Biographical Sketch of Thomas Hudson Brooke
Researched and written by Kevin J. Proctor
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Born in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on 08 August 1844, Thomas Hudson Brooke was the only male of the nine children born to Allen Duckett and Rachel (Michael) Brooke.
Thomas' career as a telegrapher is a long and picturesque one. By the age of 15, he was operating a telegraph key at Mannington, WV. Operators were few and far between in the pre-Civil War days, for Congress had only granted Samuel F. B. Morse means to construct the experimental line between Washington and Baltimore a few years previously. During the years 1861-62 he was in the railroad telegraph service in his native state, and afterward in Maryland, Ohio and Chicago. In March 1863, he entered the United States Military Telegraph service as an army operator. Civilian operators were inducted into the service, issued uniforms and given the pay of the regulars, and were under strict army regulation, but were not a part of the forces of the United States. He was stationed at Columbia, KY under Captain Samuel Bruch until July 1863 when routed by the infamous incursion of Confederate cavalry known as Morgan's Raid, whereupon he was transferred to a combined army-railroad station at Fosterville, TN under Colonel J. C. Van Duzer. In November he was captured by troopers of the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, led by General Joe Wheeler, who later paroled him as a prisoner of war.
Thomas returned home to West Virginia as a civilian operator, but he tired of routine telegraphing minus the excitement of fighting, and returned to the army – this time in civilian clothes. He was engaged in special service at various points of attack on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, and was in battle with Generals Crook, Averell and Lew Wallace. Six months prior to the close of the war, he was employed first in the Baltimore office and then transferred to Washington, D.C., where he handled army orders, and where he remained during the grand review of the army by President Lincoln – and was still on duty when the President was assassinated.
With the war over, Thomas crossed the plains in 1865 to Colorado, where for one year he became a prospector. "I saw more buffaloes on the plains in one herd than I've ever seen range cattle since," he said. Thomas returned to West Virginia and married Susan Sturm on 26 December 1866. Soon after their marriage, the westward movement got underway and the railroads began to push their way into the vast territory west of the Mississippi River; they joined the movement and found their way west to Puicy Station, Wyoming, where he settled as agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, which had not yet been built across the mountains. Again, he left the telegraph key for a year and tried his hand at farming in Nebraska, but by the time the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad first started to build from Pottsmouth, Nebraska, Thomas was handling construction orders. He was made their agent at Tecumseh, and also had charge of the express and telegraph offices. He remained with the Burlington in Tecumseh for twenty-five years, having been with the railroad even before the general manager was selected.
Thomas was described as a man of powerful physique, quick intelligence, strong will and kindly disposition. From their trip west, one anecdote is especially revealing: the Brooke family took a steamboat, going down the Ohio River to its mouth and up the Mississippi. Before they reached their destination the boat struck a submerged rock or snag, which tore a hole in the bottom, letting in large quantities of water causing it to list and settle alarmingly. The pilot steered the boat toward the bank and soon had the bow grounded not far from the shore. The stern was settling and about to sink. Wild panic ensued. The crew and the rougher men among the passengers were scrambling to get off and make their way to safety. The Captain took a position on the bow and with drawn pistol declared he would shoot the first man who attempted to leave the boat before all the women and children were safely off the boat. Thomas Brooke sprang to the Captain's side and drawing his own revolver backed the Captain's command and the men were held in check until all the women and children were safely landed.
When Oklahoma Territory was first opened for settlement in 1889, Thomas left the Burlington in Nebraska and moved to the Cherokee Strip at Pond Creek as operator and station agent. He followed the railhead south as far as El Reno, OT, opening every new station between Pond Creek and El Reno. When he reached Fort Reno, he remained there as agent operator for five years.
In 1890-91, the Christian church of El Reno was organized. Bro. Brooke was the prime mover in this organization, and was installed as the only elder. He was the first teacher of the Bible class, and he remained senior elder and a church worker for 20 years. His obituary stated "He was a master of the Bible."
