Person Page - 3041

       Benjamin/4s Brooks was perhaps born about 1759 at Ridgefield, CT, though the record is not found there.² He lived at Marcellus, NY, probably where he married, as her 2d husband, by 1790, Asenath Van Vliet of Marcellus, widow of Jacobus Cuddebach.^1,3 They removed to Vermillion, OH in 1809. "Benjamin Brooks, his wife and three children came at the same time as Perry [1809] and lived near him. Benjamin was no longer young when he came to Vermillion. He had been a captive of the Indians in his youth, and knew their ways well."^1,3

       Asenath Van Vliet, born circa 1765, "came from Marcellus, NY and remembered many incidents of the Revolution which she told to her children."¹ She married (1) Jacobus Cuddebach, with whom she had 3 sons.¹ A widow of Marcellus, probably there she married (2), by 1790, Benjamin/4s Brooks, son of Jonathan/3s Brooks and Sarah Hobart.^1,2 They removed to Vermillion, OH in 1809. "Benjamin Brooks, his wife and three children came at the same time as Perry [1809] and lived near him. Benjamin was no longer young when he came to Vermillion. He had been a captive of the Indians in his youth, and knew their ways well."^1,2
     "Mrs. Benjamin Brooks and her daughter Elizabeth were running toward the blockhouse, when a great Indian stepped out from the bushes and blocked their path. The mother threw her arms about the girl, and waited in terror for the Indian to kill them.
     "After eyeing her a moment, he stretched out his finger and pointed to the string of gold beads on her throat, making a queer grunting sound. Quickly Mrs. Brooks unfastened the string and handed the beads to him.
     "He seemed greatly pleased, then with the same grunting sound pointed to her dress. Asenath Brooks quickly unfastened her dress, slipped out of it, and handed it to him, pushing Elizabeth back of her into the bushes so that she might run away and hide.
     "The Indian pointed after Elizabeth, still grunting. When she saw that he was pointing, Elizabeth stopped, came hurrying back, snatched off her bright calico dress and she came and thrust it into his hands. The two women, clothed only in their petticoats and shifts, clung together in terror, but the Indian seemed absorbed in the gold beads. Presently, dangling them before him in the sunlight, with the two dresses trailing over his arm, he trotted away into the woods.
     "Asenath and Elizabeth took to their heels, and arrived at the blockhouse, breathless but thankful they had not lost their scalps nor their lives, and soon the other women found clothes, which though not very good fits, were most acceptable."¹