Person Page - 166

       Joseph/3a Brooks was born ca the fall of 1670 at Concord, MA, although no record survives.^2,3,4 11 Nov 1695, his father Dea. Joshua Brooks sold his Concord lands by four deeds to his sons. Each deed described several parcels, all of which were in the same area and were bound by lands of these four brothers. Joseph paid £50 for his land, says Threlfall.⁵ 24 Aug 1697, Joseph, his brothers and brothers-in-law sold to his brother Hugh their rights in their deceased brother Job's portion of their father Joshua's estate.^6,7 Joseph filed, 30 Jun 1701, with brother Daniel Brooks and brother-in-law Edward Bridge, a guardianship bond for his 18-year-old cousin Joseph Brooks, son of Gershom of Concord.⁸
     Joseph married (1), 31 Jan 1703/4 at Concord, Abigail/4w Bateman of Concord, daughter of Sgt. Thomas/3w Bateman and Abigail/2 Merriam.⁹ (Joseph's brother Ens. Daniel Brooks married Abigail's 2d cousin Anna Merriam.). Abigail died at Concord 24 Jan 1704/5, two weeks after childbirth.¹⁰ There Joseph married (2), 26 Jun 1706, Rebecca/4 Blodgett, daughter of Thomas/3 Blodgett and Rebecca Tidd.¹¹ "He purchased of Isaac Stearns, 3 Apr 1716, for £300, two lots of land in the southwestern part of Lexington amounting to 100A."¹² His will, dated 4 May 1746, mentions wife Rebecca and children Joseph, Rebecca Baker, Nathan, Amos, Jonas, Isaac, James, Mary Russell, and Hannah Russell.¹³ He died at Concord, "in the 76th year of his age," 11 Jul 1746.¹⁴ Inventory, £1470.¹² Buried in the Hill Burying Ground.¹⁴ His widow Rebecca died at Lincoln 25 Jan 1768.¹⁵
     "He settled in that part of Concord, which became a part of Lincoln, and where his father had settled … He acquired a respectable estate, as a farmer, and while living was distinguished for his liberality. From him the church in Lincoln received a part of its communion plate; and the town, the meeting-house bell, and the school fund. These, and several other acts of liberality, render his name deserving of lasting remembrance." [Shattuck] "The school fund referred to, was in 1761, £388, and the interest of it, is divided among the districts in the same proportion as other school money." [Bond]^12,16

       Rebecca/4 Blodgett was born 5 Jun 1689 at Woburn, MA.¹ She married, as his 2d wife, 26 Jun 1706 at Concord, Joseph/3a Brooks, son of Dea. Joshua/2a Brooks and Hannah/2 Mason.² He died at Concord 11 Jul 1746.³ She died at Lincoln 25 Jan 1768 at age 78.⁴

       Mary Bathrick was born 24 Dec 1725 at Cambridge, MA.¹ Then of Charlestown, she married (1), 16 Jul 1747 at Concord (int. 2 Jul 1744, Charlestown), Isaac/4a Brooks of Concord, son of Joseph/3a Brooks and Rebecca/4 Blodgett, with whom she had 6 children.^2,3 (Their siblings James Brooks and Elizabeth Bathrick also married.).
     Isaac and Mary Brooks led a peripatetic and apparently impoverished life; children were born at Concord, Lexington, Harvard, and Bolton, and the family was warned out at Bolton 22 May 1754.^4,5
     Isaac died before 21 Oct 1760, when his widow married (2), as his 2d wife, at Bolton (int. 20 Sep, Lancaster), John/3 Glazier III of Lancaster, son of John/2 Glazier and Mary Bentley, with whom she had 4 children.^6,7 4 Jun 1769, she was admitted to Chocksett Church in Lancaster (now Sterling).⁸