Ninth Generation (Continued)
Family of Hannah Johnson (754) & Hezekiah Brooks

1268. Martin Luther Brooks (Hannah Johnson8, Phineas7, Samuel6, Henry5, Isaac4, Isaac3, Isaac2, John1). Born Berlin, Conn., on 7 Dec 1813. Died on 10 Jun 1899. Buried Cleveland.

A clipping from a periodical contains the following: "Dr. Brooks entered into rest at ten o'clock on Saturday evening, June 10, at his home, 289 Prospect Street. He was born in Berlin, Conn., Dec. 8, 1812, and came to Ohio with his parents in 1819. He went to school at Brownhelm, and later at Oberlin, 1934, and became a fearless opponent of slavery. For some time he taught at Gallipolis, and three years were spent in business at Kaskaskiam, Ill., where he married Miss Rebecca F. Hope. He took his degree of M.D. at Cincinnati in 1843, and settled in Cleveland in 1845. He has been a leader in his profession and prominent in every good work. He has been one of the consecrated men of the Second Church through all its history. A large number of friends were present at the funeral services at the home of his son, Mr. Thos. H. Brooks, on Tuesday afternoon, June 13, at two o'clock."
The clipping from the Cleveland newspaper is apparently from the issue of Dec. 9, 1893. "Dr. Martin L. Brooks, who has been a well known physician in Cleveland for nearly a half a century, yesterday passed the eightieth milestone in his long and useful career and his age seemingly rests as lightly upon his shoulders as with many men a full score of years younger. He sat in the library of his pleasant home at No. 298 Prospect Street, yesterday afternoon, and there received the congratulations of many of his friends. Dr. Brooks was born in East Berlin, Conn., on December 8, 1813. His father was a farmer in prosperous circumstances. In the year 1819, the family removed to Ohio and a farm of 160 acres was purchased in Carlisle, Loraine County. They passed through Cleveland on the way, the city then having a straggling population of perhaps 200 people. The farm in Carlisle was situated in the midst of a vast wilderness of forest, and logs had to be cut to build the cabin, which continued for many years to shelter the family. The howling of wolves disturbed their slumber every night, and bears, deer, and other kinds of game were plentiful. The young man was educated at home for a few years until a school was opened in a log cabin in Carlisle and after a while be went to attend an academy at Brownhelm. He spent one year in Kenyon College and when Oberlin College was opened, be went there beginning with the second term of that institution. There he studied for two years and then left for the Ohio Medical College in Cincinnati, where he was graduated in medicine. He practiced in his profession for some time along the Ohio River and in small towns in Indiana, settling in Cleveland in 1848. He lived first in a small house on Wood Street, on the site of the present Savage Block. About twenty years ago, he built the pleasant home he now occupies. He was married in 1840 to Miss Rebecca Hope. His wife died seven years ago. He has three children now living, Mrs. H. J. Herrick, Dr. M. L. Brooks, Jr., and Mr. T. H. Brooks. The present members of his household are his sister, Mrs. Hannah M. Vincent and her daughter, Miss Mary Vincent. During the Civil War, he held the position of surgeon to the United States Marine Hospital in this city. In his earlier days, he met the rising young lawyer who became the "Great Emancipator," and became personally acquainted with him. That was in 1839 when Lincoln was practicing law in Springfield, Illinois."

Sources: L18d, e.

SML Comment: Marriage date also given as Dec 8, 1839.

He married Frances Rebecca Hope, in 1840 in Kaskaskia, Ill. Died prob. Cleveland, abt 1886.

They had the following children:
1404 i.  Mary
1405 ii.  Martin Luther
1406 iii.  Thomas H.

1269. Hannah Miller Brooks (Hannah Johnson8, Phineas7, Samuel6, Henry5, Isaac4, Isaac3, Isaac2, John1). Born prob. Haddam, Conn., on 30 Jul 1818. Died Oberlin, Ohio, on 10 Sep 1906. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.

Sources: L18d, e.

SML Comment: Marriage date also given as Mar 16, 1841.

She married Tabor Vincent, on 1 Apr 1841. Died on 11 Jun 1875.