Business opportunities abounded along the Choctaw Railroad, but one service in particular was in great demand and short supply in these early days of the Old West: that of the Undertaker. Harsh environments, dehydration, and even violence sent many early pioneers to their graves; however, it was poor sanitation and the generally hard-scrabble way of life that tended to breed typhoid, diphtheria, and other illnesses that caused the most suffering and death. The Undertaker is a career that came into being when towns were created, and in these early days many towns didn't have an Undertaker, as was the case at nearby Yukon. It is here that Thomas opened his first furniture and undertaking business. Yes, furniture and undertaking! In those early days, most Undertakers were either furniture makers or doctors doing double duty. Townsfolk would turn to someone who already had the tools and wood available to make coffins, and the job of Undertaker was a natural outgrowth of the furniture business. Also around this time, preserving the bodies with formaldehyde was a relatively new technology. By postponing the decay of the body, families could wait longer to bury the deceased until other family members arrived to say their last farewell. This opened new opportunities for elaborate funerals and created a booming business for the Undertaker. According to his ads in local papers, T. H. BROOKE, UNDERTAKER was a full-service business: "Embalming bodies for shipment or to hold until friends arrive, a specialty. Full line of undertaking goods. Hearse in connection. Night calls answered at residence third house due east of school building. Agent for tombstone and monumental work in Marble and Granite. The best goods in the market at lowest prices. Georgia marble and Vermont granite -- no American product is better. Place your order with me and save money."
Thomas also was involved for a time with his father-in-law, John Dale, Sr., in the real estate and insurance business in El Reno. When the Kiowa-Comanche country opened in 1901, Thomas moved to Anadarko and opened another furniture and undertaking business. One newspaper reported "There is a great deal of sickness among the people living in tents at Anadarko, many deaths resulting. T. H. Brooke, formerly undertaker at Yukon, had four funerals last Friday, three on Saturday and others Monday." However, shortly after he had established the business the entire block, including the post office, was destroyed by fire. He was left without a business, as he lost everything in the fire, and the financial loss was overwhelming.
Thomas went from there to Fort Cobb, twelve miles west of Anadarko, as station agent for a time, then was transferred to Perry, and in 1907 was sent back to Anadarko and placed in charge of the Western Union office. In 1914 he passed the seventy-year mark. Western Union rules required that every employee reaching the age of seventy should be retired with part pay or pension for the rest of his life. Thomas felt so active in mind and body he did not want to retire. Anadarko citizens circulated a petition among business and professional men requesting that this rule be suspended in Mr. Brooke's case. The petition finally found its way to the Board of Directors in New York City. Thomas was so persistent and advanced such strong arguments that the Board passed a resolution granting his request to continue in active service as the Anadarko operator, with annual renewals, for as long as he desired. At the end of the first year he was extended another year of operating, and for seven additional years the company continued to extend his service annually until his death in 1921 at age seventy-seven. He was the oldest active operator of the Western Union Telegraph company at that time. He died on 09 September 1921 in El Reno after a brief illness. The last sentences of his obituary read, "Anadarko has lost an ideal citizen. America has lost a man of the highest type."
Thomas had been married twice. With his first wife, Susan Sturm, he had four children: Charles Cline, Olive Edith "Ollie", Ellis L., and Flora May. Charles and Ellis died very young, while Ollie died at age 19. Wife Susan died suddenly in 1892 of a lung hemorrhage, and in 1894 Thomas married Amanda J. Dale, with whom he had two children: Fern Millicent and Lyle Maxine. Lyle died at 18 months old. Thus, of his six children, only Flora May and Fern Millicent lived into adulthood and were married.
Researched and written by Kevin J. Proctor
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Born in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on 08 August 1844, Thomas Hudson Brooke was the only male of the nine children born to Allen Duckett and Rachel (Michael) Brooke.
Thomas' career as a telegrapher is a long and picturesque one. By the age of 15, he was operating a telegraph key at Mannington, WV. Operators were few and far between in the pre-Civil War days, for Congress had only granted Samuel F. B. Morse means to construct the experimental line between Washington and Baltimore a few years previously. During the years 1861-62 he was in the railroad telegraph service in his native state, and afterward in Maryland, Ohio and Chicago. In March 1863, he entered the United States Military Telegraph service as an army operator. Civilian operators were inducted into the service, issued uniforms and given the pay of the regulars, and were under strict army regulation, but were not a part of the forces of the United States. He was stationed at Columbia, KY under Captain Samuel Bruch until July 1863 when routed by the infamous incursion of Confederate cavalry known as Morgan's Raid, whereupon he was transferred to a combined army-railroad station at Fosterville, TN under Colonel J. C. Van Duzer. In November he was captured by troopers of the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, led by General Joe Wheeler, who later paroled him as a prisoner of war.
