Capt. Timothy Brooks

• M, #4191, (circa 1635 - before 7 October 1712)

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Father was Henry Brooks (abt. 1591 to 4-2-1683), mother unknown though she died In Woburn, Massachusetts before 3-27-1651 as this is the date of Henry's marriage to his second wife.

Timothy (1638/9 Concord, MA to 1711 Cohansey, N.J.) Timothy's first wife (m. 12-21-1659) and mother to all his children EXCEPT Josiah was Mary Russell (1645 to 9-15-1680) daughter of John and Elizabeth Rakestraw Russell. Timothy's second wife (m. 10-1680) was Mehitabel Mowry widow of Eldad Kingsley.

Both Timothy's marriages and all three of Henrys are mentioned with dates in Torrey's "New England Marriages Prior to 1700".

TIMOTHY BROOKS, (Henry), of Billerica and Swansea, Mass.: b. in Concord, Mass. about ---? (mother's name, unknown); d. in Cohansey, N.J., 1711--(will proved March 10, 1711-12); m. Mary, dau. of John Russell, Dec. 23, 1659; Mehitabel, widow ol Eldad Kinsley, dau. of Roger and Mary (Johnson) Mowry, in Swansea, August, 1681.

Ch. of Timothy and Mary:

1. Timothy, b. 1660; d. 1661.
2. Timothy.
3. John.
4. Mary, b. 1670; d. 1670, in Billerica.
5. Mary, b. Dec. 15, 1670; d. Jan. 14, 1671.
6. Mary, b. Dec. io, 1671; d. ---?
7. Hephzibah, b. Feb., 1673-74; m. Palatiah Mason, May 24, 1694.
8. Anna, b. Jan. 23, 1675; d. ---?
9. Lydia, b. Jan. 8, 1677; d. ---?
10. Rebecca, b. Oct. 5, 1679; m Malatiah Martin, Nov. 6, 1696.
11. Elizabeth, b. ---? m. Thomas Lewis, April 10, 1689
12. Abigal, b. ---? m. Levi Preston, Oct. 16, 1695, and moved to New England Cross Roads, Salem Co., N.J. in 1709.

Ch. of Timothy and Mehitabel:

1. Isaac/3w? Brooks b. circa 1680
2. Josiah.

d relocated to Woburn about 1649.2

Timothy Brooks, son of Henry, was born [in Concord, Mass. shortly alter the arrival of his parents in America.]

Capt. Timothy/2w Brooks was probably born in England circa 1635, based on a 1668 court document in which his age is given as Therti Three.2,3,5 His family was at Concord, in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, by 1639, an and relocated to Woburn about 1649.2

He moved with his parents to Woburn about 1648-1649 where he married, Mary daughter of John Russell, Sr. on December 21, 1659.

About the year 1670, Timothy and Mary moved to Billerica with their two sons, Timothy Jr. and John. While living in Billerica, Mary gave birth to eight children -- all girls. John Russell, the father-in-law of Timothy Brooks was a strong supporter of the Baptist Church at Billerica and it is doubtless due to this that Timothy and Mary likewise were interested in the tenets of this Church. It was this interest that prompted him, along with fifty-four others to petition the court of New Plymouth for the formation of the township of Swansea. This petition was made in 1667 for the purpose of founding a colony for a band of exiled Welsh Baptists who had come to Massachusetts from Swansea, South Wales in 1649. These Welsh Baptists were under the leadership of their pastor, Rev. John Myles. Pastor Myles' colony originally settled in Dorchester but moved to Rehoboth in 1663. Here they built one of the first Baptist Churches in America.

Rehoboth lies about six miles to the southeast of Swansea which was formed into a township by the Baptists. A church was soon erected here and the Reverend Myles was their pastor. The little colony grew and became quite prosperous until 1675 when Indian troubles began.

History tells us that the colonists in New England experienced but little trouble with the Indians while Chief Massasoit lived but after his death trouble began. His son, who called himself "King Philip," hated the whites and in 1675 he began warfare on them, killing the people and burning their homes. This war started with an attack Pastor Myles' people as they were going home from church. During this attack, several of the Swansea people were murdered.

All of the towns east of the Connecticut River heard of King Philip's attack at Swansea and they immediately made preparations for safeguarding themselves from attack. In Billerica, by an order of the selectmen, "Timothy Brooks' is allowed for garrison and to entertain Michael Bacon's family and to have two garrisons of soldiers to defend ye mill and himself ye master of ye garrison." The mill referred to was one at the falls of the Shawskin River in the east part of Bedford which Timothy Brooks purchased in 1673, being a part of the Oakes Farm. This farm was purchased from George Farley.