Of Elyria, Ohio.

They had the following children:
i.  Mary.
She was an invalid; she and her mother were living with Dr. Martin Luther Brooks at the time of his death, in Cleveland.
1407 ii.  James Brooks (1846-)
iii.  John M.. Born Elyria, Ohio.
He married Alice Washburn.
iv.  Frank.
v.  Hattie.

1270. Sophronia Brooks (Hannah Johnson8, Phineas7, Samuel6, Henry5, Isaac4, Isaac3, Isaac2, John1). Born Carlisle, Ohio, on 24 Nov 1827. Died Oberlin, Ohio, on 7 May 1885. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.

Sophronia was a student at Oberlin College.

Sources: L18d, dx, g, i.
Charles Martin, son of Sophronia Brooks Hall, left $600,000 for a memorial auditorium to her [his mother] in Oberlin.

She married Heman Bassett Hall, son of Josiah Brewer Hall, on 6 Nov 1849 in Carlisle, Ohio. Born Guildhall, Vt., on 28 Apr 1823. Died Oberlin on 15 Feb 1911. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.

Heman was graduated from Oberlin College in 1847 and from the Theological Seminary in 1850. He was a missionary of the A.M.A. at Jamaica, West Indies for 10 years, a Congregational Minister, held pastorates at Thompson, Huntsberg and Dover, Ohio. At the age of 12, his family removed from Vermont and settled in Oberlin.
Resided at Oberlin, Ohio. He was Trustee of Oberlin College 1839-1850.

They had the following children:
1408 i.  George Edward (1851-1921)
ii.  Ellen Julia. Born Providence, Jamaica, W.I., on 7 Nov 1852. Died Vienna, Austria, on 7 May 1882. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.
She married Dr. George M. Kinsey, on 6 Feb 1881.

