and manner than from what he said for he had always been free to talk with me before. I think it was a minute after I spoke to him the first time before I spoke the second time. It did not appear to be hard work for him to talk.
/s/ Oliver Jany
Subscribed & sworm this 1st day of October
1841 Before me Samuel McKoon, Surrogate
(CAIUS C. BROOKS DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #206-#215)
Caius C. Brooks of Willet in the County of Cortland farmer aged 47 years being duly sworn deposes and says. I am a brother of Socrates Brooks deceased & I moved to Willet in March last & up to March last I resided in Plymouth a quarter of a mile distant from my brother Socrates. I have always resided with him or within a quarter of a mile of him till last March. I lived in Plymouth at the time he buried his child. And I cannot say that the death of his child had any effect upon his mental faculties before I went away. I was with my brother three days during his sickness at one time. I came the 24th day of June. I was not with him all the time those three days but the principal part of the time. Some of the time he was free to converse and he conversed mostly on his worldly business. He said not a word on the subject of religion. He said considerable about turning his property to pay his debts. He wanted I should take the gray mare & said I should have her for 60 dollars. He gave 80 dollars for her. He spoke of turning his young cattle to pay his debts and said he would sell them for half price. He talked some to his wife and children Roswell, George & Jesse. They had a dispute & he talked to them for it & told them to be still & said he would not have so much noise for he was not able to bear it. I conversed with him about his disease. He said had(sic) a good deal of distress at times & he said the distress was from the pit of his stomach to the top of his head. And he said in the afternoon his head felt dizzy and he could not hardly recollect anything that had passed. I sat up with him one night and he appeared different in the night from what he did in the daytime. He appeared to be more drowsy in the night and when he got in a drowse he talked low to himself and I could not understand his talk. While I was there for those three days I do not think he was possessed of his rational faculties as he was in health not all the time. I don’t know but he possessed his mental faculties well enough at times to transact business but at times he did not. I did not hear him say any thing about making his will. But he asked me if my son Thomas had told me he had made his will. My brother Thomas or my sister Clarissa owned a brown yearling that used to suck cow & they own it now & my brother Socrates did not own any such creature to my knowledge. Clarissa is my only sister living & my brothers & sister have lived in the same family or near each other & my brother Socrates & Clarissa were very kind to each other uniformly and were attached to each other before he was sick. And before he was sick and when in the possession of his faculties I always considered Roswell his favorite child & he was very kind to him. I have been acquainted with the conduct of John Brooks since he was a boy and I thought from 10 to 17 years of age he was the best boy I ever saw to work and after that he worked for Selah Brooks. His father always had his wages till he went to Selah Brooks I believe & when he went to live with Selah Brooks he was to live there till he was 21 and was to have a hundred dollars & Selah Brooks was to school him. I heard his father & mother say that John & his mother could not live together. I have always thought that the treatment of his mother has been harsh and uncommon towards John since he was eight or nine years old and I have thought her feelings toward Roswell have been tender till I was out in June last. I have heard Socrates Brooks say the difficulty between John & his mother caused him to put John to Selah Brooks to live & he said he felt very bad about letting him go. I think in the writing between Socrates Brooks & Selah Brooks the hundred dollars was to be paid to Socrates Brooks and his father has told me that the hundred & eight dollars including that which he had of Selah for John’s work he would let John have at any time he would be steady. He would put it into land & put more with it. John let his father have a load of corn in the ear 2 years ago this fall. I think from the German or Gile place. Socrates Brooks said he had eight bushels of potatoes & a half bushel of onions of John the same fall. I have seen John at work for his father several times since he was 21 years of age & Socrates Brooks said he had a lot of John & I think he said something about paying John for it. Socrates Brooks said he had in the money he had of Selah Brooks for John’s labour towards the new farm on the hill. I heard Socrates Brooks say he had shelly corn of John Brooks & I think seventeen Bushels & a half. I should not hardly have thought it safe for Socrates Brooks to have transacted business at any time during the three days I was there.. At the time I took my leave of him to return to Cortland County he expressed himself very tenderly toward me and regretted my leaving him. Whilst I was there Roswell caught the gray mare and said he was going with me & I was going to get my horse shod and my brother Socrates came to the window and said to Roswell he should not have the mare and should not use her at all. At this time I thought his bodily strength was low & he appeared weak. He spoke very much in a possession and quite loud when he spoke to Roswell. When I was sitting up with him he said Cassius did more for him than all the rest of his family and the next morning he said there did not anybody do anything for him but his wife. When I and Roswell went out after the horses Socrates Brooks was in bed and he got up and came to the window and spoke to Roswell as I have stated. I heard Mrs. Brooks tell Roswell she would not have him there and this remark of Mrs. Brooks arose from a difference between Roswell and the younger boys. Roswell was allowed by his father to trade any property in the farm always after he was large enough, say from the time he was eighteen years old and I never knew him refused the use of a horse before & that made me think strange of it.
