For
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| Biographies For Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume II, Biographical, 1911, page 438
ROBERT W. BROOKE....A man of well balanced judgment and also of thrifty and industrious habits, Robert W. Brooke, of Goshen township, finds himself in possession of a highly productive farm which he acquired through his individual efforts. He is fully entitled to the respect in which he is held by his neighbors and his example of application and perseverance has been a marked benefit to many who need encouragement in their efforts to attain a competency.Born at West Liberty,Iowa, October 5, 1866, he is a son of Thomas and Clara ( Ingham ) Brooke, the former a native of Maryland and the latter of Ohio. They were married in West Liberty and for twenty years the father followed the butcher business in this place, afterwards selling out and engaging in the creamery business at Oxford for several years. He passed away March 23, 1892. Three children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Brooke, namely : Charles E., who is married and is now a contractor at West Liberty ; Mame, the wife of Albert Ellison, of Citronelle, Alabama ; and Robert W., of this review. The mother of these children having passed away December 29, 1866, the father was married in 1870 to Miss Millie Cook, of Muscatine county, who died in 1873, and of this marriage two children were born : Edward, who died in infancy ; and Millie, now the wife of Theodore Hoover, of London, England.
Robert W. Brooke was given the advantages of a common-school education and also of a commercial course and, making good use of his opportunities, was at fifteen years of age ready to begin his battle with the world. He worked for wages on various farms for seven years and was then associated with his father in the creamery business for three years. However, he was attracted to agriculture, as an occupation more congenial to his taste and at the age of twenty-five he began renting land and nine years later purchased eighty acres, since which time he has owned four different farms and is now living on the place on section 8, Goshen township, which he bought in 1908, being the owner of one of the most highly improved properties in the neighborhood, the farm comprising one hundred and twenty acres, all of which is under an excellent state of cultivation. He is a successful raiser and feeder of stack and also cultivates the land to good advantage.
On the 14th of December, 1892, Mr. Brooke was united in marriage to Miss Ida Schenck, who was born in Muscatine county, September 8, 1867, a daughter of James F. and Maria ( Bell ) Schenck. Her father was born in Ohio and her mother in Kentucky, They were married in Iowa and Mr. Schenck followed farming in Muscatine county until 1885, when he retired, passing away in 1900. The mother makes her home with one of her daughters and is now seventy-two years of age. There were eight children in the family, namely : John B., now living on the old homestead in Muscatine county ; Phoebe, the wife of Joe Bowman, of Cedar county, Iowa ; Charles, of Muscatine ; Mary B., the widow of W. C. Crozer ; Ida, now Mrs. Robert W. Brooke ; Elizabeth, the wife of Allen Hemingway, of Cedar county ; James, of Davenport, Iowa ; and William, who died at the age of twenty years. Mr. and Mrs. Brooke had four children, three of whom are now living : Thomas F., born May 2, 1894, now a student in high school ; Robert W., born January 29, 1896 ; and Clare I., born November 22, 1900.
Mr. Brooke is a man of practical ideas as is demonstrated by his success in business affairs. He has marked force of character and starts upon an enterprise only after carefully considering its advantages and disadvantages, and he generally wins in what he undertakes. He has been especially successful in developing farms, increasing their productiveness until they command a fair price. He is genial and pleasing in manner and in business affairs always aims to be just and true. Politically he gives his support to the republican party and religiously he and his wife are identified with the Presbyterian church.
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