Henry/1c Brooks

M, #17429, (say 1639 - between April 1713 and November 1713)
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Appears on charts:Descendants of Henry/1c Brooks
Y-DNA Overlay Chart -- CHESHIRE line
Last Edited:22 Mar 2019

Child with Hannah Potter:

Henry/1c Brooks was born, according to family tradition, about 1639 in County Cheshire, England, and is said to have served as a farrier with Oliver Cromwell's New Model Army.1,2 But if the legend of service under Cromwell himself be true, Henry was likely born earlier. Cromwell's last field command was the campaign of 1651, culminating with his victory over Charles II at Worcester on 3 September of that year. A boy of 12 years would seemingly be underaged and undersized for the job of shoeing horses. It must also be noted that Cheshire, and southwestern England in general, were bastions of Royalist support during the two civil wars.3
     Henry Brooks removed to present-day Connecticut, date unascertained, perhaps with his brother John. Yale dates the emigration of both men at "about 1660" (coincidentally the year of the Stuart Restoration), while Holmes places Henry at Wallingford, 1650, and New Haven, 1670. Holbrook's reconstructed Connecticut census of 1670 does not include Henry at all. Jacobus says only, "of NH."4,2,5 Henry married, as her 2nd husband, 21 Dec 1676, probably at New Haven, Connecticut,(also rec. Wallingford), Hannah Potter, widow of Samuel Blakeslee.6,7 A list compiled at New Haven on 22 Dec 1712 records both John and Henry Brooks as New Haven proprietors in 1685.8 8 Mar 1685/86, Henry Brooks requested the town grant him 2 acres of boggy meadow near the fresh meadows in the plains.9 A list of New Haven freemen dated 18 Jan 1702/3 contains an x by his name, designating that he had died or removed from the town.10
     Says Yale, "From 1685 down to 1704, John and Henry Brooks were on the list of the proprietors of Wallingford," just north of New Haven.2 He did not yet remove there, however. 3 Apr 1704, Henry Brooks was still on the New Haven tax list with 4 persons, 18 acres in the sequestered land, and 9 acres in the half division. His rates (taxes) had been "35" in 1683 and "65" in 1702.11
     23 Apr 1705, Henry's only son Thomas purchased land in the West Farms section of Wallingford, Connecticut. 9 Jan 1706/7, the town admeated Thomas Broox an inhabetant upon thatt land he purchest, and Henry joined his son in West Farms.12
     Jacobus says Henry died in 1713. A footnote in the published New Haven Town Records says, "Henry Brooks died in 1713, exact date not ascertained, but apparently between April and November."6,10 9 Nov 1713, Henry Brook was (posthumously?) granted a 6-acre lot in the 2nd division of sequestered land at New Haven.13 His widow Hannah died at New Haven 7 Nov 1723.6,14

Local Notes:

Property1680, New Haven, CTIn 1680 the third division of lands was arranged and issued. The number of acres to be allotted to each proprietor was determined by the number of persons in his family, and the amount of estate on which he paid taxes…
     Now for the eastern side of the town the persons who are to have land in the third division…" | John Brooks, 7 Heads, £4, 29 Acres | Henry Brooks, 5 Heads, £19, 23¾ Acres…15
Property27 Dec 1686, New Haven, CTTown meeting, December 27, 1686 | And in the Quarter called the Governors quarter a highway to bee continnued between the Governors quarter and Mr. Davenports quarter at the least as farr as the land that at first was Rich. Perryes now belonging unto Todd. … And in the Quarter now called Coopers quarter a high way that was somtime called the clay pitt way, and those clay pitt lands now being disposed of it is of no use to that purpose yet the high way to be continued for persons to goe to theyer Lands, alsoe in this quarter is another high[way] and to be continued begining near the house or shop of Henry Brookes and runneth through the quarter into the plains …16
Property3 Apr 1704, New Haven, CTHenry Brooks | 4 (persons) | 00 (first purchase) | 35 (Rate 1683) | 65 (Rate 1702) | 18 (number of acres in the Sequestred Land) | 00 (quarters of acres) | 9 (number of acres in the half Devision) | 0 (quarters of acres)11
Property23 Apr 1705, Wallingford, CTTo obtain a clear idea of how these disputes arose, it will be in order to mention the case of William and Mary Tyler.
     It appears that on the 23d of April, 1705, they sold "102 akers" of Second Division land "called the Lothrop farm," lying one mile from the New Haven Mill river and "eight acres" adjoining "layed" out on the east side of this farm. It was well understood at the time, that William and Mary Tyler did not convey a "Proprietor's right" in selling this land. It was only a small portion of the land that had belonged to some of the numerous Lothrop heirs and the title by which it passed into the possession of the new purchaser is clearly set forth by the vote taken ten months later. "Att an ajurned town meeting the ninth January, 1706-07, the town admeated Thomas Broox an inhabetant upon thatt land he purchest."
     We have a list of 23 other persons admitted as "Inhabetants" ...12
Property9 Nov 1713, New Haven, CT2d Division of Sequestered Land [in a later hand]. | Henry Brook Lot* | 6 (acrs)

* Henry Brooks died in 1713, exact date not ascertained, but apparently between April and November.13

Source Citations/Notes:

  1. [S220] Frank R. Holmes, Ancestral Heads of New England Families, 32-33.
  2. [S402] Elihu Yale. "Brooks of Cheshire, Ct.," New England Historical and Genealogical Register 5:355–57 (1851). Hereinafter Yale.
  3. [S1262] Antonia Fraser, Cromwell the Lord Protector, Calendar of Events, xx.
  4. [S220] Holmes, New England Families, 32-33: 1649.
  5. [S696] Donald Lines Jacobus, Ancient New Haven, 2:336, Fam. 1, John: "of NH."
  6. [S696] Jacobus, Ancient New Haven, 2:336, Fam. 2, Henry.
  7. [S927] Vital Records of New Haven, 1649–1850, 43, Henry Brooke/Hannah Blackly m.
  8. [S1047] Zara Jones Powers, New Haven Town Records 1684–1769, 3:319.
  9. [S1047] Powers, New Haven Town Records, 3:27.
  10. [S1047] Powers, New Haven Town Records, 3:194.
  11. [S1047] Powers, New Haven Town Records, 3:212.
  12. [S1009] Joseph Perkins Beach, History of Cheshire, Connecticut, 47-48.
  13. [S1047] Powers, New Haven Town Records, 3:342.
  14. [S1461] Jacquelyn Ladd Ricker, The Ricker Compilation, New Haven VR, wid. Hannah Brooks d.
  15. [S856] Edward Elias Atwater, ed., History of the City of New Haven, 26–27.
  16. [S1047] Powers, New Haven Town Records, 3:41.
  17. [S927] New Haven VR, 50, Thomas Brooks b.