It is indeed sad, though hardly unusual, to hear of the plight of Capt. John's papers and belongings. Discovery Museum president Paul Audley wrote me, back in March 2003: > The Discovery Museum collection includes the Captain John > Brooks house and estate. This includes a wonderful 1787 home, > period furnishings (thru Victorian), many photographs, > documents, 3 bibles and a treasure trove of "stuff." We're > hoping for some help in getting a start on locating any > remaining heirs. [snip] Mabel Francis Wilder inherited the > property from her uncle, John, as a life estate, and left it to > the museum in her will (as required by Capt. John). Discovery > has had the property since 1959. > John5 has a clear descendent line to the donor of the > collection at we have at the museum. You are welcome to send > someone (or come yourself) to review them. It is a treasure > trove of old photographs, family record, correspondence, > bibles, etc. > John5 and Polly had 6 children, including 2 Johns (one died at > age 3). We follow the fifth child, Birdsey, to our eventual > donor, Mabel Francis Wilder. Our donor received the estate from > her uncle, John Brooks, a sea captain. > Thanks for your help on this. It will be important to the > museum to be able to locate the heirs and determine the future > of this great collection. I suspect the last paragraph means that they were hoping to find a direct descendant who would fund preservation and perhaps display of the Brooks items. Mr. Audley thanked me profusely in writing for furnishing the donor's ancestry, but the above invitation to "send someone or come yourself" was as close as I got to even a rough inventory of the collection. I didn't realize that the house was slowly deteriorating out back. I spent several years at the New England Ski Museum, and recall a Saturday morning when I was on duty alone when a visitor walked in the door and offered us a collection of the "Annalee" line of dolls connected with skiing. The collection consisted of not only production items but conceptual and production mockups and stuff like that, and was being offered by the company namesake and founder herself. I got all excited and called the executive director at home, whose response was, "Are they offering any money to pay for its upkeep?" We turned the offer down without even looking at the collection. Mr. Audley's name no longer appears on the museum website. But it certainly wouldn't hurt if you and other descendants in this Fairfield County Brooks line were to email the current executive director of the museum and share your hopes that they can find a way to archivally preserve and display at least the paper documents in this collection — or, failing that, that the Discovery Museum could gift or even sell them to an institution which could provide archival storage, cataloguing, and eventually access. [Connecticut State Library? Godfrey Museum?] As for the 1787 house … perhaps sale or gift to a local or regional preservation group? Linda Malkin, Executive Director malkin@discoverymuseum.org Discovery Museum and Planetarium home page: http://www.discoverymuseum.org/index.html Thanks for the legwork and update, Jeanne. Chris |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Christopher Brooks BROOKS Families of New England http://www.tributaries.org |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| Jeanne Jain wrote: > Capt. John Brooks (5f), John (4f), John (3f), Benjamin > (2f), John (1f) > > Well, I also visited the Discovery Museum in Bridgeport > on Wednesday. I have good news and bad news. First the > bad news: Capt. John Brooks' house which was willed to > and moved to the museum grounds from Pembroke St., East > Bridgeport is not at all an exhibit attached to the > museum, in fact it is found in the woods behind the > museum. It doesn't look too bad from the outside, > although a bit overgrown, but the inside is in very bad > shape. There are a few pieces of his furniture inside > but everything is dirty and only partially covered with > sheets, etc. I was very disappointed as I expected to > see something quite different. > > The good news is the children's museum, which at one time > was an art, science and industry museum, has a wealth of > Brooks' genealogical information and antiques. Although > all of Capt. John Brooks' personal effects are packed > away in boxes in a closet, it doesn't seem like they will > be exhibited any time soon. I was not able to get copies > of any of the documents as the staff member assisting me > was afraid light would further deteriorate the already > fragile documents I was interested in. However, he did > give me a copy of all the inventory sheets regarding the > John Brooks Collection. Some of the more interesting > items are: Two Family Bibles, one of which includes a > certificate of Thaddeus Beecher's donation to the Lincoln > Monument in Illinois and an engraving of the minister who > performed the marriage of Capt. John Brooks to Mary > (Polly) Coe, numerous photographs of Capt. John Brooks > and other Brooks family members, Capt. T. Beecher and > other Beecher and Wilder family members, Sea > Journals, numerous letters, several pieces of China Trade > Porcelain, copper Lustreware Pitcher, Liverpool ware > water pitcher, the giant key to his house, a document > signed by President James Madison and Secretary of State > James Monroe appointing Josiah Burr as Principal > Assessor, and lastly, a record of the Birdsey family > written in pencil on composition book paper. I did manage > to convince the staff member to give me a copy of the > Birdsey family record because it appeared rather stable. > However, when he went to copy it, the book began to fall > apart so although I didn't get all of the pages, I did > get most of it. Anyway, he agreed to either let me come > back to take photographs of the documents I want or > perhaps they could do it for me. But first he wants to > consult with someone who is familiar with the > preservation of documents before that can be done. > > I left there feeling sad that all these wonderful pieces > of history were packed away in a closet. Although most, > if not all, of the articles were gifted to this museum, > in my opinion, they should be properly displayed or > perhaps given to another museum for safekeeping.