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F. J. Brooker

BROOKER, WILBER, JOHNSON, ANDERSON

Posted By: Peter Gausmann (email)
Date: 1/20/2010 at 04:17:44

F. J. BROOKER

F. J. Brooker owns and operates a splendid four hundred acre tract of land on sections 17 and 18, Linden township, Winnebago county, and also has other business interests, thus ranking among the most successful men of his locality. He was born in Livingston county, Illinois, September 30, 1867, a son of Thomas and Lucinda (Wilber) Brooker, natives respectively of Kent, England, and of Vermont. In 1839, when about twenty years of age, the father came to the United States, and as the vessel on which the voyage was made was shipwrecked he became separated from relatives who were crossing on the same ship and did not see them again until about eighteen months later. He located at Cleveland, Ohio, where he remained until a short time after his marriage, when he removed with his bride to La Salle county, Illinois. Subsequently they removed to a farm in Livingston county, that state, and there they experienced the inconveniences and hardships incident to frontier life. The unsettled condition of that part of the country can be gathered from the fact that the nearest market town was Ottawa, thirty miles distant, and it was then a matter of no little difficulty to secure supplies which could not be produced upon the farm. In 1886 they removed to Ida county, Iowa, and in March of the following year came to Winnebago county. The father purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 18, Linden township, and his remaining years were devoted to the operation of that place. He died September 8, 1892, but the mother survived for more than twenty-four years, as her death occurred on the 7th of January, 1917.

F. J. Brooker received his education in the public schools of Illinois. He began assisting his father with the farm work in early boyhood and as the years passed he became more and more proficient as an agriculturist. After attaining his majority he took charge of the operation of the home farm in Linden township, Winnebago county, and cared for his parents during their last years. In 1889, when but twenty-one years old, he purchased one hundred and sixty acres on section 17, Linden township, lying across the road from the home farm, and this place he cultivated, together with the homestead. Following the death of his father he purchased the home farm also, and later added to his holdings an eighty acre tract adjoining the home place on the south, so that he has altogether a farm of four hundred acres. The improvements upon the place are of the most modern type, the fertility of the soil has been conserved by scientific methods of cultivation and everything is kept in the best of repair. He derives a good income from the sale of his grain and stock and ranks among the foremost farmers of Linden township. He also owns eighty acres of land in Oklahoma, three and one-half miles from Avery and in the oil belt, being within twelve miles of spouting wells. He likewise owns stock in the Farmers Co-operative Creamery Company of Thompson and is a director of the Farmers Elevator Company at Thompson, of which he was for six years president.

Mr. Brooker was married on March 20, 1890, to Miss Ella J. Johnson, a daughter of Benjamin Johnson, of Forest City, who was an early settler of Winnebago county, coming here in 1869 from Sweden. Mrs. Brooker was one of the pioneer school teachers of Winnebago county. To Mr. and Mrs. Brooker have been born five children, as follows: Elsie E., the wife of L. C. Anderson, of Grant township, this county; Lottie E., a teacher of Humboldt county, Iowa; Ruth V., who is attending the state normal school at Cedar Falls; and Charlie F. and Alice M., at home.

Mr. Brooker is a stalwart advocate of republican principles and has been quite active in local affairs. For many years he has been a member of the board of trustees and he is also serving on the school board. His interest in matters affecting the general welfare is further indicated by the fact that for four years he was president of the Winnebago County Fair and Park Association. Both he and his wife belong to the Methodist Episcopal church and in its teachings are found the principles which govern their conduct. In all that he has done he has manifested sound judgment, executive ability and uncompromising integrity, and he is deservedly held in the highest esteem.

Source: History of Winnebago County and Hancock County, Iowa: A Record of Settlement, Organization, Progress and Achievement, Vol. II. Pioneer Publishing Company (Chicago), 1917. pp. 154-157.


 

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