BIOGRAPHY: Chauncey Brooks; Montgomery, Orange co., New York

transcribed by W. David Samuelsen for USGenWeb Archives

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Portrait and Biographical Record of Rockland and Orange Counties New York
Containing Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative
Citizens of the Counties.
Together with Biographies and Portraits of all the Presidents of the United
States.
New York and Chicago; Chapman Publishing Co., 1895

CHAUNCEY BROOKS. No one contributes more to the improvement of a city than the
man to whose artistic skill is due the erection of beautiful and substantial
residences. Doubtless in this line of work Mr. Brooks has done as much toward
the improvement of Montgomery as has any resident of the place. He came to
this village in 1867 and, purchasing a tract of land in connection with James
Vanderoef, platted town lots, and erected a number of residences thereon. He
takes contracts for the erection of houses, doing the work from the ground up
and giving employment to ten or twelve men. A practical, original architect,
he has drawn many plans for private residences and public buildings, and has a
shop in which he prepares the finer grades of hardwood finishing.

The subject of this sketch was born in Eagle Valley, Rockland County, N. Y.,
June 26, 1842, being the son of Jonah and Emily Bethia (Conklin) Brooks. His
maternal grandmother, Emily Conklin, attained to the advanced age of
ninety-four, dying in Monroe, the place of her birth. The paternal
grandparents were John and Mary (Potter) Brooks, the former born November to,
1755, and the latter October 12, 1759. They were married at Perth Amboy, N.
J., and died and were buried at Sattletown, Orange County. They had ten
children, of whom Jonah was next to the youngest.

Born in Sattletown May 21, 1798, Jonah Brooks grew to manhood in the locality
of his birth. He first married Eliza Bloom, their union being childless. At.
Bakertown, Orange County, he miiried Miss Conklin, and they became the parents
of seven children, namely: Mary E., who died at the age of seven years;
Juliet, wife of Eugene Gregory, of Rockland County, N. Y, ; William G., a
resident of Monroe, Orange County; Fletcher B., who married Hattie Gregory,
sister of Eugene, and died at the age of thirty-six; Chauncey; Mahlon J., who
makes his home in Eagle Valley, Rockland County; and Frances Emily, Mrs.
George Van Dine, of Paterson, N. J.

At the age of eighteen our subject went to Monroe, where he served a
three-years apprenticeship to the carpenter's trade under Isaac Thompson,
receiving his board and twenty-five cents per day the first year, fifty cents
per day the second, and seventy-five the third. At the conclusion of his
apprenticeship he worked as a journeyman and did some job work. In 1867 he
came to Montgomery, where he has since followed his chosen occupation. One of
the finest residences he has erected is that which he owns and occupies and
which is commodious, cosey and neatly arranged.

December 3, 1868, Mr. Brooks married Miss Martha Wait, daughter of Thomas and
Mary (Mould) Wait, who still reside in Montgomery. Mrs. Brooks was born on a
farm in the town of Montgomery June 3, 1847, and is an estimable woman and a
faithful member of the Reformed Church. Her elder daughter, Alida Waite, at
present a teacher in the high school at Norwich, Chenango County, is an
elocution specialist and a graduate of the Emerson College of Oratory of
Boston, and of the Albany Normal School; she also took a post-graduate course
in the Emerson School of Oratory. Charles Winchester and Minnie M. are
students in the high school of Montgomery, the former being a member of the
Class of '95.

There is no subject upon which Mr. Brooks has taken a firmer stand than that
of prohibition, and he is a prominent member of that party. He was a delegate
to the Indianapolis and Cincinnati conventions and an elector on the St. John
Presidential ticket. Believing that the liquor traffic is the greatest evil of
the age, he refuses to support any minister who does not denounce this foe to
the prosperity and happiness of mankind, and advocates the idea that the
church should not permit in its membership any who oppose prohibition. Though
not a public speaker, he is al-ways willing to argue this question and never
has the least hesitancy in expressing the positive convictions that he holds.
He is now (1895) serving his third terns as President of the Village Board,
and is President of the Board of Water-works.