Person Page - 3777

       Dorothy Smith, 2d so-named, was born 11 Sep 1731 at Haddam, CT.¹ She married Lt. Samuel/4h Brooks, son of Capt. Abraham/3h Brooks and Martha Porter.² Reportedly died at Haddam 13 Mar 1814 at age 82.²

       Dorothy/3 Brainerd was born 23 Feb 1709/10 at Haddam, CT.¹ Perhaps the same who there married, 3 Dec 1729, David Smith of Haddam.^2,3

       Pvt. James/5h Brooks was born in Nov 1758 at Haddam, CT.^2,3 His name is included, Aug 1777, in "A list of Soldiers Belonging to the Town of Haddam in the Continental Army that had no families to be Supplyed," and in a later list of Haddam soldiers who received town bounties for service between 1777-1780.⁴ He married, 15 Apr 1782 at Haddam, Lydia King, a native of Long Island, daughter of Samuel King. (Solomon Walkley of Haddam deposed in 1838 that at the wedding, James's grandfather Abraham Brooks "was present and after the ceremony was performed stepped up & kifsed the bride and said he had now kifsed the wife of a grandson, which caused some laughter.").^2,5 "They were members of the Congregational church in Connecticut."² James was recorded at Haddam in the 1790 census.⁶ He died 30 Dec 1832 at Carlisle, OH, at age 74.^7,2,3,8
     21 Mar 1818, James Brooks of Haddam, a. 59, infirm with asthma and reduced in circumstances in life, applied for a Revolutionary soldier's pension, which was allowed. He deposed that he enlisted, Apr 1777, in the company of Capt. Mills, Col. Charles Webb's regt. of the Connecticut Continental Line; and about the beginning of the following March was transferred into Gen. Washington's Life Guard, commanded by Maj. Kellogg Gibbs, in which he served until his discharge in Jan 1780, upon expiration of his three-year term.⁹
     He soon moved to Stockbridge, MA, and then on to Ohio.¹⁰ 28 Oct 1820, James Brooks of Elyria, OH, a. 61, deposed that he also served at New London in the summer of 1776 in the Connecticut militia under Capt. Roger Buckley; that he had heretofore worked as a rigger and pilot but that severe asthma, age and infirmities now prevent his earning a livelihood; and that he has been a burden to his elder children for about twelve years.¹¹ 13 Dec 1838, his widow Lydia made application for a Revolutionary widow's pension, which was allowed.⁸
     Cutter, apparently working from a family history supplied by descendants, enhances James Brooks's military service. "He served seven years in the revolutionary war, being a soldier in the Connecticut line, from which he was transferred to the commander-in-chief's guard, otherwise known as the Washington Life Guard. He wintered at Valley Forge. He was taken prisoner five times, was never exchanged, but made his escape every time. Once, when on a prison ship in New York harbor, after they had gotten out into the sound, he crawled through the port hole and swam seven miles to Long Island. He had been a sea captain, was a powerful man and a good swimmer."²
     Corey Ford, in A Peculiar Service, provides an anecdote about Washington's life guards set during James Brooks's final months of service in the unit. "To the Continental troops, shivering in their crude log huts in the swirling snow, the winter [1779-80] at Morristown was even more cruel than that at Valley Forge. They were often without meat and bread, their uniforms had worn threadbare and many were shoeless, and several regiments were on the verge of mutiny. General Washington, who insisted on enduring the rigors with his men, had established his headquarters in the drafty Ford homestead; and in January Martha Washington left the comforts of Mount Vernon to join her husband, riding sidesaddle through a two-day blizzard with an escort of Virginia dragoons. The headquarters stood several miles away from the main camp, and elaborate precautions were taken against a surprise raid by the enemy. Pickets were thrown out toward the Hudson and the Raritan, and at the firing of a distant alarm gun Washington's life guard would rush to the house, barricade the doors, throw up all the sashes, and stand with primed muskets at the open windows. Mrs. Washington was often obligated to lie in bed for hours, her chamber filled with guards and a wintry gale blowing through the room, until the alert ended."¹²

       Lydia King was born 2 Dec 1763 on Long Island.^1,2 She married, 15 Apr 1782 at Haddam, CT, Pvt. James/5h Brooks of Haddam, son of Lt. Samuel/4h Brooks and Dorothy Smith.^1,3 "They were members of the Congregational church in Connecticut."¹ James was recorded at Haddam in the 1790 census.⁴ He died 30 Dec 1832 at Carlisle, OH.^5,1,6,2 13 Dec 1838, widow Lydia Brooks of Carlisle made application for a Revolutionary widow's pension, which was allowed.² Her son Samuel of Carlisle filed a supporting affidavit.⁷ Lydia King died 3 Dec 1847 at La Porte, OH, at age 84.¹