Person Page - 3

       William/1s Brooks was born in England, perhaps as early as 1610, perhaps as late as 1627, to unknown parents. The 1610 date seems to derive from Sheldon, who includes it in his histories of Northfield (1875) and Deerfield (1896). In ten years of research this author has found many repetitions of the widely circulated tale that William, b. London, 1610, first emigrated to Virginia and then to New England — but no evidence.^1,2,3 Some of the frequent conjectures in general circulation about William's origins are easily disproven, most notably the claim of a Whitchurch, Hampshire birth advanced in the so-called "Beverly Brooks" manuscript held by NEHGS and the Pocumtuck Library in Deerfield, MA.
     William Brooks first appears in New England 6 Feb 1648/49 at Springfield, MA, when he took the oath of fidelity (meaning that he was then at least 21 years of age).⁴ There he married, 18 Oct 1654, Mary/2 Burt, daughter of Henry/1 Burt and Ulalia/1 Marche, with whom he had 16 children.^5,6 She was at the time recently delivered of an illegitimate child by Sgt. Samuel/2 Wright Jr. (who would be raised as Remembrance Brooks), for which Mary had been judged guilty of fornication (as also with Joseph Bond) and publicly whipped. (She paid a 30s. fine in lieu of a second whipping for her relations with Bond.) Wright was also whipped, and ordered to pay monthly maintenance for the child for 7 years, and then to pay costs to put the child forth to be an apprentice.⁷
     16 Sep 1670, Reice Bedortha complained against William Brookes and Mary his wife for theire abusing of his son Joseph Bedortha by Bad language flinging a stick at him and using Reproachfull words Threatning expreshons and Taunting speeches. William Brooke and Mary his wife appeared, and though they partly denied the charges, magistrate Pynchon found them "both guilty of a very great Misdemeanor Touching that Busyness." He fined William 20s. and witness fees, and Mary 10s.⁸
     In 1675, Rev. Samuel/3 Mather was preaching at Deerfield, and boarding with William Brooks, who must have been in residence there that year.⁹ After Lothrop's defeat at Bloody Brook, on 18 Sep of that year, Deerfield's garrison and inhabitants abandoned the place.¹⁰ William's sons John and William were killed in an Indian ambush at Westfield 27 Oct 1675.¹¹ William was among those who took the oath of allegiance at Springfield, 31 Dec-1 Jan 1678/9.^12,13
     William Brooks and son Ebenezer were each granted 50 acres "beyond, or at ye upper end of Hight streete," at nearby Suffield, CT, 1680. These grants seems to have been made in consideration of the loss of Ebenezer's two older brothers at the hands of Indians at the onset of Philip's War.¹⁴ 8 Aug 1680, William Brooks was bound for his daughter Patience's unwed pregnancy at Springfield.¹⁵ He was one of 34 qualified voters at Suffield's first town meeting, 9 Mar 1681/82. He removed by 1686 to Deerfield, where he died 30 Dec 1688.^16,17 There his widow Mary died 31 Aug following.¹⁸

       William/2s Brooks Jr. was born 18 Aug 1655 at Springfield, MA.^3,1 He and his younger brother John were killed 27 Oct 1675 in an Indian ambush at Westfield, in the early months of Philip's War.^2,4
     Rev. Edward Taylor chronicled the event: "… but summer coming, [1675] opened a door unto y^t desolating war, began by Philip Sachem of y^e Pakaneket Indians, by which this handful was sorely pressed yet sovereignly preserved. But yet not so as that we should be wholly exempted from the fury … for our soil was moistened by the blood of three Springfield men, young Goodman [John] Dumbleton, who came to our mill and two sons of Goodman Brooks, who came here to look after y^e iron on y^e land he had lately bought of Mr. John Pynchon Esqr, who being persuaded by Springfield folk, went to accompany them, but fell in the way by the first assault y^e enemy made upon us, at which time they burn'd Mr. Cornish's house to ashes and also John Sachet's, with his barn and what was in it, being y^e first snowy day of winter …."⁴

       Remembrance/2sf Brooks was born, perhaps about the beginning of 1654, at Springfield, MA, the illegitimate child of Samuel Wright Jr. and Mary Burt, who subsequently married William/1s Brooks. [The first child of William and Mary Brooks, a son William, was born 18 Aug 1655.] Remembrance's parents were presented for fornication and sentenced to public lashes after the child's birth. The court assigned her care to her mother, and ordered her father to make monthly child support payments for seven years, and then to pay 40s. to put her out as an apprentice.^2,1 Remembrance married, 7 Jan 1674 at Springfield, James Brown of Hatfield.³
     Her luck in matrimony was no better than in the circumstances of her birth. Her husband was branded with a "B" on the forehead for burglary the following September, was in court again the succeeding March for assault and for profaning the Sabbath, and was the subject of a debt action in 1684. They settled at Deerfield, where she gave consent to her husband's sale of land in 1697.⁴ They were still at Deerfield, 3 May 1698.⁵ Removed to Colchester, CT, where he died 8 Jul 1711.⁶ In 1713, Remembrance Brown, widow of James Brown of Colchester, and her son James deeded land in Deerfield.⁶

