Oliver S. Brooks was Stephen Brooks and Hannah Bennett’s fifth child and oldest son. He was born October 16, 1820, at Redfield, New York. When he was about five, his family moved to New Hartford, New York. He came with them to Wisconsin Territory in 1839 and in 1843 purchased 39.92 acres north of the Fox River in section 1 at Algoma (later part of Oshkosh) township. Oliver then assigned that property to his older sister, Ann Brooks. On the same day, he bought a 40-acre farm next to his father’s property in section 36 at Vinland township – which in the mid-1850s was absorbed into Oshkosh township.
Maria Cadelia Osmer was born around 1821 in New York. She came to Wisconsin Territory by the mid-1840s and married Oliver at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on December 22, 1845. They had seven children: Earl, Henry, Charles, Eunice, Albert, Edward, and Louise Brooks.
In 1848 Oliver added another 40 acres to his section 36 farm at Vinland. The Brookses farmed there in 1850 with their two boys, Earl and Henry, though not for long. Remember that Oliver’s father had fought in the War of 1812, and Stephen received bounty land near Lind in Waupaca County in payment for his military service. In 1858 Stephen received the patent on a little over 40 acres in section 30 near Lind. This he immediately assigned to his youngest son, Jabez, but it seems that Oliver bought it from Jabez. In the 1855 state and 1860 federal censuses, Oliver, Maria, and their first six children farmed with his elderly father, Stephen, at Lind. Jabez lived at Oshkosh, not at Lind. In June 1863, during the middle of the Civil War, “O.S. Brooks,” a farmer at Lind, registered for the draft, though he was never called to active duty.
Baby Louise arrived in the autumn of 1866, completing the Brooks family. By then they lived at Oshkosh in the city’s third ward. An 1868 city directory places them at 28 Twelfth Street, with Oliver working as a carpenter and Earl and Henry as mill workers in the city. The last mention of Oliver in Oshkosh is found in the 1876 city directory, when the Brookses still lived on Twelfth Street and he did carpentry work. The “Great Fire of 1875” had destroyed a goodly part of the city that summer – perhaps this is why the Brooks family elected to leave Wisconsin.
Oliver’s half 1st cousin, Dr. Sheldon Brooks, left Redfield, New York, for Minnesota in the late 1850s. He’d settled at Winona County along the western banks of the Mississippi River and helped to plat the hamlet of Beaver in the northern part of the county. “King Wheat” was the most bountiful crop in Minnesota’s southeastern counties during the last half of the 19th century. In 1862 Dr. Brooks constructed a grain warehouse at Minneiska, which he ran until retiring in 1874. His sons then operated the grain business as the Brooks Brothers until the early 1900s. It appears that Oliver and family decided to join his Brooks cousins at Winona in about 1877. The town and burgeoning ship traffic on the Mississippi River is shown below in an 1889 drawing.
Around Christmas 1878, Charles, the third of their sons – and for the prior nine years the driver of a fire hose cart in Oshkosh – died at Winona at age 27. As of 1880, Oliver, Maria, 13-year-old Louise, son Albert and his bride, Mary, lived in a home at Winona. No occupation was cited for Oliver, but it’s apparent from his death record that he was a millwright who maintained machinery at the mill. It appears likely that he worked for Brooks Brothers in their wheat mill. In 1885 the state census has Oliver, Maria, and Louise together at Winona.
Maria Osmer Brooks died at Winona on April 26, 1888, near the age of 68. Oliver S. Brooks died at son Oliver’s home in Mankato, Minnesota, on February 28, 1894. He was 73. Both are buried at Winona’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
Maria Cadelia Osmer was born around 1821 in New York. She came to Wisconsin Territory by the mid-1840s and married Oliver at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on December 22, 1845. They had seven children: Earl, Henry, Charles, Eunice, Albert, Edward, and Louise Brooks.
In 1848 Oliver added another 40 acres to his section 36 farm at Vinland. The Brookses farmed there in 1850 with their two boys, Earl and Henry, though not for long. Remember that Oliver’s father had fought in the War of 1812, and Stephen received bounty land near Lind in Waupaca County in payment for his military service. In 1858 Stephen received the patent on a little over 40 acres in section 30 near Lind. This he immediately assigned to his youngest son, Jabez, but it seems that Oliver bought it from Jabez. In the 1855 state and 1860 federal censuses, Oliver, Maria, and their first six children farmed with his elderly father, Stephen, at Lind. Jabez lived at Oshkosh, not at Lind. In June 1863, during the middle of the Civil War, “O.S. Brooks,” a farmer at Lind, registered for the draft, though he was never called to active duty.