/s/ Caius C. Brooks
Susscribed & sworn this first day of October
1841 Before me Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(BENJAMIN JANY DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #216-#225)
Benjamin Jany of Norwich in Chenango County Carpenter & joiner aged 53 years being duly sworn deposes and says. I have been acquainted with Socrates Brooks ten or twelve years. I have lived a half or three quarters of a mile from him for that time & I saw him from once to three times a week during his last sickness and I shaved him once a week during his sickness. And I washed him and attended to him considerably and he did not appear to like to have any other person shave him & I conversed with him when I was there. When I first began to shave him the principal part of his conversations about his farm & how the boys got along & he wanted me to go out and see how the crops looked and how his new kind of oats looked. And he used to talk upon all subjects until he got quite weak. He would talk very rational sometimes and sometimes he would not. I was not there after seven or eight o’clock in the evening from the fore part of July to the middle of July. He was considerably kind of regular for the most part of the time. I cannot say he was really deranged when I went there at any time but the third Sunday morning before he died he went from one subject to another & did not talk long upon one subject and he was so several different times but not so bad as he was that Sunday. And after that till he died. After that Sunday he often appeared bewildered but not often before. I think it likely he was possessed of his natural faculties and was capable of transacting business between the first & the middle of July & I do not know but he would talk as regularly on any business as he did when he was well. After the middle of July he was often drowsy & sleepy, considerable so. I never heard him speak of his last will but once and that was after he had sent it away to Mr. Brooks as he said or he would let me see it. He said he had received some money & corn from John that John had not had his pay for and if he had thought as much about it as he had now he should have made a little alteration in his will but he had got so weak that he should not undertake it. He did not tell what alteration he should make in it but did not say it was not his will. I don’t recollect as he said Mrs. Brooks had talked to him about making his will. He did not state what amount of money and said he had seventeen or 17 ½ bushels of corn & it was got at Smith German’s at the time John worked there. The third Sunday morning before he died John was requested by Mrs. Brooks not to speak to his father as he was not in his right mind. I was about shaving him & discovered he was not in his right mind & I told Mrs. Brooks it was best not to have anybody say much to him till I had shaved him & she said she would try to keep everyone out of the room. I heard her speak to several and stop them and she spoke to John and prevented him from coming in. I don’t know of John’s being stopped from coming in but once by his mother but I spoke to John the next Sunday after & told him I guessed it best not to come in till I had shaved his father. I did not hear a word between Mr. Brooks and his wife concerning his will and I never heard her say she had got the will fixed up to suit her mind. I heard Socrates Brooks say he had always calculated to let John have half of that farm on the hill for the money and favors he had shown him & this was before he was taken sick & before he commenced ploughing in the spring. I know John has worked for his father at four or five different times hoeing & haying since he was 21 years of age. I butchered 3 hogs for Socrates Brooks in the fall of 1840 & one of which he said he had of John
/s/ Benjamin Jany
Subscribed & sworn this
first day of October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogat
(THESIUS BROOKS DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #226-#241)
Thesius Brooks of Elmira in Chenango County being duly sworn deposes and says. I am a physician & surgeon and am a twin brother of Socrates Brooks, deceased. I saw my brother during his sickness 8 or nine days of the last of it. I was with him till his death. Witness was asked what first suggested the idea of Socrates Brooks’ insanity & the witness replied: a letter I received from him in March last announcing the death of his child. (The Council for the Executrix here objected to giving any evidence predicated upon that letter without producing it, or the expression of any opinion predicated upon that letter) objection sustained & evidence taken under the objection. I think the letter is not preserved for I am not in the habit of preserving epistolary correspondence from my friends & my opinion is that the letter is destroyed & I have no reasonable doubts that it is destroyed. I have never examined with a view of seeing whether the letter is to be found or not. In that letter he gave a history of the disease of his child and of its death and asked me to come up and offer some exhortation of consolation to the bereaved family. He left that part of the letter in an unfinished state and commenced writing about Roswell, and said Roswell would come to my house and he thought if Roswell united with the Church there would be no risk in aiding him in his profession and if I would furnish him the means of getting his profession, he my brother, would remunerate me for so doing & that is what I remember of the letter. He had been in the habit of corresponding with me before & I thought he had been remarkable for clearness in his expressions and this letter was mixed up & lacked that discrimination which formerly characterized his letters. Up to the time of receiving that letter Roswell had been treated affectionately & kindly by his father far so as my knowledge extended & Roswell had been considered by me as his darling child and his father was indulgent to him. When I came to see my brother in August last I found my brother arising up from a sleep and he looked at me and recognized me and took me by the hand and said I am glad to see you, but it is too late. I saw him every day til his death which was 8 or 9 days thereafter. And during those 8 or 9 days it seemed to hurt him to converse & he was rather disposed to converse. I told him that notwithstanding he was exercised with bodily pain I hoped he felt at rest in his mind that I understood he had embraced religion had united with the Church & had made his will & had got every thing ready for his departure. He said it was not so or something like that in a few words. His answer was rather ambiguous & I did not know whether he referred to his will or to his peace of mind in his reply. I am of the opinion that when a person’s body is weak the mind is also and from having my mind brought to that point by the receipt of that letter perhaps I was more particular to remark it. Some two or three times while I was there I would go to him & say you have been asleep & he would say, no, I have not slept. I had a small demand against him which he appeared very anxious to liquidate while he was living & I told him not to give himself any trouble about it. I remarked to him that I thought his mind was in too feeble a state to attend to that business & he said I have appointed Cassius my guardian and if you can make any arrangement with him it will be right. He wanted I should take some property for my pay and I did make arrangement with Cassius and took a mare and gave up the note amounting to about $40. In the evening he would speak of this after having waked up out of sleep & call it morning. I remarked this 2 or 3 times while I was there and one time while Aaron Mead and his wife were present. He was drowsy a great part of the time and it was difficult for him to keep awake. I observed he did not speak to Roswell while I was there and thought he did not recognize him and I spoke to him and said your son Roswell as a kind of introduction and he did not seem to notice it. (Mrs. Brooks told me it was not uncommon for him to say he had not slept any when in fact he had slept a good deal and she said they had given him morphine and that increased it) & I say that is the common effect of morphine on some constitutions. In speaking of his will she said it was not in every particular as she could have wished it. I remarked that I supposed my brother would have made some provision for Roswell to attend a course of lectures & I knew my brother had intended he should do so & she remarked & said Roswell had become disobedient & could have no more favors there. She said her husband was not crazy but he had turns when he did not appear to be conscious of what was passing. During the time I was there I consider the natural consequence of the weakness of his body was such as to render him incapable of making a judicious arrangement in distribution of his property. I did not hear him speak to his son Roswell while I was there & in a perfect state of health I presume he would not have treated him so without some marked provocation. I have observed that persons whose minds are deranged would become alienated from their best friends and manifest an aversion to those who were dearest to them in the days of their sanity. And such conduct would be a circumstance to cause me to suspect aberration of mind. Some persons are deranged on one subject only & sane as to all others and that is more frequently the case in diseases of the mind than in the body. And it is a possible case for monomania?? to arise from physical weakness. The mind of a person may be debilitated by physical weakness and the person may converse coherently on some subjects when he has not a sound mind. Persons will at certain times and on certain subjects discourse coherently and at other times and on different subjects will not. And at these lucid intervals I consider them capable of transacting business. I have seen cases of insane persons who would talk coherently. Socrates Brooks one day when I was at his house called Cassius his son to him and took him by the hand and said you have worked hard. I appoint you my executor or guardian I don’t know which. Take good care of what you have. I cannot express any opinion of the sanity of my brother anterior to my visiting him in August except from the letter received.
