WILLIAM KEITH BROOKS — CON KLIN 



which I have taken the liberty of editing and arranging, I am 

 indebted to his brother, Oliver K. Brooks. 



EARLY HISTORY OF W. K. BROOKS. 



By Oliver K. Brooks. 



EARLY DAYS IN CLEVELAND. 



"The conditions in which my three brothers and I spent our 

 childhood and youth were almost ideal. Our father lived on 

 lower Euclid avenue, then one of the pleasantest and most 

 agreeable residence sections of the city, now entirely given up 

 to business. We had congenial neighbors, most of whom lived 

 near us for a long time. Many of them had children of about 

 our own ages who were our friends and companions. 



"We lived in a large, comfortable, and substantial old frame 

 house with large grounds, especially in the rear, where there 

 was an apple and pear orchard and a hickory tree, reminders 

 of the time when the place was country property, or perhaps 

 part of a farm. 



"Near the house was a builders' lumber yard, which was a 

 favorite playground for us, and near by, in another direction, 

 was a convent of Ursnline nuns, with extensive buildings and 

 grounds, separated from the street by a high brick wall. This 

 convent was a place of mystery to us. 



"We had an indulgent father -and a devoted mother, and an 

 aunt, my mother's sister, who lived with us as one of the family 

 until she married, and until some time after, when her hus- 

 band, Mr. Warner, bought a house nearly opposite our own. 

 Their house was always like a second home to us. 



"My mother's father and mother lived on a small farm some 

 Five or six miles south of the city on the Columbus road. He 

 was a retired Congregational clergyman, but he never had a 

 church of his own after he came to Ohio, but used, to preach 

 in neighboring towns when he was needed. 



"It was a great delight to us to visit our grandfather's farm, 

 and I and my brother William used to spend Saturdays and 

 holidays there. Grandfather used to entertain us with stories 

 of his life in Vermont and of the pioneer days there. He had 

 seen military service in the days preceding the War of 1812. 



?7 



