Brooks was born in
Concord, Massachusetts, to parents Nathan Brooks and Mary Merrick Brooks, a leader in the
Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society. Brooks attended an academy in Concord and a boarding school at
Waltham. He graduated from
Harvard University in 1844. He studied law, gained
admission to the bar in 1847, and commenced practice in Concord. He served in the
Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1858 and in the
Massachusetts Senate in 1859. He also served on the Concord
select board and on the board of the
Concord Free Public Library. Brooks was elected as a
Republican to the
Forty-first Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of
George S. Boutwell. He was reelected to the
Forty-second Congress and served from November 2, 1869, to May 13, 1872, when he resigned, having been appointed to a judicial position. He served as
judge of probate for Middlesex County until his death in
Concord, Massachusetts, September 22, 1893. He was interred in
Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. He was the brother-in-law of US Attorney General
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar, through the marriage of his sister Caroline Downes Brooks Hoar. ==References==