/s/ T. Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this first day
Of October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Thesius Brooks on his cross examination says. The letter I received appeared to be written soon after the death of his child. I do not recollect the date of the letter. I received it in March. I think some men would be likely to write incoherently after a severe affliction like the loss of a child and it may be so as a general rule & I have known a person to become insane from the loss of a near friend but such instances are not common and very seldom occur. I think it is somewhat uncommon for a person who is confined to a house and who is in the habit of sleeping during the daytime to mistake the evening for the morning.
/s/Thesius Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this first day of
October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Thesius Brooks on his redirect examination says. A person would not usually write incoherently a month after the death of a child from affliction merely. I now think Socrates Brooks had another member of his family very sick at the time he wrote the letter to me but he did not mention that fact in his letter to my recollection. A person ordinarily would not exhibit wildness for 15 or 20 minutes after being roused up out of sleep if they were possessed of a sane mind and ordinarily persons of sound mind will be conscious of the things passing around them in one minute after being aroused. Unless the persons are under the influence of medicines calculated to produce that effect and preparations of opium are calculated to produce that effect and morphine particularly.. Socrates Brooks was of a bilious temperament and morphine would not be as likely to affect him and make him appear wild as it would persons of a nervous temperament.
/s/ T. Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this first day of
October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(TIMOTHY JOHNSON DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #242-#250)
Timothy Johnson of Plymouth in Chenango County being duly sworn deposes and says. I am 49 years of age and a farmer and was acquainted with Socrates Brooks in his life time abut 24 or 25 years and lived about a quarter of a mile from him during his last sickness and near him for about 20 years. I saw him during his last sickness four or five times and conversed with him at three times whilst he was sick. Soon after he was taken sick say three days after he was taken down I conversed with him or heard him converse some but he did not say a great deal at that time and about a week or ten days after that I called to see him again. And I think about six or seven weeks after he was taken sick I was at his house and Jesse Brooks a son of Socrates Brooks about 10 years old was present and Socrates Brooks asked Jesse Brooks where George was & Jesse said he is at work along with John and Socrates asked where and Jesse said hoeing potatoes up by Thomas Brooks & Socrates Brooks said to Jesse, if you go into the lot where John is I will whip you, & said further, I forbid John coming in to my lot or I do forbid him. I understood it I forbid him but I cannot say but he said I do forbid him. My understanding of his conversation at that time was that Socrates Brooks was at that time giving the order to his boy to be delivered by the boy to John but I did not hear him direct his boy to tell John. And Socrates Brooks said John changed work with the small boys and that every day they exchanged work. John got a half of a day’s work advantage of them. Socrates Brooks appeared to be very much out of humour at that time, his chin quivered and appeared to be in a possession. At this time the wife of John Brooks came in and asked Socrates Brooks how he was and he said there was no use in asking such questions and said he was not better and that was all he could tell her. And said he did not believe any other person was ever sick as long as he had been and had altered so little and the women in the house then reckoned up the time after this and said he had been sick about seven weeks. I saw Socrates Brooks after this and sometimes he appeared rational and at others out of the way and acted wild., out of his head and deranged. Socrates Brooks before his last sickness appeared to treat his children not as severely and thought he ought to have done but he would sometimes speak sharp to them. Roswell Brooks appeared to be his favourite son. After about six or seven weeks from the time he was taken sick I did not consider him capable of doing business. I have dealt considerably with him and have had accounts with him & he always was ready to acknowledge my account honestly. What first led me to suspect that Socrates Brooks was deranged was what he said to Jesse and his manner at the time and what he said to John’s wife as I had never heard him talk so before. He appeared irritable when he talked to John’s wife.
/s/ Timothy Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 27th
Day of October 1841 before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Timothy Johnson on his cross examination says. I think & am pretty sure the time Socrates Brooks talked with Jesse as I have stated was before the 4th day of July and the women in his house then reckoned up the time he had been sick and made it about seven weeks. From my own recollection it was as much as five weeks after Socrates Brooks was sick & confined to his house that I heard him talk to Jesse as I have stated. I cannot tell when he was taken sick but I think it was the last of May. I saw him weeding onions the last work I saw him do and the onions were very small and I think that was in May. He appeared drowsy more than persons ordinarily do when they are sick and that was the most which made think he was deranged except what he said to Jesse & John’s wife. At one time when John Brooks was reading to him I said to John there is no use in reading for he is asleep. And Socrates Brooks spoke and said I am not asleep. I thought he was asleep and he had lain still for a long time and appeared to be asleep. John was reading when I went in, and Socrates Brooks spoke to John and asked him to read in Isaiah and after that he appeared to be drowsy and had his eyes shut and lay very still and John continued to read for some time before I told him there was no use in reading. I think this was the second time I visited him after he was taken sick. I cannot tell whether he was sitting up or lying down the third time I visited him after he was taken sick, but my impression is he was sitting up & in the kitchen.