He was graduated from Oberlin College 1875. Had his medical training at the Cleveland Ohio Medical College and in Vienna, where Ellen Julia died.
iii.  Louis Albert. Born Jamaica, W.I., on 7 May 1855. Died Jefferson, Ohio, on 14 Apr 1862. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.
1409 iv.  Emily Brooks (1857-)
v.  Julia Brainerd. Born Brainerd, Jamaica, W.I., on 11 Nov 1859. Died Rochester, N.Y., on 4 Sep 1926. Buried Rochester.
Grad. Oberlin, 1881.
vi.  Charles Martin. Born Thompson, Ohio, on 6 Dec 1863. Died Daytona, Florida, on 27 Dec 1914. Buried Oberlin, Ohio.
Unmarried. Resided at Oberlin. Ohio, Boston, Mass., Lockport, N. Y.. Pittsburgh, Penn., and Niagara Falls, N. Y.
Was graduated from Oberlin College in 1885 with the degree of B.A.; Degree of Master of Arts received from Oberlin College 1893; Degree of Doctor of Laws received from Oberlin College in 1910; and received the Perkin Medal January 20, 1913. Discovered the process of making aluminum in February 1886. Memorial Service was held in his honor at Oberlin, Ohio, on January 22, 1915. Below are extracts from the addresses and letters read at that time.
Biographical Sketch by his brother, Dr. George E. Hall:
"His ancestry on both sides is traced back to England. Among his ancestors, both paternal and maternal, were those who fought for independence in the war of the American Revolution.
"His great work in which he persevered to a most gratifying accomplishment was the reduction of aluminum from its native ore on such a scale as to give it untold commercial significance. At the age of twentytwo years and two months he bad discovered the process which inaugurated the Aluminum Era. On February 10, 1886 he made a discovery which together with a later discovery on the 23rd of the same month established the basis of his renowned invention. The patent on this was granted April 2, 1889.
"The distinction of being foremost in the successful quest for a process which should place aluminum on a commercial basis and I enable it to replace copper, tin, lead, zinc and other metals for an endless variety of purposes,' belongs to Charles Martin Hall, notwithstanding the fact that a few months later the same invention was independently achieved by Paul L. V. Heroult in France, who was born the same year as the young American who led him in the race. In January, 1911 the Society of Chemical Industry, The American Chemical Society, and the American Electro-Chemical Society, acting jointly, conferred the Perkin medal on Charles Martin Hall 'in recognition of his most valuable work in applied chemistry.' The presentation was made by Dr. Charles F. Chandler of Columbia University, who said in the course of his notable address on that occasion, 'that in the quarter of a century which has elapsed since the discoveries of Hall and Heroult no one has succeeded in bettering what they did.' . . .
"After he had begun the manufacture of aluminum in the little fifty horse-power plant on Smallman Street in Pittsburgh, during all the years of the remarkable growth of this enterprise until within a few days of his death, he maintained a ceaseless vigilance and effort to make improvements wherever possible and to render more efficient the complicated process of his vast and ever increasing business....
"Remarkable as were his scientific prowess and his business successes, his highest achievement was the building of character.
"He was one of the founders of the "Young Men's Christian Association" and 11 master builder" of the Niagara Falls Memorial Hospital. He was known at Niagara, as its leading 'Captain of Industry,' and in this city, in the world's greatest electrical center, stand three large modern industrial manufacturing plants as monuments to his skill and discoveries.
"He was an officer of many corporations and a member of many scientific societies' He was one of the one hundred 'Captains of Industry' invited to meet Prince Henry of Prussia, in February 1902."
"As a result of Mr. Hall's invention there has been built up, the world over, a new industry; and the company with which Mr. Hall himself was particularly identified, the Aluminum Company of America, has grown since 1888 from a company with five employees and a little plant on a lot twenty feet by one hundred feet to a company with ten thousand employees and large plants located in a half dozen different places." . . .
From a letter of Dr. Charles F. Chandler:
"Dr. Hall did not escape the usual experience of the successful inventor. He was obliged to defend in court the originality of his invention. A suit was brought in the U. S. Circuit Court of the Northern District of Ohio, and after an exhaustive discussion of the prior art, the patent was sustained. The opinion was written by judge William Howard Taft, later President of the United States. He wrote: 'Hall was a pioneer, and is entitled to the advantages which that fact gives him in the patent laws.' The court declared the patent valid and issued a perpetual injunction against the defendant infringers....
"The first metal produced at Kensington was sold on the market at two dollars per pound; the price now is about nineteen cents per pound. The early dreams of the undergraduate were certainly realized."
He left $600,000 for an auditorium at Oberlin, 'In Loving Memory of Sophronia Brooks ,' his mother.
Letter from his sister, Julia B. Hall, Rochester, N. Y., January 20, 1915:
". . . My brother used my father's college chemistry as a reader, at the age when bright children do not often know their letters. He would spread the book out on the floor, and lie face down to read, with his elbows on the floor, and his head resting on his bands above the open book.
"The discovery of a process for the easy and cheap production of aluminum at last claimed all his attention.
"After he finished college, we were living on East College Street in Oberlin, and the house was long and rambling. At the back was a large and airy woodshed.... In a shed a few feet from the house, Charles had a home made furnace and bellows. Indeed all his apparatus was homemade, my brother spending many hours and days in patient and clever construction of apparatus, which he could not afford to buy, or that was not in the market....
From the Address of Dr. Henry Churchill King, President of Oberlin College:
"Since 1905 he has been a most valued member of the Board of Trustees, and has abundantly proved himself, for years, one of the warmest friends and supporters of the College. His direct gifts to the College before his death aggregated nearly $200,000 besides other gifts made for the good of both College and town of several thousands more. The gifts coming to the College from Mr. Hall's will are by far the largest that the College has ever received in its history from any single donor . . . (it) almost exactly doubles the present endowment of the College . . . his entire benefactions to the College exceed $3,000,000.
". . . His will shows -- not only in its gifts to Oberlin, but also in its like generous provisions for Berea College for the Appalachian whites, and for the educational work for the American Missionary Association, in its widespread ministry to southern negroes; and for a like educational work in American institutions on many foreign mission fields- insight into places of service of strategic significance, breadth of sympathy for neglected peoples, belief in sound and wholesome education with character emphasis and depth of conviction concerning fundamental values."
Prof. F. F. Jewett, the professor of Chemistry at Oberlin College, who inspired, encouraged and aided by the loans of apparatus, the young Hall, while at high school, college student and afterwards, in an address before the Physical Science Club of Oberlin College on November 16, 1914 tells in much detail the background and progress of Hall's experiments. He speaks of his acquaintance with the elderly Dr. Friedrich Woehler, who discovered the element aluminum in 1827, while he, Prof Jewett was a student in the University of Goettingen in 1874 and 1875. He speaks of young Hall's coming to him to borrow test tubes, chemical glassware, etc., while yet a high school student. This was in 1880 shortly after Dr. Jewett came to Oberlin. He speaks of Hall's earnest and comprehensive study of chemistry in the regular classes in College and of his special work in the Professor's private laboratory; of a partnership between them in which Hall conducted experiments to find a more efficient substance for electric lamp filaments than carbon and finally bit on tungsten, the material now used in Mazda lamps, but did not have the funds necessary to carry the experiments to a successful conclusion; of Hall's woodshed laboratory and experiments after graduation, and of his final triumphant exhibit of the results on February 23, 1886. Hall went to Boston to enlist capital, but the Boston people were not interested, so be came back and improved his apparatus. Then went to the Cowles Electric Smelting and Aluminum Company in Lockport, N. Y., to whom he divulged his secret and tried to enlist their support. They had been making aluminum alloys but not the actual metal. Later be had to defend his patent in a suit against these people who infringed. In Pittsburgh he found farsighted people who provided $20,000 and organized what became known as the Aluminum Company of America, which later moved to Niagara Falls, N. Y.
A booklet "Aluminum, It's Story," published in 1940 by the Aluminum Company of America, gives interesting facts about the discovery and production of aluminum.
vii.  Edith May. Born Huntsberg, Ohio, on 15 Nov 1865. Died on 16 May 1937. Buried Montclair, N.J.
Grad. Oberlin College, 1889.

