My Genealogy Hound

W. W. Brooks, now in the employ of the Mammoth Spring Fish Farm, was originally from Troup County, Ga., where he was born in 1851. His father, Capt. Henry Brooks, was born in Jackson County, Ga., in 1816, and was married in Troup County, of the same State, to Miss Eliza Wideman, a native of Troup County, born in 1824. The mother died in 1856, and two years later Mr. Brooks removed to Tallapoosa County, Ala., from there to Pontotoc County, Miss., in 1868, and in 1870 to Independence County, Ark., where he died in 1874. He had been married twice. During his entire life he followed the occupation of a farmer, and was very successful in this pursuit. During the late war he was captain of Company G, Fourteenth Alabama Infantry, Confederate Army, and was with the Army of Virginia until 1862, when he resigned on account of poor health. He then joined Young’s company of Alabama State troops and served until the close of the war. He was captured at the surrender of Selma, Ala., and paroled. He was major of the militia in an early day, and held the position of justice of the peace for a number of years. He was a member of the Masonic fraternity for years, and also belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His father, John Brooks, was born in Jackson County, Ga., and died in Troup County, of the same State. He was of English descent, was a member of the Baptist Church, and was a soldier in the early wars. The maternal grandfather of the subject of this sketch was a native of South Carolina, and died in Troup County, Ga. W. W. Brooks was the third of four sons born to his parents. Like most of the youths of his vicinity, as he grew up he devoted his time and attention to labors on the farm, and in the meantime received a fair education in the common schools. He began for himself at the age of twenty-one and went to the Lone Star State, where he went at braking on the railroad. Later he clerked in a store at Batesville for two years, and was then made deputy sheriff of Independence County. After this he engaged in the milling business, railroading, and was also in the railway mail service for a number of years, or until in March, 1889, when he was employed by his present company. His marriage to Miss Mollie Jeffery occurred in 1882, and two sons were the result. Mrs. Brooks was born in Izard County, and is the daughter of Daniel M. Jeffery, who was also a native of Izard County, where he died in 1888. He was a farmer, also being a Cumberland Presbyterian minister. Mr. Brooks came to Fulton County, Ark., in 1880, lived at Salem three years, and while there was engaged in the milling business. Since then he has resided at Mammoth Spring. He was appointed by President Arthur postmaster at Mammoth Spring, and filled this position in a satisfactory manner for two years. He was justice of the peace from 1884 to 1886, and was postmaster at the same time. In 1885 he was a member of the equalization board of Fulton County, appointed by Gov. Hughes. He was formerly a member of the I. O. O. F. He is an active worker in the Democratic party, and voted for Horace Greeley in 1872.