Baby Louise arrived in the autumn of 1866, completing the Brooks family. By then they lived at Oshkosh in the city’s third ward. An 1868 city directory places them at 28 Twelfth Street, with Oliver working as a carpenter and Earl and Henry as mill workers in the city. The last mention of Oliver in Oshkosh is found in the 1876 city directory, when the Brookses still lived on Twelfth Street and he did carpentry work. The “Great Fire of 1875” had destroyed a goodly part of the city that summer – perhaps this is why the Brooks family elected to leave Wisconsin.
Oliver’s half 1st cousin, Dr. Sheldon Brooks, left Redfield, New York, for Minnesota in the late 1850s. He’d settled at Winona County along the western banks of the Mississippi River and helped to plat the hamlet of Beaver in the northern part of the county. “King Wheat” was the most bountiful crop in Minnesota’s southeastern counties during the last half of the 19th century. In 1862 Dr. Brooks constructed a grain warehouse at Minneiska, which he ran until retiring in 1874. His sons then operated the grain business as the Brooks Brothers until the early 1900s. It appears that Oliver and family decided to join his Brooks cousins at Winona in about 1877. The town and burgeoning ship traffic on the Mississippi River is shown below in an 1889 drawing.
Around Christmas 1878, Charles, the third of their sons – and for the prior nine years the driver of a fire hose cart in Oshkosh – died at Winona at age 27. As of 1880, Oliver, Maria, 13-year-old Louise, son Albert and his bride, Mary, lived in a home at Winona. No occupation was cited for Oliver, but it’s apparent from his death record that he was a millwright who maintained machinery at the mill. It appears likely that he worked for Brooks Brothers in their wheat mill. In 1885 the state census has Oliver, Maria, and Louise together at Winona.
Maria Osmer Brooks died at Winona on April 26, 1888, near the age of 68. Oliver S. Brooks died at son Oliver’s home in Mankato, Minnesota, on February 28, 1894. He was 73. Both are buried at Winona’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
Oliver S. Brooks was Stephen Brooks and Hannah Bennett’s fifth child and oldest son. He was born October 16, 1820, at Redfield, New York. When he was about five, his family moved to New Hartford, New York. He came with them to Wisconsin Territory in 1839 and in 1843 purchased 39.92 acres north of the Fox River in section 1 at Algoma (later part of Oshkosh) township. Oliver then assigned that property to his older sister, Ann Brooks. On the same day, he bought a 40-acre farm next to his father’s property in section 36 at Vinland township – which in the mid-1850s was absorbed into Oshkosh township.
Maria Cadelia Osmer was born around 1821 in New York. She came to Wisconsin Territory by the mid-1840s and married Oliver at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on December 22, 1845. They had seven children: Earl, Henry, Charles, Eunice, Albert, Edward, and Louise Brooks.
In 1848 Oliver added another 40 acres to his section 36 farm at Vinland. The Brookses farmed there in 1850 with their two boys, Earl and Henry, though not for long. Remember that Oliver’s father had fought in the War of 1812, and Stephen received bounty land near Lind in Waupaca County in payment for his military service. In 1858 Stephen received the patent on a little over 40 acres in section 30 near Lind. This he immediately assigned to his youngest son, Jabez, but it seems that Oliver bought it from Jabez. In the 1855 state and 1860 federal censuses, Oliver, Maria, and their first six children farmed with his elderly father, Stephen, at Lind. Jabez lived at Oshkosh, not at Lind. In June 1863, during the middle of the Civil War, “O.S. Brooks,” a farmer at Lind, registered for the draft, though he was never called to active duty.
Baby Louise arrived in the autumn of 1866, completing the Brooks family. By then they lived at Oshkosh in the city’s third ward. An 1868 city directory places them at 28 Twelfth Street, with Oliver working as a carpenter and Earl and Henry as mill workers in the city. The last mention of Oliver in Oshkosh is found in the 1876 city directory, when the Brookses still lived on Twelfth Street and he did carpentry work. The “Great Fire of 1875” had destroyed a goodly part of the city that summer – perhaps this is why the Brooks family elected to leave Wisconsin.
