Person Page - 1743

       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.^2,3 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.⁴
     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 CT census of 1670 does not include Henry at all. Jacobus says only, "of NH."^5,6,7,8 Henry married, as her 2d husband, 21 Dec 1676, probably at New Haven, CT (also rec. Wallingford), Hannah Potter, widow of Samuel Blakeslee.^1,9
     In the 3d division of lands at New Haven, 1680, Henry Brooks was enumerated with 5 heads, 23¾ acres, and taxes of £19.¹⁰ A list compiled at New Haven 22 Dec 1712 records both John and Henry Brooks as New Haven proprietors in 1685.¹¹ At a New Haven town meeting, 27 Dec 1686, a highway in the Governor's quarter was "to be continued begining near the house or shop of Henry Brookes and runneth through the quarter into the plains…."¹² 8 Mar 1685/86, Henry Brooks requested the town grant him 2 acres of boggy meadow near the fresh meadows in the plains.¹³ 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.¹⁴
     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.³ 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 1702.¹⁵
     23 Apr 1705, Henry's only son Thomas purchased land in the West Farms section of Wallingford, CT. 9 Jan 1706/7, the town admeated Thomas Broox an inhabetant upon thatt land he purchest, and Henry joined his son in West Farms.¹⁶
     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."^1,14 9 Nov 1713, Henry Brook was (posthumously?) granted a 6-acre lot in the 2d division of sequestered land at New Haven.¹⁷ His widow Hannah died at New Haven 7 Nov 1723.^1,18