/s/ Timothy Johnson
Subscribed & sworn this 27th day
Of October 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(CLARISSA BROOKS DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #251-#271)
Clarissa Brooks of the town of Plymouth in the county of Chenango being duly sworn deposes and says. I am 59 years of age and am a sister of Socrates Brooks deceased and have always lived near him and for about 30 years have lived his nearest Neighbour and during his last sickness I was frequently at his house. During the fore part of his sickness I was at his house every day and after about the tenth of July last I did not see him oftener than once in two or three days. Previous to his last sickness I had been on terms of intimacy with him and I knew of no unkind feelings on his part & we have met as often as two or three times a week for the past 30 years & during that time he manifested no unkindness toward me. After he was taken sick I went to see him to get him to renew some notes I held against him which had run more than six years. They were notes I had got of Clytus Brooks & I had been told Socrates Brooks did not intend to renew them & I went to see if he would renew them. The notes amounted to $128.72 including a twenty-eight dollar demand for which he had not given me a note and he had previously told me he had drawn a note for the $28.00 and that it was in his drawer. When I went to see him to get the note as he had told me was in the drawer, I asked him for it and he said he did not know anything about it. And after a few minutes I told him I had brought the other notes I wanted him to renew. . Then I told him I had not come to dun nor to draw for I knew he had had a good deal of sickness & if he would give me a new note I would wait a year & he said there was something about an ox & he could not tell what and there was ten dollars in Cash he had paid me at another time and said I had borrowed four dollars of him for my brother Cassius and I told him I had never had one cent of him only I had borrowed one dollar of him for Clytus Brooks and had paid him the next day and Lucena Brooks spoke & said she well remembered my borrowing the dollar & paying it again. I then took out the notes and asked him if that was his handwriting and he said he would neither own it or deny it under his present circumstances and said you are a damned old Curse and you are always trying to make difficulty in your brother’s families & I believe you are the means of making my boys act so and then the conversation stopped for a spell & then Lucena Brooks talked hard to me and said she did not know that Socrates Brooks owed me a cent & I told her she lied & that she lied like hell for she had talked with me about it more than twenty times and Socrates Brooks then turned me out of doors saying he would not have such talk in his house. The conversation was stopped for a spell but I did not go out & Anson Mead came in & Lucena Brooks complained & said she had been abused. And Socrates Brooks then said to me if I owe you take Thomas (meaning his nephew) and go in to my stock and appraise of stock enough to pay you and I told him I could not take stock and I wanted him to give me a new note & he said he would not and that was all the conversation that passed between us at that time. This conversation took place the next morning after the will was made. I did not go to his house in five days after this and then I went in the afternoon twice and at each time he asked me why I did not come in the forenoon but did not tell me why he wanted me to come in the forenoon and the third time I visited him after the above conversation took place I went in the afternoon and he asked once again why I did not come in the forenoon & I told him I had so much work to do I could not get away in the forenoon and he said he wanted I should come in the forenoon for in the afternoon he could not keep him mind collected enough to tell a story & he wanted to talk with me and that he had not time to talk then. And I told him he was so sick & feeble that he was so sick & feeble (sic) I should never say anything more about it & that if I got any thing I got it & if not let it go and he made no reply to that but cried. This last conversation was not more than nine days after the will was made I do not think Socrates Brooks had the full possession of his faculties after the death of his child. Some days he would appear rational and at other times he would not appear so. I was there one day & he asked me if I would not come and watch with him & I told him I would if he wanted me to do so at any time. & he said he wanted I should come that night & I went down & Anson Mead had come there to watch & went home again. The next night he sent for me again and I went and watched with him & sat up with him all night. This was about a fortnight after the will was made. When I went in Cassius Brooks was the only person up in the house and it was early in the evening and Socrates Brooks said Cassius you may go to rest now. And after Cassius turned to go into the other room, Socrates Brooks said Cassius does more for me than all the rest. The general actions & manner of Socrates Brooks were different after the death of his child. And the day of the death of his child he went out to his barn & I thought he acted rather strangely and he acted so strangely that I was afraid he would take his own life. Shortly after Socrates Brooks was married he had a turn and my father & mother were then afraid he would take his own life and they said so to me at that time. Socrates Brooks was subject to turns of hypocondria and said he was fearful of going to the poorhouse and he said this about a year ago. And when he had these turns he was very gloomy and said but very little. I do not think Socrates Brooks had the full possession of his faculties before he made his will after he was taken sick. And I did not think he acted as he used to act. Previous to his sickness I thought he was in a general way a pretty kind father but he had times when he was not so clever. He had a good many gloomy turns since my remembrance. Misfortunes & death seemed to worry him more than men in general. I did no business with him while he was sick and I cannot say whether he was capable of transacting business whilst he was sick or not but I do not think he was capable of transacting business. Socrates Brooks had not paid me in the manner he said he had & had never paid me one cent. Last fall he told me he would pay the notes the same as if they were not outlawed or renew them. And that that should make no difference. After the death of his child, he did not seem to treat me with the same degree of familiarity & affection he had done before. And until he was taken sick his son Roswell seemed to be his favourite and after that he seemed to be opposed to him in every thing. One time during his last sickness he said he thought he ought to set his house in order and this was after he was baptized and that was the only thing he said to me on the subject of religion during his last sickness.