Thomas returned home to West Virginia as a civilian operator, but he tired of routine telegraphing minus the excitement of fighting, and returned to the army – this time in civilian clothes. He was engaged in special service at various points of attack on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, and was in battle with Generals Crook, Averell and Lew Wallace. Six months prior to the close of the war, he was employed first in the Baltimore office and then transferred to Washington, D.C., where he handled army orders, and where he remained during the grand review of the army by President Lincoln – and was still on duty when the President was assassinated.
With the war over, Thomas crossed the plains in 1865 to Colorado, where for one year he became a prospector. "I saw more buffaloes on the plains in one herd than I've ever seen range cattle since," he said. Thomas returned to West Virginia and married Susan Sturm on 26 December 1866. Soon after their marriage, the westward movement got underway and the railroads began to push their way into the vast territory west of the Mississippi River; they joined the movement and found their way west to Puicy Station, Wyoming, where he settled as agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, which had not yet been built across the mountains. Again, he left the telegraph key for a year and tried his hand at farming in Nebraska, but by the time the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad first started to build from Pottsmouth, Nebraska, Thomas was handling construction orders. He was made their agent at Tecumseh, and also had charge of the express and telegraph offices. He remained with the Burlington in Tecumseh for twenty-five years, having been with the railroad even before the general manager was selected.
Thomas was described as a man of powerful physique, quick intelligence, strong will and kindly disposition. From their trip west, one anecdote is especially revealing: the Brooke family took a steamboat, going down the Ohio River to its mouth and up the Mississippi. Before they reached their destination the boat struck a submerged rock or snag, which tore a hole in the bottom, letting in large quantities of water causing it to list and settle alarmingly. The pilot steered the boat toward the bank and soon had the bow grounded not far from the shore. The stern was settling and about to sink. Wild panic ensued. The crew and the rougher men among the passengers were scrambling to get off and make their way to safety. The Captain took a position on the bow and with drawn pistol declared he would shoot the first man who attempted to leave the boat before all the women and children were safely off the boat. Thomas Brooke sprang to the Captain's side and drawing his own revolver backed the Captain's command and the men were held in check until all the women and children were safely landed.
When Oklahoma Territory was first opened for settlement in 1889, Thomas left the Burlington in Nebraska and moved to the Cherokee Strip at Pond Creek as operator and station agent. He followed the railhead south as far as El Reno, OT, opening every new station between Pond Creek and El Reno. When he reached Fort Reno, he remained there as agent operator for five years.
In 1890-91, the Christian church of El Reno was organized. Bro. Brooke was the prime mover in this organization, and was installed as the only elder. He was the first teacher of the Bible class, and he remained senior elder and a church worker for 20 years. His obituary stated "He was a master of the Bible."
Business opportunities abounded along the Choctaw Railroad, but one service in particular was in great demand and short supply in these early days of the Old West: that of the Undertaker. Harsh environments, dehydration, and even violence sent many early pioneers to their graves; however, it was poor sanitation and the generally hard-scrabble way of life that tended to breed typhoid, diphtheria, and other illnesses that caused the most suffering and death. The Undertaker is a career that came into being when towns were created, and in these early days many towns didn't have an Undertaker, as was the case at nearby Yukon. It is here that Thomas opened his first furniture and undertaking business. Yes, furniture and undertaking! In those early days, most Undertakers were either furniture makers or doctors doing double duty. Townsfolk would turn to someone who already had the tools and wood available to make coffins, and the job of Undertaker was a natural outgrowth of the furniture business. Also around this time, preserving the bodies with formaldehyde was a relatively new technology. By postponing the decay of the body, families could wait longer to bury the deceased until other family members arrived to say their last farewell. This opened new opportunities for elaborate funerals and created a booming business for the Undertaker. According to his ads in local papers, T. H. BROOKE, UNDERTAKER was a full-service business: "Embalming bodies for shipment or to hold until friends arrive, a specialty. Full line of undertaking goods. Hearse in connection. Night calls answered at residence third house due east of school building. Agent for tombstone and monumental work in Marble and Granite. The best goods in the market at lowest prices. Georgia marble and Vermont granite -- no American product is better. Place your order with me and save money."