       John/2s Brooks was born 10 Feb 1656/57 at Springfield, MA.^2,1 He and his older brother William were killed 27 Oct 1675 in an Indian ambush at Westfield, in the early months of Philip's War.³
     Rev. Edward Taylor chronicled the event: "… but summer coming, [1675] opened a door unto y^t desolating war, began by Philip Sachem of y^e Pakaneket Indians, by which this handful was sorely pressed yet sovereignly preserved. But yet not so as that we should be wholly exempted from the fury … for our soil was moistened by the blood of three Springfield men, young Goodman [John] Dumbleton, who came to our mill and two sons of Goodman Brooks, who came here to look after y^e iron on y^e land he had lately bought of Mr. John Pynchon Esqr, who being persuaded by Springfield folk, went to accompany them, but fell in the way by the first assault y^e enemy made upon us, at which time they burn'd Mr. Cornish's house to ashes and also John Sachet's, with his barn and what was in it, being y^e first snowy day of winter …."³

       James Brown, of Hatfield, MA, was born circa 1655.^1,2 He married, 7 Jan 1674 at Springfield, Remembrance/2sf Brooks of Springfield, daughter of Sgt. Samuel/2 Wright and Mary/2 Burt.³ 8 Feb 1678, he took the oath of allegiance at Hatfield.⁴ 1697, James Brown of Deerfield sold land "off his own ffree Will & alsoe with ye Consent approbation and good likeing of Remembrance Brown his Well beloved Wife."⁵ They were still at Deerfield, 3 May 1698.⁶ They removed to Colchester, CT, where he died 8 Jul 1711.⁷ In 1713, Remembrance Brown, widow of James Brown of Colchester, and her son James deeded land in Deerfield.⁷
     "... James Brown perpetrated a particularly long 'train of abuses' before coming to Deerfield. In September of 1674 Brown went to court for his 'gross miscarriages in Breaking up ye House & seller of Thomas Meakins, Sr.' and stealing nine gallons of 'strong liquors and doing other damages.' For this crime Brown had to pay triple damages, plus £3 in court costs, and, gravest of all, he and his partner were 'Branded on their fforheads for their Burglary with ye letter B.' Yet even this failed to settle Brown down. At the very next court session, in March of 1675, he was 'complained of' by Hatfield's John Graves 'for breach of ye Peace—beating him about ye head and face' while Graves was that winter in the meadow loading his sled with wood. At the same court session he was further accused of 'Prophaning ye Sabath Laughing and Sporting in ye time of Publique Ordinance,' for which he spent four hours in the Northampton stocks. In light of all this, a 1684 debt action against him seems minor, almost an 'improvement.' By 1688 Brown had settled in Deerfield.
     "While these actions yield no clear conclusion, the fact that nearly one-quarter of [Deerfield's] men were convicted of some crime in the county court is significant. Between inappropriate dress and sins of the flesh there emerges a picture of a young town, a frontier outpost, that was a refuge for valley people who had previously gotten in trouble with the law…."⁸

       Sarah/2s Brooks was born 4 May 1658 at Springfield, MA.^2,1 There she married (1), 11 Jul 1678, Dea. Jonathan/2 Taylor Jr. of Suffield, CT, son of Jonathan/1? Taylor and Mary/2 Wright, with whom she had 3 daughters.^3,4,5 He died at Suffield 23 Jan 1725/26.^6,7 She married (2), as the 3d of his four wives, by 1731, Dea. John/2 Hanchet of Suffield, son of Dea. Thomas/1 Hanchet and Deliverance Langton.^6,8 She died at Suffield 6 Jan 1733 at age 74.⁸

       Dea. Jonathan/2 Taylor Jr. was born 11 Mar 1654/55 at Springfield, MA.^3,1 There he married, as her 1st husband, 11 Jul 1678, Sarah/2s Brooks of Springfield, daughter of William/1s Brooks and Mary/2 Burt, with whom he had 3 daughters.^4,5,6 Grantee at Suffield, CT, 1680, where his homestead, like that of his brother Samuel, was on the west side of Springfield road "(now Crooked Lane)."⁷ Chosen a Suffield selectman, 3 Mar 1690/91.⁸ Voted 7½ acres at town meeting 2 Apr 1713, annulled by act of the county court, 10 Jan 1716, following a petition, 4 Aug 1715, opposing the grants made at the aforementioned and one other meeting, of which petition Jonathan Taylor was a signer.⁹ He died at Suffield 23 Jan 1725/26, leaving no male heirs.^2,10

       Dea. John/2 Hanchet was born 1 Dec 1649 at Wethersfield, CT.² He removed to Westfield, MA, and there married (1), 6 Sep 1677, Hester Pritchett of Suffield.^3,4 Removed to Suffield, CT, where he had a grant of 40 acres, 1679.⁵ One of 34 qualified voters at Suffield's first town meeting, 9 Mar 1681/82. There his wife died 29 Nov 1711.⁴ He married (2), 1713, Mary Skinner of Suffield, daughter of Dea. Joseph Skinner and Mary/2 Filley, and widow of Nathaniel/3 Harmon.^4,6 He renewed the covenant at Suffield, 23 Jun 1728.⁷
     John Hanchet's 2d wife died 17 Sep 1730.⁴ He married (3), by 1731, Sarah/2s Brooks of Suffield, daughter of William/1s Brooks and Mary/2 Burt, and widow of Dea. Jonathan/2 Taylor Jr.^8,4 She died at Suffield 6 Jan 1733.⁴ He married (4), 3 Jul 1733, Mrs. Sarah Southwell, who survived him.^4,9 He died at Suffield 23 Oct 1744 at age 94, the last of the town's original proprietors.¹⁰
     "John Hanchet, oldest son of Deacon Thomas, was at Westfield, and married Esther Pritchet of Suffield, 1677; had two children, then removed to Suffield, 1680, was freeman, and voter at the first town meeting. He held many offices, was Deacon for many years. He had six children born at Suffield. The Suffield Hanchetts are his descendants."⁴