Hiram Wheeler Brooks

Hiram Wheeler Brooks

Hiram Wheeler Brooks, 1809-1879

• Mother: Ede Wheeler

• Hiram Wheeler Brooks was born on 11 March 1809 in Rutland, Worcester County, Massachusetts.
• He married Sarah Eason Mitchell, daughter of John Mitchell and Elizabeth Green Wood, on 21 March 1832 in Harris County, Georgia, by J. Bedell, Esq.
• The following appeared on 24 March 1832 in The Columbus Enquirer: Married - In Harris Co, Mr Hiram W. Brooks of Apalachicola, Fla to Miss Sarah E. Mitchell, the second dau of Major John Mitchell of Harris Co, on Wednesday last. By J. Bedell, Esq.
• The following appeared on 18 September 1837 in the New York Commercial Advertiser: We are indebted to a mercantile friend for the following account of a disastrous gale at Apalachicola. . . . Apalachicola, Sept. 1, 1937. In the afternoon of the 30th ult. commenced a gale from ESE, which did no damage other than blowing in the tide, until yesterday morning, about 4 o'clock, when its violence increased to an unparallelled extent. At 9 o'clock our wharf was covered with the river. About 12, the work, of destruction commenced. I remained in our store until that time, trying to secure it; then sought safety in the streets, where it was hardly to be found, owing to the flying timbers, sheets of tin, zinc, &c. The gale continued with unabated violence until about 7 o'clock, last evening, when it gradually subsided. The following are a few of the damages sustained by it.
       The Columbus block has suffered by the loss of a wall or two. Peck's store is level with the ground. Harper's do. with the exception of a small piece of wall. Hamilton's unroofed (second time.) Nourse & Brooks, front part unroofed and upper story of front and rear walls thrown down. . . Nourse & Brooks, No. 2, sustained comparatively no injury. . .
• The following appeared on 26 September 1837 in the New York Commercial Advertiser: Fire at Apalachicola. On the 6th inst. three brick stores occupied by A. T. Bennet, S. A. Olds, and Nourse & Brooks, together with the wooden building, formerly occupied by Mr. Williams as a boarding house, were all destroyed by fire. The loss was considerable, but partially borne by the insurance companies.
• Hiram Wheeler Brooks and Sarah Eason Mitchell appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1850 in Franklin County, Florida, and also in the household was Robert Thomas Brooks, age 30, probably a brother of Hiram.. Other members of the household included Josephine Caroline Brooks.
• He was a merchant, according to the 1850 census.
• Hiram Wheeler Brooks and Sarah Eason Mitchell appeared in the US federal census of 1 June 1860 in Apalachicola, Franklin County, Florida.
• He was a merchant, according to the 1860 census.
• Nourse & Brooks is listed in Wilson's New York City Copartnership Directory for 1866-67: Nourse & Brooks (Alfred P. Nourse & Hiram W. Brooks), 22 Pearl.
• Hiram Wheeler Brooks became a widower at the 13 April 1872 death of his wife Sarah Eason Mitchell.
• The following appeared on 23 February 1877 in The New York Herald: Nourse & Brooks cotton commission merchants, corner of Beaver and Pearl streets, have failed, with liabilities of upward of $100,000. They dealt principally in spot cotton. A member of the firm said that the failure would probably be only temporary and that arrangements were in progress for a satisfactory settlement with the creditors. The creditors who hold the firm's paper had all expressed a willingness to grant a concession. He could not tell the amount of the liabilities or assets at present.
• The following appeared on 24 April 1877 in The Chronicle & Constitutionalist: New York, April 23.-- A fire was discovered this morning in the composing room of the Journal of Commerce, on Hanover street, extending from Beaver to Pearl, and before the flames were extinguished two upper floors were burned. The lower floors, occupied by the Peerless Oil Works Company, Nourse & Brooks, and other firms, were damaged by water. The publication rooms and presses of the Journal of Commerce were also injured by water. Loss estimated at $25,000. Fire in Journal of Commerce building broke out in the editorial room, which, with composition room, library and files back to 1828, were destroyed.
• The following appeared on 7 May 1878 in the New York Tribune: Hiram W. Brooks, of the late firm of Nourse & Brooks, cotton commission merchants, has been adjudicated a voluntary bankrupt by Register Ketchum. His liabilities amount to $142,000, of which $32,500 are secured and $32,837 are in accommodation paper. His assets are nominally valued at over $535,000, consisting of book accounts, $337,000; notes $186,000; cash, $1,309, and plantations in Arkansas and Texas valued at $9,000. The debts were mainly contracted with A. P. Nourse, deceased, as copartner. Among the creditors are: W. S. Nichols & Co., secured, #32,000; George E. Woods, of Manchester, England, $26,904; Merchancs' Bank of Worcester, Mass., $20,000; Thomas and W. Earle & Co., Liverpool, $11,583.
• The following appeared on 14 June 1878 in the New York Tribune: The schedules showed liabilities amounting to $142,000, and nine claims are proved, aggregating $78,000, of which the following were the largest: W. S. Nichols & Co., $28,193; Mechanics' National Bank, of Worcester, $20,000; National Bank of the Republic, $11,355; Thomas and William Earle & Co., Liverpool, $10,451.
• An advertisement published in the 27 July and 30 November 1878 issues of The Commercial & Financial Chronicle (published weekly in New York) names Waldron & Tainter as successors to Nourse & Brooks.
• The following appeared on 8 August 1879 in The New York Herald: Discharges in bankruptcy were granted yesterday in the United States District Court by Judge Choate to ex-Collector Thomas Murphy, Franklin J. Huntoon, George Miller, Charles H. Kirby and Hiram W. Brooks.
• Hiram Wheeler Brooks died on 13 August 1879 at age 70 in Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey.
• He was interred at Evergreen Cemetery, Morristown, Morris County, New Jersey.
• A single grave marker identifies the graves of Hiram Wheeler Brooks and Sarah Eason Mitchell.

• Last Edited: 18 Apr 2013

• Charts: Descendants of WOOD William & Lydia Ballentine