Thomas also was involved for a time with his father-in-law, John Dale, Sr., in the real estate and insurance business in El Reno. When the Kiowa-Comanche country opened in 1901, Thomas moved to Anadarko and opened another furniture and undertaking business. One newspaper reported "There is a great deal of sickness among the people living in tents at Anadarko, many deaths resulting. T. H. Brooke, formerly undertaker at Yukon, had four funerals last Friday, three on Saturday and others Monday." However, shortly after he had established the business the entire block, including the post office, was destroyed by fire. He was left without a business, as he lost everything in the fire, and the financial loss was overwhelming.
Thomas went from there to Fort Cobb, twelve miles west of Anadarko, as station agent for a time, then was transferred to Perry, and in 1907 was sent back to Anadarko and placed in charge of the Western Union office. In 1914 he passed the seventy-year mark. Western Union rules required that every employee reaching the age of seventy should be retired with part pay or pension for the rest of his life. Thomas felt so active in mind and body he did not want to retire. Anadarko citizens circulated a petition among business and professional men requesting that this rule be suspended in Mr. Brooke's case. The petition finally found its way to the Board of Directors in New York City. Thomas was so persistent and advanced such strong arguments that the Board passed a resolution granting his request to continue in active service as the Anadarko operator, with annual renewals, for as long as he desired. At the end of the first year he was extended another year of operating, and for seven additional years the company continued to extend his service annually until his death in 1921 at age seventy-seven. He was the oldest active operator of the Western Union Telegraph company at that time. He died on 09 September 1921 in El Reno after a brief illness. The last sentences of his obituary read, "Anadarko has lost an ideal citizen. America has lost a man of the highest type."
Thomas had been married twice. With his first wife, Susan Sturm, he had four children: Charles Cline, Olive Edith "Ollie", Ellis L., and Flora May. Charles and Ellis died very young, while Ollie died at age 19. Wife Susan died suddenly in 1892 of a lung hemorrhage, and in 1894 Thomas married Amanda J. Dale, with whom he had two children: Fern Millicent and Lyle Maxine. Lyle died at 18 months old. Thus, of his six children, only Flora May and Fern Millicent lived into adulthood and were married.
Biographical Sketch of Thomas Hudson Brooke
Researched and written by Kevin J. Proctor
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Born in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on 08 August 1844, Thomas Hudson Brooke was the only male of the nine children born to Allen Duckett and Rachel (Michael) Brooke.
Thomas' career as a telegrapher is a long and picturesque one. By the age of 15, he was operating a telegraph key at Mannington, WV. Operators were few and far between in the pre-Civil War days, for Congress had only granted Samuel F. B. Morse means to construct the experimental line between Washington and Baltimore a few years previously. During the years 1861-62 he was in the railroad telegraph service in his native state, and afterward in Maryland, Ohio and Chicago. In March 1863, he entered the United States Military Telegraph service as an army operator. Civilian operators were inducted into the service, issued uniforms and given the pay of the regulars, and were under strict army regulation, but were not a part of the forces of the United States. He was stationed at Columbia, KY under Captain Samuel Bruch until July 1863 when routed by the infamous incursion of Confederate cavalry known as Morgan's Raid, whereupon he was transferred to a combined army-railroad station at Fosterville, TN under Colonel J. C. Van Duzer. In November he was captured by troopers of the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, led by General Joe Wheeler, who later paroled him as a prisoner of war.
Thomas returned home to West Virginia as a civilian operator, but he tired of routine telegraphing minus the excitement of fighting, and returned to the army – this time in civilian clothes. He was engaged in special service at various points of attack on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, and was in battle with Generals Crook, Averell and Lew Wallace. Six months prior to the close of the war, he was employed first in the Baltimore office and then transferred to Washington, D.C., where he handled army orders, and where he remained during the grand review of the army by President Lincoln – and was still on duty when the President was assassinated.
With the war over, Thomas crossed the plains in 1865 to Colorado, where for one year he became a prospector. "I saw more buffaloes on the plains in one herd than I've ever seen range cattle since," he said. Thomas returned to West Virginia and married Susan Sturm on 26 December 1866. Soon after their marriage, the westward movement got underway and the railroads began to push their way into the vast territory west of the Mississippi River; they joined the movement and found their way west to Puicy Station, Wyoming, where he settled as agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, which had not yet been built across the mountains. Again, he left the telegraph key for a year and tried his hand at farming in Nebraska, but by the time the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad first started to build from Pottsmouth, Nebraska, Thomas was handling construction orders. He was made their agent at Tecumseh, and also had charge of the express and telegraph offices. He remained with the Burlington in Tecumseh for twenty-five years, having been with the railroad even before the general manager was selected.
