BROOKS, Ebenezer III, of Fairfield Co CT and Westchester Co NY

Ebenezer Brooks was born Ridgefield, Fairfield County, Connecticut, 6 Jul 1731,[1] the son of Ebenezer and Jane (St John) Brooks. Recent information found on the Internet shows that he enlisted in the French and Indian War on 1758 and died in 1760 as a soldier.[2] This writer intends to research further and thus discover more about this tragic occurrence.

In Salem, Westchester Co NY, in 1753, Ebenezer married Elizabeth Loder. She was born in Ridgefield on 29 Jun 1733,[3] daughter of John and Elizabeth Loder, or Lowder, and died in Salem NY on 26 Nov 1778. [4]

Although Ebenezer moved from state to state from colony to republic and from colonist to citizen, he probably never actually moved more than a few miles in his life. Ebenezer does not appear to have been a member of the South Salem Church, Westchester County, New York, since the four children’s baptisms recorded there are “on his wife’s account.”[5]

The children of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Loder) Brooks are:

1. Michael BROOKS. Born 4 Aug 1754 in Salem, Westchester Co NY.[6] Christened on 17 Sep 1758 in Salem, Westchester Co NY. Michael was living in Covington Twp, Genesee Co NY, on 29 Sep 1824. He was accidentally[7] shot and seriously wounded in the Revolutionary War.[8] On 2 Oct 1777 when Michael was 19, he married Elizabeth BOUGHTON, daughter of Ezra BOUGHTON & Mary BOUGHTON, in Salem, Westchester Co NY. Born in 1751 in Norwalk, Fairfield Co CT, Elizabeth was also living in 1820 in Covington Twp, Genesee Co NY. They had the following probable children:

i.            Birdsey (ca1781-1851)

ii.            Zera (<1784-<1818)

iii.            Hiram (1784-1846)

iv.            Polly (1789-1834)

v.            Enoch (~1790-1830)

vi.            Asa (1792-1849)

vii.            Ezra (ca1798-1835)

viii.            son (1790-)

ix.            Pruella (ca1790-1823)

 

2. John BROOKS was born say 1755 in Ridgefield, Fairfield Co CT. On 11 Jan 1781 John married Sarah GRUMMON in Salem, Westchester Co NY. War. He was in Salem, Westchester Co NY, in 1790, John Brooks: 1/3/2. His pension documents from the Revolutionary War were all filed from Onondaga Co NY and identify him as brother of Michael Brooks. One son and two daughters’ identities are not known, although the son can be inferred from the census record. In 1810 Onondaga Co NY, Jno Brooks: 00101/11001. Then in 1820 Onondaga Twp, Onondaga Co NY, p 215, John Brooks: 000001/01001/01, also in the same township and county, p 207, Eben Brooks: 220010/10010[9]. In 1830 Onondaga Twp, Onondaga Co NY, John Brooks: 00001/10001 and on the same page, Ebenezer Brooks: 0000001/0000001[10].

A second John Brooks from Fairfield Co CT was born 4 Dec 1755, son of Jonathan and wife Sarah (Hobart) Brooks; this man’s pension data identifies a fourth wife, Orilla HANCOCK, married 5 Feb 1838 in Huron Co OH[11]. See comments below which cleared up my confusion of the two men’s pension records.

 

3. Ebenezer BROOKS was christened in 1758 in Salem, Westchester Co NY. Nothing further is known about him. He was possibly the soldier of that name who died in captivity about January 1777.

 

4. Johanna BROOKS was married on 19 May 1774 to Ebenezer GRUMMON in Salem, Westchester Co NY. He was born ca 1759 in Ridgefield, Fairfield Co CT and served in the Revolutionary War.[12] He died between 30 Sep 1828 and 10 Jul 1835 in Jefferson Twp, Schoharie Co NY.[13] They had the following children, identified in christenings and in his will:

i.            Johanna (>1774-<1828)

ii.            Lovisa (Shored) (1777-1852)

iii.            Lois (1785-<1828)

iv.            Ebenezer

v.            Samuel

vi.            John

vii.            Caleb (-<1828)

viii.            Hannah (Simon)

ix.            Ruth (Davis)

 

5. Mary BROOKS was christened on 25 May 1760 in Salem, Westchester Co NY. On 13 Mar 1791 when Mary was 30, she married Aaron KEELER in Salem, Westchester Co NY. They had the following children, all but the last christened in South Salem Congregational Church, Salem, Westchester Co NY:

i.            Anse (<1793-)

ii.            John (<1793-)

iii.            Jeremiah (1794-)

iv.            Lois (1796-)

v.            Esther (1798-)

vi.            Anna (1800-)

vii.            Mary (1803-)

viii.            Lewis (1805-1887)

 

© 2008, Kathy Alvis Patterson

 

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[1] The History of Ridgefield CT, pp 459, 460, 461, 462, 464, 465, 511, 515, 516.

