Transcribed by Anne (Bowden) Allen from Henry Buxton’s column for the Bangor Daily News.
Feb. 22, 1937
VERSATILE CRAFTSMAN OF ORRINGTON
“George Brooks’ gift as a craftsman revealed itself almost immediately after settling in Orrington. He built himself a blacksmith shop and did all kinds of blacksmithing for his neighbors. I have some of his tools made from iron imported from England. he also tanned leather for the other settlers, and set up a Dutch windmill. In company with a neighbor, Simeon Fowler, he made a kiln or two of bricks every year. He manufactured his own charcoal, and made all of his own nails. He built the first grist mill in Orrington.
“He was a strong, capable character all around, according to the records that have come down to me, and there was much grief at his death in Orrington, December 15, 1807. Before he died, he built a comfortable farmhouse for his family. After his death his widow was married for the third time to Deacon Mark Hatch of Castine. She was famed over the countryside for her grace and beauty. She died March 2, 1817, at the age of 68 years.
“After my great grandfather’s death, my grandfather, James Brooks, took over the farm and carried it on. On the place he built a substantial brick house in which I was born.
“John Brooks, a shipwright, who was my grandfather’s brother, and my great uncle, married Sallie Dean, and in 1814 heard the magic call of the west. He built an immigrant wagon and transported himself and family from Orrington to Cincinnati, where he built the noted brig Cincinnati in 1815. This ship was loaded with ears of Ohio corn and cleared for Boston via New Orleans. John Brooks arranged that some of this corn be sent to his old neighbors in Orrington.”