Will County IL Archives Biographies.....BROOKS, JOHN ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Paula Winke-Martisek wranglerjack@comcast.net September 24, 2007, 5:00 pm Author: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD JOHN Y. BROOKS. Those able men whose sound judgment has promoted the industrial growth of their community and whose energy has brought an enlarged prosperity to every line of human activity deservedly occupy positions of prominence among their fellow-men. A volume wherein reference is made to leading business men of Joliet should not omit mention of Mr. Brooks, whose indefatigable industry and keen discrimination have been factors in bringing success to every enterprise with which he has been identified. Few are more familiar with the wire business than he, and his management of the four mills of the American Steel & Wire Company (those located at Rockdale, and on Scott street, Meeker avenue and Bluff street) has been characterized by sound judgment and great enterprise. Mr. Brooks was born in Syracuse, N. Y., March 14, 1863, a son of John Haverly and Olivia Almira(Green) Brooks, natives respectively of New York and Rhode Island, and descendants of ancestors from England, Holland and Ireland. He is a direct descendant of Peter Brooks, who was born in Albany, N. Y., March 4, 1733, and was of English parentage. Jonathan Brooks, the great-grandfather of our subject, was a farmer and married Maria Haverly, who was born in Normansville in 1774, a daughter of Johannes and Annatje (Adams) Haverly, natives of Holland. John H. Brooks, Sr., the grandfather of John Y. Brooks, was a contractor and became interested in the mercantile business in Syracuse, continuing as proprietor of a store until his retirement from business. He married Isabella Strong, daughter of William and Jane (Morrow) Strong, natives of County Antrim, Ireland. One of the sons born of this marriage, Hon. William S. Brooks, was an early settler of Joliet and became quite prominent in political circles; he represented this district in the state senate. Another son, John H. Brooks, Jr., the father of our subject, spent his entire business life as a merchant in Syracuse and died while visiting in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, July 20, 1891. His wife was a daughter of Oliver and Almira (Moore) Green, the latter of whom was born April 11, 1797, and died April 25, 1893. The subject of this sketch was sixth in order of birth among the children of John H. Brooks, Jr. He received his early education in the public and high schools of Syracuse, N. Y., and afterward studied for four years in the Peekskill (N. Y.) Military Academy, from which he graduated in 1880 with the highest honors of his class. Immediately afterward he came to Joliet, where he entered the hardware store of his uncle, Hon. William S. Brooks. In 1883 he began to work in the shipping department of the Ashley Wire Company, and, being remarkably quick and capable, he soon rose. In 1886 he became secretary of the Joliet Enterprise Company, and continued in that capacity until the panic of 1893, when the business went into the receiver's hands, and he assisted the receiver in settling up affairs. Afterward, in 1894, he became connected with the Consolidated Steel and Wire Company as manager of their mill and continued as such until the company was consolidated with the American Steel and Wire Company, when he was placed in charge of the four Joliet mills. He gives his attention very closely to business matters, and, aside from the Union Club, is not identified with any societies or fraternal organizations. In religion he is a member of the Episcopalian Church. He was married, in Joliet, to Miss Jennie Gray, daughter of John Gray, an early settler of this city. They are the parents of a daughter, born February 2, 1900. Additional comments: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present, Biographical Publishing Company, Chicago, 1900 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/brooks1758nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 4.2 Kb