[2] NEW YORK MUSTER ROLLS of New York Provincial Troops. 1755-1764. Published by the New York Historical Society. 1897, introduction by EDWARD F. DE LANCEY.

This is the html version of the file http://french-indian.morrisonspensions.org/appen-1.pdf.

Google automatically generates html versions of documents as we crawl the web.

On page 100 and on page 530, “NAMES OF DECEASED SOLDIERS, 1756 TO 1762. WHOSE HEIRS RECEIVED THE PAY DUE THEM AT THE TIME OF THEIR DEATH. [From the Commissariat Accounts of John Cruger, Beverly Robinson and Peter Van Brugh Livingston.” http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:TW0QY7H9aKgJ:french-indian.morrisonspensions.org/appen-1.pdf+%22Ebenezer+Brooks%22+westchester&cd=12&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&lr=lang_en|lang_es&client=safari:

Also, on page 326, enlisted 25 Apr 1758 in the Westchester County, age 28. < http://french-indian.morrisonspensions.org/nyprov-4.pdf&gt;.

[3] Ancestry.com. The history of Ridgefield, Connecticut [database on-line]. Provo, UT: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Rockwell, George Lounsbury. The history of Ridgefield, Connecticut. Ridgefield, Conn.: Privately printed by the author, 1927, pp 459, 460, 461, 462, 464, 465, 511, 515, 516.

[4] http://the-red-thread.net/NY-south-salem-deaths.html

[5] http://the-red-thread.net/NY-south-salem-baptisms.html

[6] Revolutionary War pension application, Footnote.com: Publication Number: M804. Publication Title: Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files.

Publisher: NARA. Short Description: NARA M804. Revolutionary War Pension and Bounty-Land Warrant Application Files. State: New York. Veteran Surname Starts With: B. Veteran Surname: Brooks. Veteran Given Name: Michael. Pensioner Surname: [BLANK] Pensioner Given Name: [BLANK] Service: New York. Pension Number: S. 28,341

[7] By a John Brooks, not known to be his brother.

[8] Michael Brooks found in: Genealogical Records: New York, 1675-1920; Event: Lived in 1776; Westchester Co; Second Regiment; Source: New York in the Revolution as Colony and State, Vol. I – Extracts; J. B. Lyon Co., Albany, NY, 1904, p 207.

[9] John’s father was named Ebenezer as was a probable brother of Sarah’s.

[10] Obviously this is not the man under discussion here, but a probable grandson. John the revolutionary War veteran was possibly living with one of the daughters.

[11] JOHN BROOKS, RWPA #W10451. He was born in Ridgefield Township, Fairfield County, New York on December 4, 1753. He married in (2) Huron County, Ohio on February 5, 1838 Orilla Hancock. He died on September 23, 1846. He served as a private in Captain Cornelius Hardenburgh’s Company of Colonel Rudolphus Ritzman’s Regiment and in Colonel Jesse Woodhull’s Regiment of Orange County Militia. He states he was stationed in Fort Washington on Fort Island on the day it was evacuated. He was wounded in the right arm in the Battle of White Plains. He also served in Captain William Telford’s Company Company of the South End Regiment of Ulster County Militia. John states he was thrice wounded in a battle with Joseph Brant on the Beaver Creek near Peen Pack and he states that Lieutenant Colonel Doctor Benjamin Thurston of the Goshen District Regiment of Orange County Militia, Captain Bazaliel Tyler Junior of Little Britian in the New Windsor Precinct Company of the South End Regiment of Ulster County Militia, and Major [ ] DeWitt [sic] were killed in this battle. He also fought in the Battle of Trenton as an Orderly Sergeant.

[12] EBENEZER GRUMMON, RWPA #W16591. He was born in Ridgefield Township, [ ] County, Connecticut in 1746. He served as a private in Captain [ ] Pardee’s Company of Colonel Samuel Drake’s Regiment. He states served a tour at Fort Minute was located at Kornshook about two miles from 1770’s New York City under the command of Captain Henry Sawson of Colonel Drake’s Regiment. He speaks of the following hangings during the Revolution: [ ] James, a spy, and a deserter at Rudding, Connecticut; and, a spy named [ ] Paine at North Salem. His file contains depositions by Martin Mead and Joseph Benedict.

[13] Delaware Co NY Wills Vol. C4 page 77.

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