While Timothy Brooks was living in Billerica, his wife died, this was on Sept. 15, 1680. Shortly after, Timothy moved to Swansea. Here he found that many of the former Swansea residents who had scattered during the Indian scare, had returned. Pastor Myles had returned from Boston in 1677 but there were some of his parishioners who never returned to Swansea. Eldad Kinsley, one of the seven founders of the Rehoboth church, and his wire Mehitabel, were among the residents of Swansea in the summer of 1679. In August of that year, Mr. Kinsley died. Mrs. Kinsley married Timothy Brooks in the fall of 1680 and in August 1681, she gave birth to a son, Josiah.

Timothy Brooks was one of the respected citizens of Swansea during his ten years of residence. In 1689, he was elected a representative and on May 20, 1690, he was commissioned a captain.

About the year 1687, a little colony of Baptists located along the river called by the Indians "The Cohanso." The Cohansey River settlement (as it was called by the white settlers) was near the old town of Greenwich which lies near the mouth of the Cohansey River, in Cumberland County, (then Salem county) New Jersey. A few miles up the river from Greenwich the white settlers took up land and built a little log church. Rev. Thomas Killingsworth of Salem was their pastor until his death in 1709.

During the summer of 1690, a band of Welsh Baptists (mostly Seventh-Day worshippers) from Swansea, Mass. came to the Cohansey Settlement. Among these were Timothy Brooks, Sr. Timothy Brooks, Jr., the Bowens, Barretts and Swinneys. The Bowens and the Brooks moved farther inland to the section of Roadstown. Here, on the road leading to the Bridge, (Bridgeton) they bought farms and named their settlement, "Bowentown." The Barretts located on a run which is called to this day, "Barrett Run."

The friends and neighbors of Timothy Brooka were Seventh Day Baptists and they worshipped in the homes of the members of that congregation at "Bowentown," under the leadership of Timothy Brooks, who was their pastor. We are told that "Rev" Timothy Brooks "was not eminent for parts or for learning, yet he was a successful preacher; meek in his carriage; of a sweet and loving temper and always open to conviction, and made the Welsh ministers labor to instruct him in the ways of the Lord more perfectly."

The Seventh Day congregation grew and remained a separate society until 1710 for its members would not lay aside their differences with their friends, the First Day Baptists at Shepherd's Mills. However, in 1710 Timothy Brooks and two of his daughters, as well us many of his society, united with the Cohansey Baptists (First Day) laying aside their differences as predestination, the singing of psalms, the laying on of hands and a few other minor details of doctrine. At the same time, due to the death of Pastor Killingworth, Mr. Brooks was asked to become the pastor of the Cohansey Church. He accepted and remained the pastor until his death in 1715 having won the love of both flocks. It is interesting to note that two of Timothy Brooks' daughters remained true to their Seventh Day doctrine and were, among others, organizers of the Seventh Day Baptist Church of Shiloh where a ireat manv of their descendents still worship.

will was probated October 1712

Source

• TIMOTHY BROOKS OF MASSACHUSETTS AND HIS DESCENDANTS By ROBERT PEACOCK BROOKS 1927
• TRIBUTARIES: Genealogies of the Brooks Families of New England. < link >

