Person Page - 5

       Mercy/2s Brooks was born 25 Aug 1669 at Springfield, MA.^2,1 She married, as his 1st wife, 4 Dec 1690 at Deerfield, Samuel Carter of Deerfield, son of Joshua Carter and Mary/2 Field, with whom she had 6 children.³ There she died in childbirth 22 Jan 1700/1 at age 31.⁴ Samuel Carter remarried twice and died in Sep 1728 at Norwalk, CT.^5,6

       Samuel Carter was born circa 1665, probably at Northampton, MA [though Sheldon says London].^1,2 He married (1), 4 Dec 1690 at Deerfield, Mercy/2s Brooks of Deerfield, daughter of William/1s Brooks and Mary/2 Burt.³ There she died in childbirth 22 Jan 1700/1.⁴ There he married (2), 1 Jul 1701, Hannah Weller, daughter of John/2 Weller and Mary/2 Alvord, who died at the hands of the Indians in the aftermath of the Deerfield raid, circa 1 Mar 1703/4. He married (3), Jan 1706 at New Canaan, CT, Lois St. John (Sention), and died at Norwalk in Sep 1728.^5,6
     Samuel Carter was away from Deerfield on the night the French and Indians attacked the town in 1704. He returned to find an empty house, and the body of his youngest son Thomas in the doorway. His wife Hannah and two more of the children were killed by their captors on the first, second, and fifth days of the forced march to Canada; the eldest four children, who were sturdier, survived to reach Canada. Of these, Ebenezer was ransomed and returned to Deerfield in 1707. Samuel, as a young man, drowned while crossing the St. Lawrence River. Mercy, the third survivor, married a Mohawk Indian and lived on in Kahnawake, an Indian town across the St. Lawrence River from Montreal. John, only eight at the time of his capture, was assimilated in Canada, and married to a Frenchwoman. He subsequently appears as Jean Chartier, habitant, in Canadian village records.⁷
     Samuel Carter left his son John/Jean a £500 estate, if—and only if—he would come to live permanently in New England, says Demos. A similar bequest to daughter Mary was conditioned on her return, with her Indian family, for a period of at least ten years.⁷

       Benjamin/2s Brooks was born 25 Jul 1671 at Springfield, MA.¹ He married, by 1693, Mary/3 Barnard, probably daughter of Richard/2? Barnard and Sarah Clark, with whom he had 12 children.^2,3
     At a Springfield town meeting, 12 May 1701, Benjamin Brooks desires the Towne to grant him 12 or 14 acres of land on the North Side of Chickuppy River.⁴ He was one of 6 men elected hog reeve, 9 Mar 1702/3.⁵ At a town meeting 11 Mar 1706/7, Benjamin Brookes, Edward and Thomas Horton, and David Chapin were granted 40 acres of land ("ten acres a peice") on the north side of Chickupi River from Schonungonuck path up the river and adjoining it, "they having desired it at the former meetings especially at y^e meeting ffebr 28 1706–7."⁶ For hire of his bull, town records show Benjamin received from 15s. to as much as £2 per annum in the years 1730–34.⁷
     His wife Mary died 23 Feb 1740/41 (1st Ch. rec.).^8,9 He died at Springfield 3 May 1755 at age 83.¹⁰ A soldier in Father Rale's War in Maine.^11,3

       Mary/3 Barnard was born 11 Dec 1672 at Springfield, MA.^2,1 Probably the same who married, by 1693, Benjamin/2s Brooks, son of William/1s Brooks and Mary/2 Burt, with whom she had 12 children.^3,4 She died 23 Feb 1740/41 (c.r.) at age 68.^5,6 He died 3 May 1755.⁷

       Deliverance/2s Brooks, a twin, was born 28 Feb 1672/73 at Springfield, MA.¹ There he married, 4 Dec 1708, as her 2d husband, Mary/3 Lombard of Longmeadow, daughter of David/2 Lombard and Margaret/2 Filley, and widow of John/3 Burt. The marriage occurred a full month after the birth of their 1st child, if the records are correct.^2,3 They removed to Brimfield [Sheldon: "sett. in Brookfield."].^4,3 She died at Brimfield in Oct 1759. The record of his death is not found.^5,6

       Thankful/2s Brooks, a twin and 1st so-named, was born 28 Feb 1672/73 at Springfield, MA, and there died 3 Apr following.¹

       Thankful/2s Brooks, 2d so-named, was born 13 [19, Pynchon] Sep 1679 at Springfield, MA.^1,2 She married, 24 Nov 1699 at Deerfield, Josiah/3 Church of Hadley, son of Capt. Samuel/2 Church and Mary Churchill.³ They lived in Hadley.⁴

