Edwin Miller Brooks was born on Christmas Eve 1878 in Putnam, Connecticut. His father was Rev. Charles Sylvester Brooks (1840-1911) and his mother was Eleanor Robinson Converse Brooks (1842-1922). Edwin M. Brooks graduated from Amherst College in 1899 and from Harvard Law School in 1903 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar that same year. From 1903-1906 he worked in Boston for the law firm of Whipple, Sears, and Ogden. He then spent the next 20 years in private practice and wrote numerous articles for a variety of publications, including the Springfield Republican, the Boston Transcript, and the New York Evening Post. On August 4, 1920 he married Beatrice Allard (1893-1977), daughter of Dr. Frank Ellsworth Allard (1861-1917) and Ada Eliza Booth Allard (1865-1949). They had two children: Eleanor Robinson Brooks Broh-Kahn (1924-2003) and Frank Allard Brooks. In 1926 Edwin Brooks left private practice to work for the law department of the Boston Elevated Railroad. He died after a short illness on April 7, 1929.
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"To Brooks the lawyer's obligation to do justice was no mere matter of words. By the great majority of the profession this obligation is taken far more seriously and fulfilled far more faithfully than the public is prone to believe; but no lawyer has followed it in practice with more full and complete loyalty than did Brooks. To him justice was a governing principle, to be pursued wherever it led, and he followed it without deviation, often to his own material detriment. Sometimes courses of conduct which to others, equally well intentioned, seemed as proper as they are common, seemed to him to involve a departure from the ideals of fairness which he could not bring himself to adopt. As we progress toward the ideal in the administration of justice, Brooks' high standards will become more generally accepted. He was ahead of his times.
"But, rigid as were the standards which he set for himself, he was no censor of the conduct or character of others. He had a broad tolerance, understanding and sympathy. Rarely, if ever, was he heard to utter a criticism of another for any cause whatsoever.
"His mental powers were of the first order, but it was not for these, unusual as they were, but rather for his rare moral and personal qualities, that Edwin Brooks' memory will long be cherished."
-- H.F.L. [Harrison F. Lyman], Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, April 10, 1929
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"To Brooks the lawyer's obligation to do justice was no mere matter of words. By the great majority of the profession this obligation is taken far more seriously and fulfilled far more faithfully than the public is prone to believe; but no lawyer has followed it in practice with more full and complete loyalty than did Brooks. To him justice was a governing principle, to be pursued wherever it led, and he followed it without deviation, often to his own material detriment. Sometimes courses of conduct which to others, equally well intentioned, seemed as proper as they are common, seemed to him to involve a departure from the ideals of fairness which he could not bring himself to adopt. As we progress toward the ideal in the administration of justice, Brooks' high standards will become more generally accepted. He was ahead of his times.
"But, rigid as were the standards which he set for himself, he was no censor of the conduct or character of others. He had a broad tolerance, understanding and sympathy. Rarely, if ever, was he heard to utter a criticism of another for any cause whatsoever.
"His mental powers were of the first order, but it was not for these, unusual as they were, but rather for his rare moral and personal qualities, that Edwin Brooks' memory will long be cherished."
-- H.F.L. [Harrison F. Lyman], Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, April 10, 1929
Edwin Miller Brooks was born on Christmas Eve 1878 in Putnam, Connecticut. His father was Rev. Charles Sylvester Brooks (1840-1911) and his mother was Eleanor Robinson Converse Brooks (1842-1922). Edwin M. Brooks graduated from Amherst College in 1899 and from Harvard Law School in 1903 and was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar that same year. From 1903-1906 he worked in Boston for the law firm of Whipple, Sears, and Ogden. He then spent the next 20 years in private practice and wrote numerous articles for a variety of publications, including the Springfield Republican, the Boston Transcript, and the New York Evening Post. On August 4, 1920 he married Beatrice Allard (1893-1977), daughter of Dr. Frank Ellsworth Allard (1861-1917) and Ada Eliza Booth Allard (1865-1949). They had two children: Eleanor Robinson Brooks Broh-Kahn (1924-2003) and Frank Allard Brooks. In 1926 Edwin Brooks left private practice to work for the law department of the Boston Elevated Railroad. He died after a short illness on April 7, 1929.
==========
"To Brooks the lawyer's obligation to do justice was no mere matter of words. By the great majority of the profession this obligation is taken far more seriously and fulfilled far more faithfully than the public is prone to believe; but no lawyer has followed it in practice with more full and complete loyalty than did Brooks. To him justice was a governing principle, to be pursued wherever it led, and he followed it without deviation, often to his own material detriment. Sometimes courses of conduct which to others, equally well intentioned, seemed as proper as they are common, seemed to him to involve a departure from the ideals of fairness which he could not bring himself to adopt. As we progress toward the ideal in the administration of justice, Brooks' high standards will become more generally accepted. He was ahead of his times.
"But, rigid as were the standards which he set for himself, he was no censor of the conduct or character of others. He had a broad tolerance, understanding and sympathy. Rarely, if ever, was he heard to utter a criticism of another for any cause whatsoever.
"His mental powers were of the first order, but it was not for these, unusual as they were, but rather for his rare moral and personal qualities, that Edwin Brooks' memory will long be cherished."
-- H.F.L. [Harrison F. Lyman], Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, April 10, 1929
==========
"To Brooks the lawyer's obligation to do justice was no mere matter of words. By the great majority of the profession this obligation is taken far more seriously and fulfilled far more faithfully than the public is prone to believe; but no lawyer has followed it in practice with more full and complete loyalty than did Brooks. To him justice was a governing principle, to be pursued wherever it led, and he followed it without deviation, often to his own material detriment. Sometimes courses of conduct which to others, equally well intentioned, seemed as proper as they are common, seemed to him to involve a departure from the ideals of fairness which he could not bring himself to adopt. As we progress toward the ideal in the administration of justice, Brooks' high standards will become more generally accepted. He was ahead of his times.
"But, rigid as were the standards which he set for himself, he was no censor of the conduct or character of others. He had a broad tolerance, understanding and sympathy. Rarely, if ever, was he heard to utter a criticism of another for any cause whatsoever.
"His mental powers were of the first order, but it was not for these, unusual as they were, but rather for his rare moral and personal qualities, that Edwin Brooks' memory will long be cherished."
-- H.F.L. [Harrison F. Lyman], Boston Evening Transcript, Wednesday, April 10, 1929