/s/ Clarissa Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this 9th day
Of November 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Clarissa Brooks on her cross examination says. I first saw symptoms of derangement in Socrates Brooks the day that his child died viz he went to the barn and cried. And my brother Thomas followed him and Socrates Brooks came back to the house and he would not have any conversation with anybody, only to answer them and seemed to be in a deep study. And that is all I saw in him on that day that he led me to think he was deranged. And for a month after the death of his child he was not inclined to talk much. He acted strangely in that he was gloomy, disinclined to talk and cried for more than half of the time for a month after the loss of his child. He never lost a child before. Once while he was sick I went to his house and said to him, I think you are better you eyes look brighter and he replied and said, I am not any better & I don’t care what you think about it & this was in June 1841. On the day after the will was made Socrates Brooks said nothing about the gray mare but his wife did say she would turn out the hill farm or the gray mare and said she did not want any of my property. Anson Mead was not in the house of Socrates Brooks when I went there the day after the will was made but came in after I did and went away before I did. I made no reply about taking the gray mare I think. I guess I did not say a word to her proposition. After Anson Mead came in Socrates Brooks said he would not have such a noise in his house. After Anson Mead went away I had no hard talk with Socrates Brooks or his wife. Socrates Brooks was not generally very easily excited but when angry he would use rough harsh language. At one time after the death of his child, before he was taken sick, I saw him when I thought he acted like himself. I have known Socrates Brooks to use harsh language to his children before the death of his child. I don’t know but I have now related all of his actions & conversations which led me to think he was incapable of transacting business.
/s/ Clarissa Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this 9th day of
November 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Clarissa Brooks on her redirect examination says when I went into the house of Socrates Brooks in June 1841 and told him I though he looked better his wife said she wished I would say nothing to him for he did not know what he said half of the time. Socrates Brooks had no brown calf nor yearling that sucked the cow the past year, but I had a brown yearling that had run with a cow for over a year.
/s/ Clarissa Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this 9th day of
November 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(THOMAS BROOKS DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #272-#276)
Thomas Brooks of the town of Plymouth in the County of Chenango being duly affirmed deposes and says I am about 56 years of age and am a farmer and a brother of Socrates Brooks deceased and for about 30 years I have been his nearest neighbor and have generally been on intimate terms with him. After the death of his child I think he mourned to excess which I thought rather deprived him of his natural faculties. I thought he acted strange. He had previously been a man of laborious habits and after that he did not attend to much business and cried two thirds of the time for as much as three weeks. And he did not attend to much business after the death of his child. I once went to console with him before he was taken sick and told him I though it was wrong to grieve so much & he seemed to be offended and said we can make our hearts as hard as a stone. I saw him occasionally after he was taken sick. Sometimes I saw him every day for several days in succession and then again I did not see him for a week not being able to walk so far. And when I went to see him he would sometimes speak to me & sometimes when I spoke to him he would not answer me. At one time he said he thought it was time he & I were seeking a place of rest. He told me once his pain was mostly in his head & stomach, and told me he was in such distress in his head that it seemed as if he was in deep water. And when he shut his eyes it seemed as if he was in deep water and could hear a roaring and could see all kinds of colors and hear all manner of noises. And he believed he should be crazy. This was after he was baptized two or three days I think. I did not consider him in the possession of his faculties a part of the time while he was sick. Sometimes he would open his eyes suddenly and look wild and would wink or shut up his eyes a little while and then open them wider than usual & I concluded it was because he was under the influence of morphine and I understood he was then taking morphine. I was present once when he asked my sister Clarissa to come down in the forenoon and said he could not tell a story in the afternoon so as to be understood. I don’t think he possessed a sound disposing mind a great deal of the time after the death of his child. About the time his child was buried he asked me to go to his barn and see some shoats he had and I was busy & did not go directly with him but went after him. He went & opened the door and stood there & cried violently and I walked up to him and asked him where the shoats were and he turned away and went back to the house and did not speak to me. I thought he acted rather strange and was alarmed for his safety and I kept watch of him for about three hours.
