Edward Brooks (October 31, 1733 – May 6, 1781) was an American Congregational minister who served as the third pastor of the "Old Ledge" meetinghouse in what was then North Yarmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay (now

Yarmouth, Maine Yarmouth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States, twelve miles north of the state's largest city, Portland. When originally settled in 1636, as North Yarmouth, it was part of Massachusetts, and remained as such for 213 years. In 1849, ...

Early life

Brooks was born in Medford,

Province of Massachusetts Bay The Province of Massachusetts Bay was a colony in British America which became one of the Thirteen Colonies, thirteen original states of the United States. It was chartered on October 7, 1691, by William III of England, William III and Mary II ...

, to Samuel Brooks and Mary Boutwell. He graduated

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

in 1757, before working as the college's librarian between 1758 and 1760.

Career

On July 4, 1764, Brooks was ordained as the minister of the Meetinghouse under the Ledge in what was then

North Yarmouth North Yarmouth, officially the Town of North Yarmouth, is a town in Cumberland County, Maine. The population was 4,072 at the 2020 United States Census. It is part of the Portland– South Portland–Biddeford Metropolitan Statistical Area. ...

, Province of Massachusetts Bay. He succeeded

Nicholas Loring Nicholas Loring (September 1, 1711 – July 31, 1763) was an American Congregational minister who served as the second pastor of the "Old Ledge" meetinghouse in what was then North Yarmouth, Province of Massachusetts Bay (now Yarmouth, Maine). ...

, who died in the role in 1763. Around three years into his stint in North Yarmouth, "theological differences" between Brooks and his congregation began to surface. Attempts were made to align their beliefs, but it proved unsuccessful, and Brooks was dismissed in March 1769. Nine months later,''Collections of the Maine Historical Society'',

Maine Historical Society The Maine Historical Society is the official state historical society of Maine. It is located at 489 Congress Street in downtown Portland. The Society currently operates the Wadsworth-Longfellow House, a National Historic Landmark, Longfellow Ga ...

(1896), p. 45 he was succeeded by thirty-five-year-old

Province of New Hampshire The Province of New Hampshire was a colony of England and later a British province in North America. The name was first given in 1629 to the territory between the Merrimack and Piscataqua rivers on the eastern coast of North America, and was nam ...

native

Tristram Gilman Tristram Gilman (November 24, 1735 – April 1, 1809) was an American Congregational minister who served as the fourth pastor of the "Old Ledge" meetinghouse in what was then North Yarmouth, Massachusetts (now Yarmouth, Maine), for forty years ...

. Brooks returned to Medford, and purchased land on Grove Street as he moved into farming. He preached occasionally at the First Parish Church.

Personal life

Brooks married Abigail Brown on September 23, 1764, two months into his ministerial role in North Yarmouth. A Son of Liberty,

Peter Chardon Brooks Peter Chardon Brooks (January 6, 1767 – January 1, 1849) was a wealthy Massachusetts merchant. Early life Brooks born in North Yarmouth, Maine, on January 6, 1767. His parents were the Rev. Edward Brooks and Abigail Brown. In 1769, the fami ...

documented his father's exploits during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

: He went to Lexington "on horseback, with his gun on his shoulder and in his full-bottomed wig." Brooks also served as a

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...

in the

Continental Navy The Continental Navy was the navy of the United States during the American Revolutionary War and was founded October 13, 1775. The fleet cumulatively became relatively substantial through the efforts of the Continental Navy's patron John Adams ...

, including aboard the '' Hancock''. The ''Hancock'' was captured by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

in 1777, and Brooks was taken to

Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax is the capital and largest municipality of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, and the largest municipality in Atlantic Canada. As of the 2021 Census, the municipal population was 439,819, with 348,634 people in its urban area. The ...

, as a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. There, he contracted

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

. He was released as part of an exchange, and returned home to Medford, albeit in poor health.

Death

Brooks died on May 6, 1781, aged 47. He is interred in Oak Grove Cemetery in Medford, alongside his wife, who survived him by nineteen years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Edward 1733 births 1781 deaths People from colonial Massachusetts American Christian clergy People from Medford, Massachusetts People from North Yarmouth, Maine Harvard College alumni People from pre-statehood Maine