Thomas was described as a man of powerful physique, quick intelligence, strong will and kindly disposition. From their trip west, one anecdote is especially revealing: the Brooke family took a steamboat, going down the Ohio River to its mouth and up the Mississippi. Before they reached their destination the boat struck a submerged rock or snag, which tore a hole in the bottom, letting in large quantities of water causing it to list and settle alarmingly. The pilot steered the boat toward the bank and soon had the bow grounded not far from the shore. The stern was settling and about to sink. Wild panic ensued. The crew and the rougher men among the passengers were scrambling to get off and make their way to safety. The Captain took a position on the bow and with drawn pistol declared he would shoot the first man who attempted to leave the boat before all the women and children were safely off the boat. Thomas Brooke sprang to the Captain's side and drawing his own revolver backed the Captain's command and the men were held in check until all the women and children were safely landed.
When Oklahoma Territory was first opened for settlement in 1889, Thomas left the Burlington in Nebraska and moved to the Cherokee Strip at Pond Creek as operator and station agent. He followed the railhead south as far as El Reno, OT, opening every new station between Pond Creek and El Reno. When he reached Fort Reno, he remained there as agent operator for five years.
In 1890-91, the Christian church of El Reno was organized. Bro. Brooke was the prime mover in this organization, and was installed as the only elder. He was the first teacher of the Bible class, and he remained senior elder and a church worker for 20 years. His obituary stated "He was a master of the Bible."
Business opportunities abounded along the Choctaw Railroad, but one service in particular was in great demand and short supply in these early days of the Old West: that of the Undertaker. Harsh environments, dehydration, and even violence sent many early pioneers to their graves; however, it was poor sanitation and the generally hard-scrabble way of life that tended to breed typhoid, diphtheria, and other illnesses that caused the most suffering and death. The Undertaker is a career that came into being when towns were created, and in these early days many towns didn't have an Undertaker, as was the case at nearby Yukon. It is here that Thomas opened his first furniture and undertaking business. Yes, furniture and undertaking! In those early days, most Undertakers were either furniture makers or doctors doing double duty. Townsfolk would turn to someone who already had the tools and wood available to make coffins, and the job of Undertaker was a natural outgrowth of the furniture business. Also around this time, preserving the bodies with formaldehyde was a relatively new technology. By postponing the decay of the body, families could wait longer to bury the deceased until other family members arrived to say their last farewell. This opened new opportunities for elaborate funerals and created a booming business for the Undertaker. According to his ads in local papers, T. H. BROOKE, UNDERTAKER was a full-service business: "Embalming bodies for shipment or to hold until friends arrive, a specialty. Full line of undertaking goods. Hearse in connection. Night calls answered at residence third house due east of school building. Agent for tombstone and monumental work in Marble and Granite. The best goods in the market at lowest prices. Georgia marble and Vermont granite -- no American product is better. Place your order with me and save money."
Thomas also was involved for a time with his father-in-law, John Dale, Sr., in the real estate and insurance business in El Reno. When the Kiowa-Comanche country opened in 1901, Thomas moved to Anadarko and opened another furniture and undertaking business. One newspaper reported "There is a great deal of sickness among the people living in tents at Anadarko, many deaths resulting. T. H. Brooke, formerly undertaker at Yukon, had four funerals last Friday, three on Saturday and others Monday." However, shortly after he had established the business the entire block, including the post office, was destroyed by fire. He was left without a business, as he lost everything in the fire, and the financial loss was overwhelming.