/s/ Thomas Brooks
Subscribed & sworn this 9th day of
November 1841 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(HARVEY HARRIS DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #277-#292)
Harvey Harris duly sworn deposes and says I reside in the town of Norwich and am a Physician & Surgeon and have practiced such about 22 years and I knew Socrates Brooks for 30 or 35 years previous to his death and I attended him as his physician in his last sickness from the third day of June to the 28th day of June 1841 and I visited him from 8 to 12 times during that time. The first time I visited him I found him labouring under a subacute inflammation of the mucus membrane stomach, bowels & lungs. And a dyspeptic stomach & pain in the left side & across the bowels & lungs and the bowels were bloated & a dry harsh cough with difficult expectoration; soreness in the region of the liver & lungs.. His tongue was thickly furred with a yellow tinge and his mind was gloomy and he said he was satisfied he should never be any better and I could not make him believe to the contrary. His mind was weak & feeble with the body when I first saw him. And he remained pretty much the same for the two or three first times I visited him when about the tenth or twelfth of June he was comatose and it was difficult to arouse him from his stupid state in order to administer medicine at times. And these symptoms remained nearly the same till about the 16th or 18th day of June & between the 10th and the 16th or 18th day of June he had two of these drowsy turns and about the 18th day or 20th day of June his symptoms began to improve, he expectorated freely. His tongue became more clean & the pain in his chest, sides & bowels had subsided and he rather improved in his strength between the 20th & 26th day of June, so that it was said he had walked to the window and his mind seemed to be more cheerful & clear than it had been at any time previously. And he asked me what my account against him was and said as I had been doctoring for him for several years and he had not settled he did not know but my amount was large enough to take his farm. and I told him the balance would be about twenty dollars. He said he had a cow he wished I would take. And I observed that he was so weak and feeble that I did not think he was fit to transact any business. And he said Cassius, alluding to his son, knew the worth of property and he could fix the price & I told him I would wait and see if he did not get better or his symptoms were better or appear more favourable. At one visit I made him about the 15th or l6th day of June and after he had had one of his stupid turns when I went into his house he appeared some out & said to me. "You do business for nothing and find yourself, don’t you" & I said yes, sometime when I can do no better & I then turned the conversation to his symptoms. The 28th day of June was the last day I visited him & it was said he had not slept the night before and had raised? a half a pint or a pint of matter? & I considered him then very irritable & some out. When I went in at that time he said you keep saying that I get better & better all the time & why don’t I get well & I then observed to him that I had told him where then before that some of his symptoms were better but that I did not consider his cough any better and he made no reply. And I then said I considered him a great deal worse that morning and he made no reply to that. He turned over in bed and did not seem inclined to give any answers. During the time I attended him, his mind was weak and feeble. At times, however, better than others, and his mind was very gloomy all the while and while I attended him I did not consider his mind capable of doing business where it would require judgment or calculations to do it. At time when I saw him his mind appeared rational, so far as answering questions and informing me abut his symptoms but how much he ought to have to be of sound disposing mind I do not undertake to say. That is, I do no know how much mind the law requires a man to have in order to consider him competent to dispose of property. I did not think his mind was such that he was fit to do business on the 26th day of June. I saw him twice when he appeared shattered and twice when it was difficult to rouse him from his stupor. He was at this time very bilious. He took no opium or preparation of opium while I attended him. His disease naturally produced hypocondriasis and that disease is frequently attended with hypocondriacal symptoms. I have attended Mr. Brooks through two courses of bilious fever before his last sickness. And I understood (from) him Doctor Mitchell had attended him at one time through a severe course of bilious fever. Mr. Brooks was of a hypocondriacal bilious habit and liable to bilious attack in spring & fall. His last disease was dyspeptic consumption. That is consumption of the lungs, dyspeptic stomach and deranged liver. Any persons of his habit are more likely to have hypocondriacal spells than persons that are not of his make. And hypocondriasis is a stage or the first stage of Monomania. Iodine by our late authorities is advised in all cases of dyspeptic consumption and a watery infusion of it is recommended in cases of a deranged mind and I considered it proper to use it in the case of Mr. Brooks. Mr. Brooks had been very sociable and free to talk with me on all subjects until his last sickness for years. After the death of his child I saw him and he said he did not care how soon he died himself and the matter of his child made him more gloomy and hypocondriacal.
/s/ Harvey Harris
Subscribed sworn this 28th day
of March 1842 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Harvey Harris on his cross examination says. The mind of Mr. Brooks did not appear light & flighty but twice while I visited him, but it was weak & feeble. And I only tested his mind by asking questions and obtaining his answers and at twice it was difficult to obtain answers on account of his stupor. And excepting the four times above mentioned I could generally regulate my prescriptions by his own account of his symptoms & by what I saw of his symptoms. His mind was no more weak and feeble than The minds of persons generally who are as weak in body as he was with the same disease and during the time I visited him there was but one time when he walked any. At other times he had sat up long enough only to have his bed made. I did not see him after the 28th day of June 1841. If he afterward became able to walk about the room I think his mind would increase strength with his body. If after I saw him he was capable of dictating his will and after it was drawn he appeared to understand it. I think his mind must have been stronger than it was when I saw him except at one time the 26th day of June. From what I saw of him in June I could not say whether he would be capable of making his will the Eighth of July for I could not tell what the state of mind would then be. Mr. Brooks did not converse with me during his sickness upon the subject of his religious impressions or his views of death. And I do not recollect of saying anything to him but once upon any subject except his symptoms & other medical inquiries. And I do not know as I could have judged better with regard to the state of his mind if I had conversed with him upon different subjects. My medical inquiries were sufficient to satisfy me as to the state of his mind. Persons will talk rationally upon subjects familiar to them while they are deranged on particular subjects and will even carry on their ordinary business while deranged on particular subjects. If a man appeared rational in transacting his common affairs I should call him rational in what he did as to his common affairs. I did not discover that Mr. Brooks was not rational about his common affairs for I had no conversation with him on those subjects. In common cases of pulmonary consumption the mind & the appetite of the patient remain good until the last stages of the disease and that is different from the consumption of Mr. Brooks.
