My Genealogy Hound

Benjamin B. Brooks, of the Canton Saw Mill Company, was born in Dalton, N. H., November 4, 1829, the son of Alvin and Lydia I. Brooks, both natives of New Hampshire, where they lived and died. Our subject was educated in his native State, and in 1849 went to California, and spent three years in the gold mines with success. In 1853 he returned, and bought a farm, upon which he remained until 1861, when he began merchandising. In 1872 he came to Canton with Mr. Cummings, with whom he has since been in the lumber business. January 26, 1858, he married Louisa F. Rix, a native of Littleton, N. H. They have an adopted child—Fannie L. He is a Republican, and an encampment member of the I. O. O. F. Charles E. Cummings, the other partner of the above firm, was born in Lisbon, N. H., February 28, 1847, the son of Greenleaf and Hannah (Gould) Cummings, natives, respectively, of New Hampshire and Vermont. The father died in October, 1863, and the mother still lives in Boston. Our subject was educated at Montpelier, Vt., and in the business college of Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was a bookkeeper in a bank in Wells River, Vt., and then followed merchandising until 1872, when he came to Canton, and engaged in the lumber business. He was largely instrumental in placing the company of which he is a member on its present basis. June 16, 1870, Ellen M. Ayres, a native of Canterbury, N. H., became his wife. Their children are Susan E., Carl G. and Albert E. He is a Republican, and a member of the encampment in Odd Fellowship. The present company was incorporated February 28, 1881, by B. V. Brooks, D. M. Hibbard, C. E. Cummings and F. M. Gifford. This company succeeded the firm Brooks, Cummings & Hibbard, who operated the mill from 1872. Mr. Hibbard sold out in 1882, and Mr. Gifford died in 1886 from drowning in the Mississippi River, so that the present stockholders are Brooks, Cummings and Martha G. Gifford. Mr. Brooks is president, and Mr. Cummings secretary and treasurer. The company owns twenty acres in Canton, where their mills and offices are located. The mill consists of a double circular gang edger, trimmer, and a fall set of shingle and lath machinery, giving employment to about seventy men, during the running season. They handle about 7,000,000 feet of lumber per year, which they ship to the West, and whose material comes from Wisconsin. They own an interest in a raft boat.