Oliver’s half 1st cousin, Dr. Sheldon Brooks, left Redfield, New York, for Minnesota in the late 1850s. He’d settled at Winona County along the western banks of the Mississippi River and helped to plat the hamlet of Beaver in the northern part of the county. “King Wheat” was the most bountiful crop in Minnesota’s southeastern counties during the last half of the 19th century. In 1862 Dr. Brooks constructed a grain warehouse at Minneiska, which he ran until retiring in 1874. His sons then operated the grain business as the Brooks Brothers until the early 1900s. It appears that Oliver and family decided to join his Brooks cousins at Winona in about 1877. The town and burgeoning ship traffic on the Mississippi River is shown below in an 1889 drawing.
Around Christmas 1878, Charles, the third of their sons – and for the prior nine years the driver of a fire hose cart in Oshkosh – died at Winona at age 27. As of 1880, Oliver, Maria, 13-year-old Louise, son Albert and his bride, Mary, lived in a home at Winona. No occupation was cited for Oliver, but it’s apparent from his death record that he was a millwright who maintained machinery at the mill. It appears likely that he worked for Brooks Brothers in their wheat mill. In 1885 the state census has Oliver, Maria, and Louise together at Winona.
Maria Osmer Brooks died at Winona on April 26, 1888, near the age of 68. Oliver S. Brooks died at son Oliver’s home in Mankato, Minnesota, on February 28, 1894. He was 73. Both are buried at Winona’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
Maria Cadelia Osmer was born around 1821 in New York. She came to Wisconsin Territory by the mid-1840s and married Oliver at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on December 22, 1845. They had seven children: Earl, Henry, Charles, Eunice, Albert, Edward, and Louise Brooks.
In 1848 Oliver added another 40 acres to his section 36 farm at Vinland. The Brookses farmed there in 1850 with their two boys, Earl and Henry, though not for long. Remember that Oliver’s father had fought in the War of 1812, and Stephen received bounty land near Lind in Waupaca County in payment for his military service. In 1858 Stephen received the patent on a little over 40 acres in section 30 near Lind. This he immediately assigned to his youngest son, Jabez, but it seems that Oliver bought it from Jabez. In the 1855 state and 1860 federal censuses, Oliver, Maria, and their first six children farmed with his elderly father, Stephen, at Lind. Jabez lived at Oshkosh, not at Lind. In June 1863, during the middle of the Civil War, “O.S. Brooks,” a farmer at Lind, registered for the draft, though he was never called to active duty.
Baby Louise arrived in the autumn of 1866, completing the Brooks family. By then they lived at Oshkosh in the city’s third ward. An 1868 city directory places them at 28 Twelfth Street, with Oliver working as a carpenter and Earl and Henry as mill workers in the city. The last mention of Oliver in Oshkosh is found in the 1876 city directory, when the Brookses still lived on Twelfth Street and he did carpentry work. The “Great Fire of 1875” had destroyed a goodly part of the city that summer – perhaps this is why the Brooks family elected to leave Wisconsin.
Oliver’s half 1st cousin, Dr. Sheldon Brooks, left Redfield, New York, for Minnesota in the late 1850s. He’d settled at Winona County along the western banks of the Mississippi River and helped to plat the hamlet of Beaver in the northern part of the county. “King Wheat” was the most bountiful crop in Minnesota’s southeastern counties during the last half of the 19th century. In 1862 Dr. Brooks constructed a grain warehouse at Minneiska, which he ran until retiring in 1874. His sons then operated the grain business as the Brooks Brothers until the early 1900s. It appears that Oliver and family decided to join his Brooks cousins at Winona in about 1877. The town and burgeoning ship traffic on the Mississippi River is shown below in an 1889 drawing.
Around Christmas 1878, Charles, the third of their sons – and for the prior nine years the driver of a fire hose cart in Oshkosh – died at Winona at age 27. As of 1880, Oliver, Maria, 13-year-old Louise, son Albert and his bride, Mary, lived in a home at Winona. No occupation was cited for Oliver, but it’s apparent from his death record that he was a millwright who maintained machinery at the mill. It appears likely that he worked for Brooks Brothers in their wheat mill. In 1885 the state census has Oliver, Maria, and Louise together at Winona.
Maria Osmer Brooks died at Winona on April 26, 1888, near the age of 68. Oliver S. Brooks died at son Oliver’s home in Mankato, Minnesota, on February 28, 1894. He was 73. Both are buried at Winona’s Woodlawn Cemetery.
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