SML Comment: Note may refer to husband; unclear.

She married George H. Seymour, in Mar 1915.
viii.  Louis Alice. Born Dover, Ohio, on 20 Jun 1870.
Grad. Oberlin College, 1892; living Rochester, N.Y., 1940, 1941.

1271. Harriet Maria Brooks (Hannah Johnson8, Phineas7, Samuel6, Henry5, Isaac4, Isaac3, Isaac2, John1). Born Carlisle, O., on 23 Apr 1832. Died Cleveland, O., in 1920.

Sources: L18d, L18e.

She married Joseph H. Breck, on 18 Jan 1859 in Brecksville, O. Died Cleveland, Ohio, on 27 Jun 1907.

They had the following children:
1410 i.  George Brooks (-1939)
1411 ii.  Theodore Brooks (1865-)
1412 iii.  Mary Louise (1867-)
iv.  William Merriam. Died Cleveland, O., in 1915.

1272. Emily Jane Brooks (Hannah Johnson8, Phineas7, Samuel6, Henry5, Isaac4, Isaac3, Isaac2, John1). Born Carlisle, Ohio, on 5 Nov 1834. Died Cleveland, Ohio, on 15 Dec 1919. Buried Wellington, Ohio.

Emily's cousins was S. C. Johnson of her age, and a close friend. She studied two terms at Oberlin.

Sources: L18d, e.

SML Comment: Marriage place also given as Carlisle, Ohio.

She married Charles F. West, son of Francis West & Fanny Chapman, on 24 Sep 1861 in Carlisle, Ohio. Born on 17 Aug 1830. Died Wellington, Ohio, on 23 Dec 1902.

Charles lived on a large farm (109 acres or more) 2 1/2 miles west of Wellington for over 30 years.

They had the following children:
1413 i.  Julia Ellen (1864-)
ii.  Frank Brooks. Born Berlin Heights, Ohio, on 18 Sep 1863. Died Wellington, Ohio, in Jan 1884.
Unmarried.
iii.  Fannie Louise. Born Berlin Heights, Ohio, on 31 Dec 1867.
She lives in Wellington, Ohio.

Sources: L18d, e.

She married Mortimer Horace Wadsworth, in Jan 1906 in Cleveland, Ohio. Died on 5 May 1940.

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