Joseph Brooks (November 1, 1821 – April 30, 1877) was a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

minister, newspaper editor, and politician who served as the 19th postmaster of

Little Rock, Arkansas (The Little Rock, The "Little Rock") , government_type = council-manager government, Council-manager , leader_title = List of mayors of Little Rock, Arkansas, Mayor , leader_name = Frank Scott Jr. , leader_ ...

, from 1875 to 1877. During the

Reconstruction Period The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebui ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

(1864–74), Brooks and the "Brindle Tails" faction of the state's Republican Party led a coalition group in an attempt to overthrow Republican

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Elisha Baxter Elisha Baxter (September 1, 1827May 31, 1899) was an American businessman and politician who served as the 10th governor of Arkansas from 1873 to 1874. Early life and career Baxter was born in Forest City, North Carolina. He sought and obtained a ...

. The

Spring Spring(s) may refer to: Common uses * Spring (season) Spring, also known as springtime, is one of the four temperate seasons, succeeding winter and preceding summer. There are various technical definitions of spring, but local usage of ...

1874

coup d'état A coup d'état (; French for 'stroke of state'), also known as a coup or overthrow, is a seizure and removal of a government and its powers. Typically, it is an illegal seizure of power by a political faction, politician, cult, rebel group, m ...

attempt came to be known as the

Brooks–Baxter War The Brooks–Baxter War, also known as the Brooks–Baxter Affair, was an attempt made by failed gubernatorial candidate Joseph Brooks of the “Brindle-tail” faction of Arkansas' Republican Party to take control of the state from Elisha Ba ...

Early life and military service

Joseph Brooks was born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

, and worked as a minister, preacher, and Methodist church official in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

from 1840 to 1862. He also worked as a newspaper editor for the ''Central Christian Advocate'' in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

. In 1862, he joined the

United States Volunteers United States Volunteers also known as U.S. Volunteers, U.S. Volunteer Army, or other variations of these, were military volunteers called upon during wartime to assist the United States Army but who were separate from both the Regular Army and the ...

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 1863 Brooks, an ardent

abolitionist Abolitionism, or the abolitionist movement, is the movement to end slavery. In Western Europe and the Americas, abolitionism was a historic movement that sought to end the Atlantic slave trade and liberate the enslaved people. The British ...

since the 1850s, became chaplain of the 56th United States Colored Infantry. Brooks resigned from the U.S. Volunteers on February 1, 1865.

Reconstruction era

Brooks leased a cotton plantation near

Helena, Arkansas Helena is the eastern portion of Helena–West Helena, Arkansas, a city in Phillips County, Arkansas. It was founded in 1833 by Nicholas Rightor and is named after the daughter of Sylvanus Phillips, an early settler of Phillips County and the n ...

, after the American Civil War. He helped organize

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a formerly enslaved person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, enslaved people were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their captor-owners), abolitionism, emancipation (gra ...

and tried to recruit them to the Republican Party. He was a delegate to the Arkansas Constitutional Convention of 1868. During Reconstruction, Joseph Brooks was the leader of the "Brindle Tails" faction of the state's Republican Party. The faction was nicknamed "Brindle Tails", because it was said that when Brooks spoke he sounded like a

Brindle Brindle is a coat (animal), coat coloring pattern in animals, particularly dogs, cattle, guinea pigs, Cat, cats, and, rarely, horses. It is sometimes described as "tiger-striped", although the brindle pattern is more subtle than that of a tiger' ...

-Tailed Bull. In the 1872 gubernatorial campaign, both Brooks and Baxter ran as Republicans. In 1874, continued disputes about the validity of the 1872 election prompted the Brooks–Baxter War. Brooks put together a militia of more than six hundred men and took control of the state house in Little Rock. He declared himself governor. Baxter gathered about two thousand to fight the supporters of Brooks. Federal troops were stationed between the two forces, After an armed conflict and intervention from U.S. president

Ulysses S. Grant Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant ; April 27, 1822July 23, 1885) was an American military officer and politician who served as the 18th president of the United States from 1869 to 1877. As Commanding General, he led the Union Ar ...

, Brooks was removed from office. That same year, however, Grant appointed him as the postmaster of Little Rock, Arkansas, a patronage position.

References

External links

*
Joseph Brooks
at

The Political Graveyard The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations of ...

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Joseph 1821 births 1877 deaths 19th-century American clergy 19th-century American male writers 19th-century American newspaper editors 19th-century American politicians American abolitionists American male journalists Methodists from Arkansas Arkansas postmasters Burials at Bellefontaine Cemetery Deaths in Arkansas DePauw University alumni Editors of Arkansas newspapers Internal Revenue Service people Leaders who took power by coup Republican Party members of the Arkansas House of Representatives Methodist abolitionists People of the Brooks–Baxter War People of Missouri in the American Civil War People from Cincinnati Politicians from Little Rock, Arkansas Union Army chaplains Writers from St. Louis