Person Page - 1639

Richard/1e Brooks ["Brooke"], 24, was enrolled at London 18 Apr 1635 as a passenger for New England on the Susan and Ellen, Edward Payne, master, and, on the 9th of May, enrolled again on the same ship. In both of these entries, the following name was Tho[mas] Brooke, presumed to be his brother.^2,3 Both men initially settled at Lynn, Massachusetts,^2,4, where Richard Brooks received 10 acres in a 1638 distribution of land, and in Aug 1639 was to pay 40s. to John Fuller of Lynn.⁵
     Hist. Lynn (1865), probably following Savage (1860), says that Richard of Lynn is the same man who, in 1650, "went to Easthampton [Long Island], being one of the first settlers there." Torrey gives a migration sequence of Lynn, Southampton and East Hampton (as it is spelled today).⁴ The Great Migration authors conclude, "Richard Brooke does not appear in the records of Southampton in its early decades, and so there is no particular reason to believe that the 1635 passenger was the man of the same name who much later appeared in Easthampton."⁵ He is, nonetheless, here identified with the emigrant of 1635. Just as evidence is lacking to prove the connection, so evidence is lacking to refute it. Because the given name Richard is not found elsewhere within 17th century Brooks families of New England, and because East Hampton was in part settled by men from Lynn and the towns around it, the likelihood that the Lynn and Long Island men are the same strikes this author as equally (or more) plausible than attributing the facts to mere coincidence.
     9 Jun 1668, Richard Brooks of East Hampton was treated for stomach pain by Dr. John Winthrop, Jr., who recorded the event in his medical journal.⁶ The will of William Edwards of East Hampton, 1 Feb 1680/81, mentions a "lot in the old Eastern plains, bounded east by Richard Brooks."⁷
     9 Dec 1683, Richard Brooke witnessed the will of John Mulford of Easthampton.⁸ The will of John Parsons of Easthampton, proved at Southampton 16 Mar 1685/6, leaves to eldest son Samuel Parsons two acres on the Eastern Plain, bounded by Richard Brooks and John Kirbe.⁹
     Richard Brooke/Brooks of East Hampton died in 1687 (Torrey).¹⁰ See The Great Migration, 1634-1635, 1:405-06.⁵

     "Here also," says a history of East Hampton, "at this attractive spot were the families of Schillinger, Fithian, Baker, Shaw, Conklin, Brookes, Meacham, Chatfield, and Bishop. The thatched roofed houses of most of these families bordered the east and west sides of the main street, which like the old street in Maidstone, England, runs north and south. The historian Thompson gives us this brief description of their houses: 'Their dwellings being of the rudest construction with straw roofs and wooden chimneys, plastered on the inside, no glass in the windows and destitute of most of the conveniences of a later period.'."¹¹
     "By the Records," says another work, "it appears that East Hampton was at first called Maidstone. Some of the First Settlers appear, by the Records to have come from Stansted in the county of Kent in England. Probably some of them might have come from Maidstone in the same County. It is very evident from the Records, that some of the original 35 settlers and purchasers of the Town removed from Lynn in Massachusetts; and tradition informs us that they came from several of the towns on the Sea coast to the Eastward of Boston."¹²

William Lord Jr., born 13 Oct 1643 at Saybrook, Connecticut,², married, as her 1st husband, by 1679, Sarah/2h Brooks, daughter of Thomas/1h Brooks and Marah/2 Spencer.¹ He died at Haddam shortly before 4 Dec 1696.²

Eliphalet/2 Fox was born circa 1644 at Concord, Massachusetts,(no record surviving).¹ His father's will, 25 Jan 1657/58, leaves his estate in the hands of wife Hannah until my eldest son Eliphalet shall arrive at the age of one and twenty years; at which time Eliphalet shall inherit two-thirds of the estate, the remainder secured to his mother until her death, on condition that he agrees to pay each of his siblings (of whom only Elizabeth is named) £5 each.³
     He married (1), 26 Oct 1665 at Concord, Mary/2 Wheeler of Concord, daughter of George/1 Wheeler and Katherine Pin, with whom he had 6 children, and who died at Concord 24 Feb 1678/9.⁴ Lived on the Bedford Road, in Concord's East District, 1666, when his taxes were abated on 14 lots comprising 106 acres.⁵ He married (2), 30 Nov [Torrey; Sep, Savage] 1681, Mary/3 Stone of Concord, widow of Isaac Hunt, with whom he had 2 sons.^6,7 Freeman of Concord, 21 Mar 1689/90.⁸ He married (3), 15 Apr 1702 at Concord, Mary Bishop, daughter of Edward Bishop, and widow of Robert Coburn.^9,10 He died at Concord 15 Aug 1711.¹¹
     Shattuck, who mentions descendants of Eliphalet living [1835] in New Hampshire, misidentifies his mother as Hannah Brooks.¹²