NameJohn Brooks
Birth1727, Enniskiien, Fernanagh, Ireland
Death7 Dec 1803, Elizabethtown, PA
FatherAllEmbeds Balzer Orth
Misc. Notes
JOHN BROOKs, b. 1727, near Enniskillen, Couuty Fermanagh, Ireland; d. December 71, 1803, at Elizabethtown, Lancaster county, Pa., buried at Harrisburg, Pa. His parents were descendants of what is known in Ireland as "Cromwellians," a people who have ever proved the most loyal subjects of England, and the history of British arms is their patrimony. At the age of twenty-seven years we find him in His Majesty's service in the Enniskillen regiment of foot, as sergeant, served with that command in North America; disabled by a wound in the left hand, June 8, 1767, and honorably discharged therefor. Left Montreal and went to Newburyport, in the Massachusetts colony, where he resided until the breaking out of the Revolutionary war. In 1775 he removed to Carlisle, Pa., and on the 9th of January 1776, he was commissioned second lieutenant in the Pennsylvania Line. During the occupancy of York by Congress in 1778, he was appointed, by General Gates, town major with rank of captain, and acting commissary of supplies. At the close of the war he was at Elizabethtown, Lancaster County, Pa., where he remained a brief period, subsequently returning to Carlisle. About 1784, he removed to Paxtang near Harris' Ferry, where he purchased land, and where he lived the remainder of his days. The Oracle of Dauphin, alluding to his death, says: "On Thursday his remains were brought to this place, and deposited by the side of his late consort, a daughter, and three grandchildren; Major Brooks was an old Revolutionary character, and for many years a peaceful and respectable inhabitant of this borough, as well as a distinguished member of the lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of this place." He was made a Mason in the year 1755, in Lodge 213, Registry of Ireland, was Master of Lodge 205, in the Enniskillen regiment, and, at the home of his adoption, of Lodge 21, at Harrisburg. Major Brooks married, January, 1767, in the city of Montreal, and Province of Quebec, by Rev. D. Chabrand De Lisle, chaplain to Montreal, SARAH PARDON, d. April 9, 1789, in Harrisburg, Pa.; daughter of Thomas Pardon, of Norwich, County Norfolk, England.
Spouses
1Sarah Pardon
MarriageJan 1767, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
ChildrenRebecca (1768-1798)
 Elizabeth (Died as Child) (1770-1772)
 Nicholas (Died as Child) (1772-1777)
 Elizabeth (1775-)
 John (1778-1845)
 Thomas (1780-1807)
Last Modified 30 Jan 2017Created 7 May 2020 using Reunion for Macintosh