1. [S1459] Henry Brooks inventory, 17 Apr 1683.
2. [S106] NEHGS Register, 29:153–157.
3. [S298] Cutter & Loring, Brooks Family of Woburn, 6, Timothy (3.) Brooks.
4. [S41] General Register of the Society of Colonial Wars, 1899–1902, 578, garrison house master. Hereinafter SCW General Register, 1902.
5. [S1272] "Middlesex County Court Files (1649-1675)," online database at NewEnglandAncestors.org.
6. [S283] John Langdon Sibley, Graduates of Harvard University, 1:549, Brookes; 1:585, Rev. John Brock.
7. [S106] NEHGS Register, 29:153–57: 2 Dec 1659.
8. [S210] Edward P. Johnson, Woburn Records, 3:33, Timothy Brooks/Mary Russell m.
9. [S221] Clarence Almon Torrey, New England Marriages, 103, Timothy Brooks: 2 Dec.
10. [S2083] George Henry Fox, "Descendants of Isaac Fox," 4.
11. [S1755] Roger Thompson, Sex in Middlesex, 75, 77, citing Pulsifer 1:267, File 30.
12. [S2396] FamilySearch.org, "Massachusetts Town Clerk Records, 1626-2001," Middlesex County Court Records 1649-1663, v. 1, images 146, 147 of 169.
13. [S944] Carol Pullen-Reynolds, citing Manwaring, Hartford (1635-1700), 1:9.
14. [S132] Robert Peacock Brooks, Timothy Brooks, 44.
15. [S1219] Ernest Byron Cole, James Cole of Plymouth, 11-13.
16. [S945] Jane Devlin, citing Wright, Hist. Swansea, 49 ff.
17. [S132] Robert Peacock Brooks, Timothy Brooks, 11-13, 42–43.
18. [S210] Johnson, Woburn Records, 3:55, footnote to Cleveland.
19. [S522] Samuel Sewall, The History of Woburn, 1:168.
20. [S1650] Robert Peacock Brooks, "Henry Brooks," 44.
21. [S300] Vital Records of Billerica, Massachusetts, To the Year 1850, 346, Mary Brookes d.
22. [S221] Torrey, New England Marriages, 103, Timothy Brooks: 1680.
23. [S520] Anderson, Sanborn and Sanborn, The Great Migration, 1634–1635, 1:314, Mehitable [Mowry].
24. [S36] James Savage, A Genealogical Dictionary, 1:263.
25. [S298] Cutter & Loring, Brooks Family of Woburn, 3-4, Henry (1.) Brooks.
26. [S2306] Gene Zubrinsky, personal communication, 9 Nov 2017: identification of second witness's signature.
27. [S298] Cutter & Loring, Brooks Family of Woburn, 7, Timothy (3.) Brooks.
28. [S520] Anderson et al, The Great Migration, 1634–1635, unpaginated, Roger Mowry, transcription at Ancestry.com.
29. [S767] Ebenezer W. Peirce, Peirce's Colonial Lists, (1881), page unrecorded.
30. [S41] SCW General Register, 1902, 578.
31. [S132] Robert Peacock Brooks, Timothy Brooks, 43–44.
32. [S141] Black, "After 12 Generations," page unrecorded.
33. [S216] H. Stanley Craig, New Jersey Colonial Documents, Calendar of Wills, 62, Timothy Brooks.
34. [S946] Beverly G. McNally, photocopy of will of Timothy Brooks, 12 Mar 1708/9.
35. [S945] Jane Devlin, citing NEHGR 5:173–74, 1679 Billerica tax list.
36. [S210] Johnson, Woburn Records, 1:27, Timothy Brooks b.; 2:20, d.
37. [S210] Johnson, Woburn Records, 1:27, Timothy Brooks b.
38. [S210] Johnson, Woburn Records, 1:27, John Brooks b.
39. [S300] Billerica VR, 346, Mary Brooks d.
40. [S298] Cutter & Loring, Brooks Family of Woburn, 7, Abigail (3.xii.) Brooks.
41. [S298] Cutter & Loring, Brooks Family of Woburn, 7, Elizabeth (3.xi.) Brooks.
42. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Mary Brooks 2d b.; 346, d.
43. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Mary Brooks b.
44. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Hepzabah Brooks b.
45. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Anna Brooks b.
46. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Lydia Brooks b.
47. [S300] Billerica VR, 29, Rebecca Brooks b.
48. [S1081] Alverdo Hayward Mason, ed., Swansea Records, 24-5, Josiah Brooks b.

• https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Brooks-176 cites
  • Cutter, William Richard. The Brooks Family of Woburn, Mass. (Woburn, Mass., 1904) Page 6
  • Eddy, Miriam Brightman. The American Genealogist: Thomas, Henry and Hannah Brooks of Concord, Vol. 54, Pages 234–235 (1978)
  • Threlfall, John Brooks. The American Genealogist: Thomas Brooks of Watertown and Concord, Vol. 53, Page: 94–100
  • Jaquith, George Oakes; Walker, Georgetta Jaquith. The Jaquith Family in America (New England Historic Genealogical Society, Boston, Mass., 1982)
  • TIMOTHY BROOKS OF MA & HIS DESC. by R.P. Brooks 3
  • HISTORY OF GLOUCESTER, SALEM, AND CUMBERLAND COUNTIES, NJ by Tos, Cushing MD and Charles E. Sheppard, Esq.:
  • Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey (The Daily Journal Establishment, Newark, New Jersey, 1880-1949)
  • http://www.firstbaptistinswansea.org/history/johnmylesfounder.html
  • Ancestral File(R) The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Ancestral File Number: 229B-8V