Medford Historical Society Papers, Volume 30.

[p. 9] present a statement that is both concise and accurate. It is interesting to observe in tracing this family how often sisters figured in the marriages. The original Thomas married two sisters successively, and his sons married sisters of the Boylston family. We may also digress into Winchester, then Charlestown, where, in a house at Symmes corner, later dwelt Caleb, grandson of the original of that name. Here, at the extreme of the grant to the first Thomas Brooks, was born in 1752, John Brooks, later Governor of the Commonwealth. His history has been written so many times that it is out of place to enter into it in detail. We note, however, that he attended the district school with his playmate, Benjamin Thompson, afterwards Count Rumford, and later became apprentice in Medford to Dr. Simon Tufts. He had settled down in Reading to practice medicine when the war intervened, and Captain John Brooks marched to Lexington, where he perhaps fought shoulder to shoulder with his relatives, Caleb and Edward and Thomas from Medford. He found the British already on the retreat before he could reach Concord, but placing his Reading men near the road between Concord and Lexington, he gave the British troops a volley as they passed. He then followed them, with his men harassing the enemy's rear all the way to Charlestown neck. Soon after this he was commissioned major, while his cousin Caleb of Medford became a captain. It adds a touch of human interest to find that his first child was born June 16th, while the young doctor was off military duty, at home with his wife. That very night, however, he accompanied Colonel Prescott as a volunteer at Bunker hill and was engaged in constructing intrenchments. Perhaps by the grace of God he was despatched the next morning to Cambridge for reinforcements, and there being no horse to spare, was obliged to journey on foot. He was detained in Cambridge all day and returned to Bunker hill only in time to witness the retreat of the American forces. It may have been due to this fact