Thomas went from there to Fort Cobb, twelve miles west of Anadarko, as station agent for a time, then was transferred to Perry, and in 1907 was sent back to Anadarko and placed in charge of the Western Union office. In 1914 he passed the seventy-year mark. Western Union rules required that every employee reaching the age of seventy should be retired with part pay or pension for the rest of his life. Thomas felt so active in mind and body he did not want to retire. Anadarko citizens circulated a petition among business and professional men requesting that this rule be suspended in Mr. Brooke's case. The petition finally found its way to the Board of Directors in New York City. Thomas was so persistent and advanced such strong arguments that the Board passed a resolution granting his request to continue in active service as the Anadarko operator, with annual renewals, for as long as he desired. At the end of the first year he was extended another year of operating, and for seven additional years the company continued to extend his service annually until his death in 1921 at age seventy-seven. He was the oldest active operator of the Western Union Telegraph company at that time. He died on 09 September 1921 in El Reno after a brief illness. The last sentences of his obituary read, "Anadarko has lost an ideal citizen. America has lost a man of the highest type."
Thomas had been married twice. With his first wife, Susan Sturm, he had four children: Charles Cline, Olive Edith "Ollie", Ellis L., and Flora May. Charles and Ellis died very young, while Ollie died at age 19. Wife Susan died suddenly in 1892 of a lung hemorrhage, and in 1894 Thomas married Amanda J. Dale, with whom he had two children: Fern Millicent and Lyle Maxine. Lyle died at 18 months old. Thus, of his six children, only Flora May and Fern Millicent lived into adulthood and were married.
Researched and written by Kevin J. Proctor
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
Born in Preston County, Virginia (now West Virginia) on 08 August 1844, Thomas Hudson Brooke was the only male of the nine children born to Allen Duckett and Rachel (Michael) Brooke.
Thomas' career as a telegrapher is a long and picturesque one. By the age of 15, he was operating a telegraph key at Mannington, WV. Operators were few and far between in the pre-Civil War days, for Congress had only granted Samuel F. B. Morse means to construct the experimental line between Washington and Baltimore a few years previously. During the years 1861-62 he was in the railroad telegraph service in his native state, and afterward in Maryland, Ohio and Chicago. In March 1863, he entered the United States Military Telegraph service as an army operator. Civilian operators were inducted into the service, issued uniforms and given the pay of the regulars, and were under strict army regulation, but were not a part of the forces of the United States. He was stationed at Columbia, KY under Captain Samuel Bruch until July 1863 when routed by the infamous incursion of Confederate cavalry known as Morgan's Raid, whereupon he was transferred to a combined army-railroad station at Fosterville, TN under Colonel J. C. Van Duzer. In November he was captured by troopers of the Fourteenth Texas Cavalry, led by General Joe Wheeler, who later paroled him as a prisoner of war.
Thomas returned home to West Virginia as a civilian operator, but he tired of routine telegraphing minus the excitement of fighting, and returned to the army – this time in civilian clothes. He was engaged in special service at various points of attack on the line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, and was in battle with Generals Crook, Averell and Lew Wallace. Six months prior to the close of the war, he was employed first in the Baltimore office and then transferred to Washington, D.C., where he handled army orders, and where he remained during the grand review of the army by President Lincoln – and was still on duty when the President was assassinated.
With the war over, Thomas crossed the plains in 1865 to Colorado, where for one year he became a prospector. "I saw more buffaloes on the plains in one herd than I've ever seen range cattle since," he said. Thomas returned to West Virginia and married Susan Sturm on 26 December 1866. Soon after their marriage, the westward movement got underway and the railroads began to push their way into the vast territory west of the Mississippi River; they joined the movement and found their way west to Puicy Station, Wyoming, where he settled as agent for the Union Pacific Railroad, which had not yet been built across the mountains. Again, he left the telegraph key for a year and tried his hand at farming in Nebraska, but by the time the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad first started to build from Pottsmouth, Nebraska, Thomas was handling construction orders. He was made their agent at Tecumseh, and also had charge of the express and telegraph offices. He remained with the Burlington in Tecumseh for twenty-five years, having been with the railroad even before the general manager was selected.
Thomas was described as a man of powerful physique, quick intelligence, strong will and kindly disposition. From their trip west, one anecdote is especially revealing: the Brooke family took a steamboat, going down the Ohio River to its mouth and up the Mississippi. Before they reached their destination the boat struck a submerged rock or snag, which tore a hole in the bottom, letting in large quantities of water causing it to list and settle alarmingly. The pilot steered the boat toward the bank and soon had the bow grounded not far from the shore. The stern was settling and about to sink. Wild panic ensued. The crew and the rougher men among the passengers were scrambling to get off and make their way to safety. The Captain took a position on the bow and with drawn pistol declared he would shoot the first man who attempted to leave the boat before all the women and children were safely off the boat. Thomas Brooke sprang to the Captain's side and drawing his own revolver backed the Captain's command and the men were held in check until all the women and children were safely landed.
