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Too long on lonely isles neglected,Dec. 17, 1836, Medford was called to part with another officer high in command in the army of the United States. Among the brave, there were none braver than Colonel Alexander Scammel Brooks, eldest son of General John Brooks. He was born in Medford, 1777, on the day of Burgoyne's surrender at Saratoga. He entered Harvard College in 1798, and left it in 1801. He preferred a sailor's life; but, when the embargo of 1808 was laid, he obtained a commission in the army, and held it till that restriction on commerce was removed. He then resumed marine life, and continued in it till the war of 1812, when he again received a commission as Captain in the United States army, and served through the war. So gallant was his conduct at the battle of Plattsburg, that he received a brevet as Major. He was retained in the army on the peace establishment, and commanded posts on the seaboard. In May, 1817, he married Miss Sarah Turner. In 1820, he was ordered to the command of Portland Harbor, where he remained seven years; thence to Bellona Arsenal, on James River, Virginia, where he remained four years; thence to Fort Independence, in Boston Harbor. He next came to Medford, and resided in the
Marked by no stone, thy dust has slept,
By humble turf alone protected,
O'er which rude time each year has swept.
Ere many summers there had revelled,
Decking thy grave with wild-flowers fair,
The humid earth, depressed and levelled,
Had left no index vestige there.
Still had the wave around that dashes--
Scene of thy fate — the story told,
And, 'gainst the isle that held thy ashes,
In seeming fondness ceaseless rolled.
But now, with kindred heroes lying,
Thou shalt repose on martial ground,--
Thy country's banner o'er thee flying,
Her castle and her camps around.
And friendship there shall leave its token;
And beauty there in tears may melt;
For still the charm may rest unbroken,
So many tender hearts have felt.
Then rest, lamented youth; in honor,
Erie shall still preserve thy name;
For those who fell 'neath Perry's banner,
Must still survive in Perry's fame.