       Josiah/3 Church was born 10 Apr 1674 at Hadley, MA.¹ He married, 24 Nov 1699 at Deerfield, Thankful/2s Brooks of D., daughter of William/1s Brooks and Mary/2 Burt.² They lived in Hadley.³

       Jonathan/2s Brooks was born 13 Oct 1674 at Springfield, MA.¹ A soldier in the garrison at Deerfield, 1698.^2,3
     "On the 15th of July, 1698, a short time before sunset, a party of four Indians attacked several men and boys, who were at work in the north [Hatfield] meadow. John Billings and Nathaniel Dickinson Jr. were killed, and Samuel Dickinson and a lad named Charley ____ were captured. The father, Nathaniel Dickinson, had his horse shot under him, but escaped. The savages, with their captives, immediately started up the river in canoes. Intelligence of this affair was at once sent to Deerfield, thirteen miles distant. Suspecting that the assailants had escaped in canoes, a party of thirteen men, under command of Corp. Benj. Wright of Northampton, started the same evening in pursuit. In it were two men from this town, the rest were either Deerfield men or members of the garrison there. They proceeded up the river about twenty miles, to the present town of Vernon, Vt., reaching there about daylight. Having placed their horses in a safe position, they lay in wait upon the river bank. When the enemy appeared on the opposite side of the stream, the English fired and wounded one of them. The Indians and one of the boys jumped into the river and gained the shore. Seeing that the savages were about to kill the lad, fire was again opened, sending them instantly to cover. The boy managed to join his companion in the canoe, and both succeeded in crossing the river in safety. One of the Indians, attempting to intercept them, was shot. Five or six men then embarked in the canoe in order to get possession of the other one, which had lodged on an island, a little distance down the stream. The Indians concealed themselves on the opposite bank, and when the English approached, fired upon them, killing Nathaniel Pomeroy of Deerfield…The Indians who made this raid were Pocumtucks, and were known to the captive boys.⁴
     "In 1698, the men* engaged in this affair petitioned the General Court for compensation. This document was signed by Jonathan Wells, Joseph Hawley and Samuel Partridge. In it they say:—
     "We are of opinion that the persons above mentioned ought to be well rewarded. The 3 first Newly come into Deerfield weary out of the woods, and upon hearing of the news from Hatfield, four of the town, with seven of the garrison joining with them, went away in the Night. Their Journey was difficult, their undertaking hazardous. The issue successful, & we hope of good consequence. The ready spirit of the Soldiers to go out tho under pay already, we beleive will be taken notice of for their incouragement. The time of their service may well be esteemed two dayes. They travelling all the Night Before and the first three the night after from deerfield to Northampton, where they did belong. They all found themselves horses and provisions.'
     "In response to the above petition, the Legislature granted £22 to these men, to Benjamin Wright £3, to the 'six inhabitants' £2 each, and to the garrison soldiers each £1. Col. Schuyler and others went to Canada, the same year, to rescue and bring back the English captives. Between twenty and thirty prisoners were redeemed; among them were the survivors of the Belding family, and others belonging in Deerfield.
     "* The names of the persons who were engaged in this pursuit were the following: 'Benj. Wright, Corporal of the troop, Leader; Benj. Stibbins, Jonathan Taylor, troopers, of Northampton; Thomas Wells, Benoni More, Ebenezer Stebbins, Nath. Pumrey, Dragoons; Corporal gillit, Benj. King, Jonath. Brooks, Sam'l Root, Jos. Petty, Jos. Clesson, Henery Dwit, Garrison Soldiers at Deerfield.⁵'"
     Jonathan was reported at Springfield, 1701.^6,3,7 At Suffield, CT, by 1702, per deed.^8,9 A son of Jonathan Brooks, probably the same, died 13 Jun 1713 at East Hampton, Long Island.¹⁰ Of Staten [Burt, Warren] or Long Island [Sheldon, Eno], NY, 1725, per deed.^{11,12,13,14,15} Unmentioned in a 1726 division of property including the heirs of William Brooks.¹⁶
     
     Onto this quintessential New England resume Cutter grafts, as a son of Jonathan/2s, one Jonathan Brooks, of Albany after 1725, who "probably married a Dutch wife while in New York." Recent research by Valentine Van Zee and Jim Nolan suggests that this connection is in error. Jonathan/2s was of English origin, and Jonathan of Albany probably of Dutch ancestry. But for the sake of inclusion, and strictly as an unproven research hypothetical, Jonathan and Joshua Brooks, both of New York's Hudson River Valley, are here connected as candidate children of Jonathan/2s in order to include the "Dutch" Brooks line at Albany in this site. Note that the sons' alphanumeric identifiers are changed from /3s to /3x, the "x" representing this "Dutch line." Descendants will carry the "x" indicator as well.¹⁷