Butte County
Biographies
GEORGE M. BROOKE
GEORGE M. BROOKE.—Of English
lineage, the representatives of the Brooke family have
been pioneer Americans in the days of the Revolutionary War, in which fight for
liberty Great-grandfather Brooke served with honor. James, the father of George
M., was born Virginia in 1800; he settled in Ross County, Ohio, with his wife,
whom he had married in Virginia. She was Sarah Silvers, a native of Winchester,
Va., born in 1801. James Brooke ran a blacksmith shop in Ross County, and his
death occurred there, in 1846. His wife died in Moultrie County, Ill., aged
seventy-three years. Of their nine children, George M. was the youngest.
George M. Brooke was born in Ross County,
Ohio, on Big Salt Creek, August 24, 1842. He came with the older members of the
family to Moultrie County, Ill., in 1855, driving a team the length of the
journey. His school was very limited, but by self-study and observation he
acquired an education in after-life. From ten years of age he worked out and
made his own living, and at sixteen paid his own way in school. He was first
married, in Illinois, in 1860, to Elizabeth Nancy Underwood, born in that
state, a daughter of William Underwood, who was born in Kentucky and migrated
to Illinois.
After his marriage, Mr. Brooke engaged in
farming. In August, 1862, he volunteered in the Union Army, in Captain Van
Fleet’s Company, One Hundred Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but was
taken with typhoid fever and could not be mustered into service. He was sent
home and was sick all winter. In 1865, he again volunteered, in Company H,
Eighteenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered in March 1st,
at Camp Butler, and sent to Little Rock, serving until after the close of the
war. He received his honorable discharge December 16, 1865, and was
mustered out in January, 1866, at Pine Bluff, Ark. He then returned to his home
in Moultrie County, Ill., and bought a farm of eighty acres, eight miles north
of Sullivan, from the Illinois Central Railway. Here he improved a farm and
raised corn and wheat. In January, 1879, he sold out and removed to Clay
County, Neb., on account of his wife’s health. The change proved ineffectual,
however, and she died, February 20, 1879.
Mr. Brooke purchased land in Nebraska,
from the Union Pacific Railway, one hundred sixty acres at three dollars per
acre; he improved this and later bought more land, until he owned four hundred
acres on Wood River, raising corn, wheat and stock. He married the second time,
in Nebraska, to Flora Mae Lobell, born in Potsdam,
St. Lawrence County, N. Y., a daughter of William Lobell,
born in New York. He married there, taking for his wife,
Mary T. Wood, daughter of Benjamin Wood. The Wood family came
originally from England, and settled in Massachusetts as early as 1635.
Great-grandfather Solomon Wood served in the Revolutionary War. Grandfather Lobell was born in France and came with his young wife to
New York State. His son, William Lobell, removed to
Brown County, Wis., and there engaged in work as a machinist; then settled in
Nebraska, where his death occurred, in Buffalo County. Mrs. Brooke is the
only child of the marriage of William Lobell and Mary
Wood. She was educated in Wisconsin, and on completing the high school course
at Beaver Dam, she obtained a teacher’s certificate and taught school six
years; then came to Nebraska, where she taught until her marriage, in October,
1879. Eleven children were born of this union: Ethel C.,
Mrs. Stallings of Chico; Albert M., residing in Alameda; Eva,
Mrs. Rist of Oakland; Walter L.; Alvah A., now serving in the United States Navy;
Joel I.; Emery H.; and James C.; the last five named make their
home in Chico. Benjamin, sixth in order of birth, died at the age of fifteen
years, in Nebraska; Minerva died when six years of age, also in Nebraska;
Lyman, the third youngest, died in infancy. Of Mr. Brooke’s first marriage
seven children are living: Mary, Mrs. Heasley of
Nebraska; Addie, Mrs. Hager of Nebraska; Lena, Mrs. Detweiler of Sterling, Ill.; Lizzie, Mrs. Wilson of
Medford, Okla.; Delia, Mrs. Newton of Seibert, Colo.; Annie, Mrs. Loiler of Seibert, Colo.; Alice, Mrs. Carter of
Dallas, Texas.
In 1906, Mr. Brooke came to California, locating in
Chico. He purchased his home place of six acres, on Nord Avenue, which he set
to almonds, and also bought seventeen acres on Sacramento Avenue, paying one
hundred sixty-three dollars per acre, and put this property into alfalfa,
selling it five years later for four hundred dollars per acre. In 1910 he
disposed of his ranch in Nebraska and centered his interests in Butte County. He
owns the old Boone Jones ranch of one hundred seventy acres, for which he paid
twenty thousand dollars. He sowed it to alfalfa, and
grows four cuttings a year without irrigation. This ranch he rents, bringing
him an income of eighteen hundred dollars a year. Mr. Brooke also owns a
residence in Oaklawn, and lots in Chico Vecino. His home place, in Chico, is well improved, with
comfortable home and a pumping plant for irrigating purposes. Mr. Brooke
has been very successful in his agricultural operations here, owing to his
farsighted and keen judgment in appreciating the value and possibilities of
California lands. He is a true-blue, honest and upright man, and his liberal
and kindhearted qualities have made him hosts of friends since his residence in
the county, a popularity which is shared by Mrs. Brooke, who is a
well-educated and cultured woman.
During his residence in Illinois, Mr.
Brooke attended the Douglas-Lincoln debate, at Sullivan, and during the later
fifties he had the honor and privilege of seeing Lincoln many times.
Transcribed by Marie Hassard
13 October 2009.
Source:
"History of Butte County, Cal.," by George C. Mansfield, Pages 1249-1251, Historic Record Co, Los
Angeles, CA, 1918.
© 2009 Marie Hassard.
Golden Nugget Library's
Butte County Biographies