/s/ Harvey Harris
Subscribed and sworn this 28th
day of March 1841
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(BLINN HARRIS JR. DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #293-#302)
Blinn Harris Jr. being duly sworn deposes & says. I reside in the town of Norwich in Chenango County, am a physician and surgeon, and have practiced as such about ten years. And I was acquainted with Socrates Brooks for many years in his lifetime and I was his other physician in the latter part of his last sickness. I commenced attending him the second day of July and I attended him till his death and I visited him 13 times. His disease was dyspeptic consumption. His symptoms were bad the first time I saw him and his strength was such that he went from one room to another with assistance and sat up some but he was very weak. His mind, the first time I saw him, I don’t know but it was regular. I discovered nothing but his mind was as regular as that of other persons with the same disease in that stage of it. I saw him on the third day of July and he was about the same he was the day before and he continued along for some two or three weeks about the same . And I saw no material difference. About the time he joined the Church his mind appeared to be excited and rather nervous and I inquired of him as to the cause, and he said he did not know of anything and the family informed me he had been uniting with the church. I discovered no more symptoms of aberration of mind in him than I always discover in such cases. I never saw him when I could not make him understand what I wanted to and I could get correct answers from him when he was aroused but he was in a stupid state most of the time. His mind was affected during the month of July and I never saw a person with his disease whose mind was not affected. His mind was weak and his body was weak. The weakness of his mind corresponded with the weakness of his body. He was stupid a good share of the time when left by himself. And as a general rule it required some effort to arouse him from his stupor and a greater effort at some times than at others. I conversed with him on no subject but his disease to my recollection. Dyspeptic Consumption affects the mind by impairing its strength making the patient gloomy and it brings on hypocondriasis. For the first two or three weeks after I began to treat his case his appetite increased and he grew stronger. After that he began to run down. I do not think he was ever as well after he united with the church as he was before. I do not think he was capable of transacting any business that required the exercise of the full powers of his mind at any time while I attended him. Mr. Brooks said nothing to me on the subject of religion while I attended him. One time while I was at his house Frederick Brookins came to me and said Mr. Brooks had requested him to ask me if I thought it would hurt him to have a prayer meeting at his house. And I told him I thought it would not hurt him if no unnecessary noise was made. And this was after he had united with the Church. I saw him three or four days before he united with the Church and I next saw him the day after he united with the Church. As I was informed by the family and saw him any from that time to his death he ran down. And his mind after he united with the church was not probably at all times capable of transacting ordinary business and there was no time after that when he had his usual strength of mind. I suppose there were times after he united with the Church when f he was roused up he might have transacted ordinary business which did not require a deep effort of the mind or the exercise of the full powers of the mind. By ordinary business I mean such matters as he was familiar with and had thought of when in health such as settling accounts and he might have sold property,. But I do not think he was as capable of buying and selling as he was when in health by any means. At one time when I was there I heard him direct what fleeces of wool to sell and what fleeces to keep. The wool was in the room where he was and I think he kept the coarsest of fleeces. I do not think he was capable of negotiating a sale of his farm or important business of that kind during the time I visited him.
/s/ Blinn Harris
Subscribed & sworn this 28th day of
March 1842 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
The said Blinn Harrris, Jr., on his cross examination says I saw Mr. Books at no time before he united with the church when I could not get correct answers from him and when aroused up he appeared rational and his stupor did not appear to affect his mind materially after he was roused up. His stupor attended the inflamed state of the mucus membrane, stomach & c. And usually attend that state of the mucus membrande & stomach. When roused up I think he would have understood any thing relating to his affairs if it had been read over to him but how long he would have remembered it I cannot say. Diseases which affect the stomach prostrate the power of the mind. The brain appears to sympathize with the stomach in such diseases.
/s/ Blinn Harris
Subscribed & sworn this 28th day
Of March 1842 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(NELSON P. HALE DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #303-#305)
Nelson B. Hale being duly sworn deposes and says. I reside in Norwich in Chenango County and am a merchant. I was acquainted with Socrates Brooks in his lifetime & I am acquainted with his sons. Socrates Brooks traded with me some in his lifetime. And as a general thing he did his trading personally and requested me not to let his sons have goods without his written orders. I had let his sons have goods on his account and when I spoke to him on the subject & he said it was wrong & I must not let them have goods on his account without a written order. Roswell at one time wanted goods on his father’s account & I & my partner Mr. Andrews told him we would not let him have the goods and charge them to his father without an order and we declined trusting him on his own account . He wanted cloth for a coat or a suit of clothing and he said his father told him to get the goods. Roswell Brooks then turned around & wrote an order and signed his father’s name to it and said that was right and the goods were delivered. I think this was five or six years ago the past winter. After the time of credit on the order had expired called for pay upon the father and Socrates Brooks said it was all wrong and that he had not given his son orders to do that act. I did not see Roswell Brooks deliver this order but Roswell Brooks afterward told me the order was made and delivery as I have stated and Roswell Brooks still insisted that it was all right & that his father had told him to come & get the goods. We threatened Roswell for the fraud and my impression is that it was compromised by its being settled by Socrates Brooks and Socrates Brooks after that cautioning me against letting his sons have goods without written orders.
/s/ N. B. Hale
Subscribed & sworn this 29th day
Of March 1842 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(JAMES KERSHAW DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #306)
James Kershaw being duly sworn deposes & says I am a merchant in the village of Norwich & traded with Socrates Brooks in his lifetime. And I looked over the account with him once several years ago and we found a number of charges for goods got by his sons and from looking at our books this morning I find one charge for goods got by Roswell and the other charges for goods got by sons with out stating which. And Socrates Brooks said the goods got by his sons were probably got for their benefit & he declined paying for them and Socrates Brooks made payment on the account and there is still a balance of the account unpaid. I think the payments were sent by small boys a five dollars at a time who would direct me to give credit.
