They settled in Massachusetts near Scituate fairly early, but even so some 15 years after Resolved White arrived on the Mayflower. Gilbert Brooks sailed on The Blessing from London, 17 June 1635, age 14, with William Vassall, a wealthy merchant of Stepney, Middlesex, accompanied by his brother William, age 20 — and stayed there. Almost nothing is known about their circumstances in England, though indicators point to Essex as the point of origin. The name being so ordinary, the uncertainty is likely to remain.
Sources: Savage, A Geneaological Dictionary, p. 263; Pope, Pioneers of Massachusetts; Deane, History of Scituate; Shurtleff and Fulsifer, Records of Plymouth Colony; Greenlaw, Genealogical Advertiser; Anderson, The Great Migration
generation no. 1
William Brooks, born 1615, emigrated from England 1635, a householder in Scituate in 1644, died c 1683. Married twice, but the mother of his children, named by Deane in the 19th century as the widow Susannah Dunham, has been discredited. Married (2) Susannah Hanford, widow of John Whiston.
Sources: Anderson, The Great Migration, vol. 1, pp. 407-11, 412-15; Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary, vol. 1, p. 263
generation no. 2
Nathaniel Brooks I, born 29 March 1646. Married 24 December 1678 to Elizabeth Curtis, daughter of Richard Curtis.
Sources: Anderson, The Great Migration, vol. 1, pp. 407-15; Torrey, New England Marriages; Foster, Vital Records of Scituate; Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary, vol. 1, p. 263
generation no. 3
Nathaniel Brooks II, born August 1693 at Scituate, died 14 January 1794, buried in Old Burying Ground, Norwell. Married 27 November 1717 Mary Taylor. Built house on Main Street in Norwell in 1722 "a half mile west of Hoop-pole Hill" that stayed in the family for seven generations until being sold in 1918, restored by 2005.
Sources: Anderson, The Great Migration, vol. 1, pp. 407-15; Torrey, New England Marriages; Foster, Vital Records of Scituate; Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary, vol. 1. p. 263; Deane, History of Scituate, pp. 223-24; tombstone record
generation no. 4
Taylor Brooks, born 28 August 1718 at Scituate. Shipwright. Married (1) on 8 May 1740 Merriam Curtis, who died 16 May 1756, and (2) on 10 September 1761 Lydia Smith of Taunton MA.
Sources: Anderson, The Great Migration, vol. 1, pp. 407-15; Torrey, New England Marriages; Foster, Vital Records of Scituate; Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary; Briggs, History and Records of First Congressional Church
generation no. 5
Noah Brooks I, born 1744, christened 4 November 1744 in Scituate, died at sea 28 August 1789. Master mariner. Married Hannah Stetson.
Sources: Deane, History of Scituate, pp. 223-24; Brooks family records; Scituate vital records
generation no. 6
Noah Brooks II, born 7 July 1782 in Scituate MA. Shipwright. Died a day after being flung from a sleigh on the main road in Dorchester on 28 January 1852. Buried in Old Burying Ground, Dorchester. Married 16 February 1812 Esther Stetson.
Sources: Brooks family records; tombstone record
Barker Brooks [uncle], born c 1789, died c 1838. Married Margaret Perkins.
generation no. 7
Williams Barker Brooks, born 9 November 1813, died of old age on 16 July 1904. Bank manager. Married on 22 December 1836 Alvira Woods Rice by Samuel E. Barrett in Boston MA.
Sources: Deane, History of Scituate, pp. 223-24; Brooks family records; tombstone record
Noah Brooks [first cousin], born 24 October 1830, died 16 August 1903. Writer and journalist. Invited by Abraham Lincoln in early 1865 to serve as private secretary. Accepted shortly before the assassination (see obituary).
generation no. 8
Laura Alice Brooks, born 2 May 1859, died 28 February 1940. Married on 21 October 1879 Samuel Wesley Martine of East Orange NJ.
Sources: Brooks family records; Massachusetts vital records; U.S. Census 1880, 1900
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