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Below is a family biography included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company; Elwood Roberts, Editor.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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J. MILTON BROOKE, a well known farmer of Springfield township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania, who served a term as prothonotary of the county, was born February 13, 1859. He is the son of James and Eliza (Stout) Brooke.

James Brooke (father) was born November 20, 1820. He had five children, as follows: Henry S., born December 13, 1847; John, born April 22, 1850; George W., born December 25, 1852; Charles, born April 22, 1855; and James Milton. Of these John and Charles died in infancy. James Brooke was by occupation a farmer the greater part of his life. He died March 27, 1896.

John Brooke (grandfather) emigrated to this country from Wales, and located in Frankford, in Philadelphia county, Pennsylvania, where he started in business as a blacksmith, which occupation he followed successfully for many years. He had three sons and one daughter: James (father), Joseph, Isaac and Sallie, who married John Phipps, and had three children-Tyson, William and Sallie, who died at about twenty years of age; William resides in Arizona, and the residence of Tyson is unknown. Joseph Brooke was a tobacco merchant. He had six children as follows: John, Charles, James, Isaac, Joseph and Mary Ann. Joseph and Mary Ann are deceased within a few years. Isaac Brooke, son of John Brooke, had eight children, as follows: Evan, Margaret, Emma, Mary and Amanda, all of whom are married, and Rebecca, Alice and Bertha, unmarried. The husbands of Mary and Margaret died about four years ago, and Mary is also now deceased. Evan Brooke is a carpenter trade, as was his father, Isaac Brooke.

Of the brothers of J. Milton Brooke, Henry S. was formerly a farmer, but he now lives retired at Glenside, in Cheltenham township. George W. Brooke and J. Milton Brooke both reside at Roslyn Heights, in Springfield township, where both are engaged in farming, trucking and gardening.

J. Milton Brooke married, March 13, 1883, Sarah E., daughter of Hiram and Sarah (Earnest) Titlow, of Springfield township. Her father is deceased, and his widow resides in Germantown. The children of J. Milton and Sarah Brooke: Ethel S., born April 8, 1884, now a teacher at Willow Grove Heights in Abington township; J. Warren, born December 1, 1885, graduated at Pierce’s Business College, in Philadelphia, and is now employed with Erben, Harding & Co., worsted manufacturers, their office being in the Arcade building, Philadelphia; Lillian, born September 6, 1887, a stenographer, employed with Golding & Co., also of Philadelphia; Sarah May, born October 23, 1889, who graduated from the Springfield public schools in June, 1904; Paul Milton, born November 20, 1892, and still attending school near his home.

J. Milton Brooke was reared on the farm of his father, attending the Harmer Hill public school, later known as the Audenried school, and later the private school of Hugh Morrow, a celebrated teacher, at Hatboro. He subsequently took a course at the Pierce College of Business in Philadelphia. After his marriage he engaged in farming, in which occupation he has ever since been employed, except while attending to his official duties in the prothonotary’s office at Norristown. For about ten or twleve years he and his father were engaged in the mining of ore on his present farm. Mr. Brooke is an active Republican and has always taken a prominent part in the politics of his township and county. He was appointed mercantile appraiser in 1894, serving one term. His friends, feeling that he would make a strong candidate on the party ticket, induced him to make a canvass for the nomination, which he secured, and in November, 1900, he was elected by a large majority. He served the term of three years, and then retired in accordance with the custom of late years which does not permit a reelection to what are known as the court house offices. Mr. Brooke, by his courtesy and obliging demeanor, made many friends during his incumbency of the position. He stands high in party councils in the county, and in the community in which he lives. He is a director of the Jenkintown National Bank. He is affiliated with Friendship Lodge No. 400, F. & A. M.; and Abington Chapter No. 245, R. A. M., both of Abington; and Caldwell Consistory, thirty-second degree. He is also a member of Norristown Lodge No. 714, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks.

The mother of J. Milton Brooke was Miss Eliza Stout, daughter of Henry and Ann (Donat) Stout, of Springfield township, born November 27, 1812. Henry Stout was a son of John Jacob Stout, a native of that part of Germany which borders on the Rhine. He came to the United States about the year 1756. He settled at Rising Sun, in Philadelphia county, below Germantown, after his marriage. He continued to live there until after the Revolutionary war, when he removed to Cheltenham township, in Montgomery county. He was a member of the German Reformed church at Germantown, and was buried there.*

Henry Stout (father of Charles) married Ann Donat, daughter of Christian Donat, of Springfield township, in 1795. He died in Cheltenham township, December 27, 1859. The couple had ten children. One of these children was Henry, grandfather of J. Milton Brooke, who was born in Springfield township, May 18, 1804. He married, in 1833, Ann Ott, daughter of Daniel Ott, of Bucks county, Pennsylvania. Of their seven children, three sons and one daughter reached adult age. They, with their mother, resided on their farm in Whitemarsh township, until a few years ago when the mother died, and the farm was sold. Charles and his sister reside on Butler avenue, Ambler; Christian in Philadelphia, and Henry at Broad Axe, in Whitemarsh township, Montgomery county.

John Brooke and his wife Frances came from Hagg, in the township of Huily, county of York, England, to America in the Year 1699. They both died of ship fever shortly after their arrival at Gloucester, New Jersey, and were buried in the Quaker ground at Creek, New Jersey, left issue: a son Jonathan, who stayed in England, and two daughters, Elizabeth and Abigail. Two sons, James and Matthew, came with their parents to America. After burying their parents they located in what is known as Limerick township, Montgomery county, Pennsylvania. James left issue: a son Jonathan, married to Elizabeth Rees, and they left issue, a son James, married to Mary Evans, who were the parents of Jonathan Brooke.

*At a meeting the Agricultural Society, Dr. Hiram Corson read a memorial of the late Charles Stout, late president of that body, in the course of which he said: “The seven sons and one daughter whom he (John Jacob Stout) raised have been progenitors of a numerous family. The blood which flowed through the veins of their descendants came down through generations of farmers. Centuries ago they tilled the fertile valleys of Germany, or labored on the vine clad hills of the Rhine. In this country they have not abandoned their vocation, but have steadily labored to elevate it.”

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This family biography is one of more than 1,000 biographies included in the Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania published in 1904 by T. S. Benham & Company and The Lewis Publishing Company.  For the complete description, click here: Biographical Annals of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

View additional Montgomery County, Pennsylvania family biographies here: Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Biographies

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