/s/ James Kershaw
Subscribed & sworn this 29th day
Of March 1842 Before me
Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(HENRY MITCHELL DEPOSITION CLERK INDEXING #307-#308)
Henry Mitchell being duly sworn deposes & says I reside in Norwich and was acquainted with Socrates Brooks in his lifetime. And I have been a practicing physician & surgeon since 1806. I visited Socrates Brooks in his last sickness on the 30th day of July 1841 with Blinn Harris his attending physician. The conversation we had was upon his disease and the medicines he had taken and his conversation and his description of the effects of the medicine he had taken convinced me he had drawn accurate inferences & he appeared to reason & judge well upon what medicines he had been taking
(SURROGATES CERTIFICATION CLERK INDEXING #308 +)
The foregoing proofs and Examinations were taken before me the surrogate aforesaid on the 28th, 29th & 30 days of September and the first and the 27th days of October 1841 and the 28 & 29th days of March 1842 at my office in the village of Oxford in the County of Chenango and on the 9th day of November 1841 at the house of Thomas Brooks a sick witness in the town of Plymouth in the said County and the depositions of Elijah G. Dimmick and Thomas Brooks the only subscribing witness to the said Will and the Codicil there under written as well as the depositions of the several other witnesses were by them respectively subscribed after having been first carefully read over to them. And I the said Surrogate being satisfied upon the said proof before me taken as aforesaid that lawful service of the citation issued in this cause had been made upon the heirs & next of kin of the said Socrates Brooks the testator deceased. That the said Will and the codicil thereunder written were duly executed and that the said Testator at the time of executing the same was in all respects competent to devise Real Estate and not under restraint do therefore allow the said Will and Codicil & proofs and Examinations to be recorded
/s/ Samuel McKoon Surrogate
(INVENTORY OF SOCRATES ESTATE ORDERED AND COMPLETED)
County of Chenango) NY
SURROGATE COURT (crossed out))
Stephen Hammond Special administrator of the estate of Socrates Brooks deceased, being duly sworn deposeth and saith, that the annexed Inventory, is in all respects just and true, that it contains a true statement of all the Personal Property of the said Socrates Brooks, deceased, which has come to the knowledge of this deponent, and particularly of all money, bank bills, and other circulating medium belonging to the said Socrates Brooks, deceased, and of all just claims of the said deceased against this deponent, according to the best knowledge of this deponent
/s/ Stephen Y. Hammond
Sworn before me the 8th
Day of Oct. 1841
Ivan S. Perkins
Commissioner of Deeds Beford?
COUNTY OF CHENANGO, NY.
We, Joseph Dimmick & Elijah Chamberlain
Appraisers duly appointed by the Surrogate of said County, do severally hereby swear and declare that we will truly, honestly and impartially appraise the Personal Property of Socrates Brooks late of said county, deceased, which shall be for that purpose exhibited to us, to the best of our respective knowledge and ability.
/s/ Joseph Dimick
/s/ Elijah Chamberlin
Sworn the 25th day of
October 1841, before me
James M. D. Carr
Justice of the peace
CAPTION OF AN INVENTORY
A true and perfect Inventory of all and singular, the goods, chattels and credits of Socrates Brooks deceased, made on the 25th & 26th days of October 1841, by Stephen Y. Hammond, Special guardian of the Estate of the said deceased, with the aid of Joseph Dimmick & Elijah Chamberlain appraisers appointed by the Surrogate of the County of Chenango, and sworn, and after service of notice as the law directs, on the legatees and next of kin of the said deceased
Four Cows at $10 $40.00
A Yoke of steers at 19.00
X Four yearlin Cattle at $5 20.00
X Two Calfs at $1 02.00
X Twenty five sheep at 62 1/2cts 15.62
X Two swine at 1.50 03.00
X Two horses one at $55, the at 15 70.00
X Tenn gees at 25 cts 16 hens at 12 +.50 04.00
X Twelve tons of hay at $8 96.00
X Four & half tons ? at $6 27.00
X Corn stocks at $8 08.00
X Wheat not thrashed at $1 per B
4 ½ Bushels 04.50
X Thirty Eight Bushels oats at 38 cts 14.44
X Fifty Bushels Corn at 50 cts 25.00
X Two Bushels Buck Wheat at 33 00.76
X Fifty Bushels Potatoes at 18 cts 09.00
X Forty d do ? at 15 cts 06.00
X One two hors waggen at 08.00
X Some parts of an old waggen 01.50
X One Cutter & four old Sleighs 05.00
X One old sythe –sheath & C? 00.25
X Three ploughs one at $4 one at .50
Other at .50 05.00
X One two hors harness ?ruffletrees? neck
Yoke & C? 06.00
X Two Draft Chains one at $2 1 at $1 03.00
X Five old push forks 00.50
X One half Bushel Manure at 00.38
X One Cord of Tan Barck? 01.00
X One Grind Stone 00.50
X A kit of old Iron hand Irons Shorb? & Tongs & c. 02.71
X One Bureau 08.00
X One Clock 04.00
X Eight Chairs at 38 cts 03.04
X Two tables one at 1.25 one 25 cts 01.50
X Crockery to the amount of 91 cts
Candlesticks 12 01.03
Cloths of the deceased 04.00
Cash 05.00
$426.73
No Acounts or Nots ____.50
$425.23
One Cow
Tenn Sheep
Two Swine
Three Beds
Three Bedsteds & one small one
One table
Six Chairs
Six Plates
Six knives & forks
Six Cups & Saucers
One Tea pot
One Sugar Bowl
One Cream Pot
Four spoons
One four pail Kittle
One pot
One Small Kittle
One bake kittle
One Spider
One tea kittle
Clothing for the widdow – three suits except shoes
Little girls thru d?
Small Boys quite destitute
Five yds Cloth for the Small Boy Clothing
Light towels
Two table cloths
Tenn fleeces of wool some yarn
Provisions not verry Plenty
About seventy lbs of P (potatoes?)
Three or four Bushels flour
CERTIFICIATE AT THE END OF INVENTORY.
We, whose names are undersigned, Appraisers appointed by the Surrogate of the county of Chenango, having first taken and subscribed the oath hereto annexed, do certify, that we have estimated and appraised the property, in the foregoing inventory contained, exhibited to us, according to the best of our knowledge and ability, and that we have signed duplicate inventories thereof.
Dated October 26th 1841
/s/ Elijah Dimmick