When Oklahoma Territory was first opened for settlement in 1889, Thomas left the Burlington in Nebraska and moved to the Cherokee Strip at Pond Creek as operator and station agent. He followed the railhead south as far as El Reno, OT, opening every new station between Pond Creek and El Reno. When he reached Fort Reno, he remained there as agent operator for five years.
In 1890-91, the Christian church of El Reno was organized. Bro. Brooke was the prime mover in this organization, and was installed as the only elder. He was the first teacher of the Bible class, and he remained senior elder and a church worker for 20 years. His obituary stated "He was a master of the Bible."
Business opportunities abounded along the Choctaw Railroad, but one service in particular was in great demand and short supply in these early days of the Old West: that of the Undertaker. Harsh environments, dehydration, and even violence sent many early pioneers to their graves; however, it was poor sanitation and the generally hard-scrabble way of life that tended to breed typhoid, diphtheria, and other illnesses that caused the most suffering and death. The Undertaker is a career that came into being when towns were created, and in these early days many towns didn't have an Undertaker, as was the case at nearby Yukon. It is here that Thomas opened his first furniture and undertaking business. Yes, furniture and undertaking! In those early days, most Undertakers were either furniture makers or doctors doing double duty. Townsfolk would turn to someone who already had the tools and wood available to make coffins, and the job of Undertaker was a natural outgrowth of the furniture business. Also around this time, preserving the bodies with formaldehyde was a relatively new technology. By postponing the decay of the body, families could wait longer to bury the deceased until other family members arrived to say their last farewell. This opened new opportunities for elaborate funerals and created a booming business for the Undertaker. According to his ads in local papers, T. H. BROOKE, UNDERTAKER was a full-service business: "Embalming bodies for shipment or to hold until friends arrive, a specialty. Full line of undertaking goods. Hearse in connection. Night calls answered at residence third house due east of school building. Agent for tombstone and monumental work in Marble and Granite. The best goods in the market at lowest prices. Georgia marble and Vermont granite -- no American product is better. Place your order with me and save money."
Thomas also was involved for a time with his father-in-law, John Dale, Sr., in the real estate and insurance business in El Reno. When the Kiowa-Comanche country opened in 1901, Thomas moved to Anadarko and opened another furniture and undertaking business. One newspaper reported "There is a great deal of sickness among the people living in tents at Anadarko, many deaths resulting. T. H. Brooke, formerly undertaker at Yukon, had four funerals last Friday, three on Saturday and others Monday." However, shortly after he had established the business the entire block, including the post office, was destroyed by fire. He was left without a business, as he lost everything in the fire, and the financial loss was overwhelming.
Thomas went from there to Fort Cobb, twelve miles west of Anadarko, as station agent for a time, then was transferred to Perry, and in 1907 was sent back to Anadarko and placed in charge of the Western Union office. In 1914 he passed the seventy-year mark. Western Union rules required that every employee reaching the age of seventy should be retired with part pay or pension for the rest of his life. Thomas felt so active in mind and body he did not want to retire. Anadarko citizens circulated a petition among business and professional men requesting that this rule be suspended in Mr. Brooke's case. The petition finally found its way to the Board of Directors in New York City. Thomas was so persistent and advanced such strong arguments that the Board passed a resolution granting his request to continue in active service as the Anadarko operator, with annual renewals, for as long as he desired. At the end of the first year he was extended another year of operating, and for seven additional years the company continued to extend his service annually until his death in 1921 at age seventy-seven. He was the oldest active operator of the Western Union Telegraph company at that time. He died on 09 September 1921 in El Reno after a brief illness. The last sentences of his obituary read, "Anadarko has lost an ideal citizen. America has lost a man of the highest type."
Thomas had been married twice. With his first wife, Susan Sturm, he had four children: Charles Cline, Olive Edith "Ollie", Ellis L., and Flora May. Charles and Ellis died very young, while Ollie died at age 19. Wife Susan died suddenly in 1892 of a lung hemorrhage, and in 1894 Thomas married Amanda J. Dale, with whom he had two children: Fern Millicent and Lyle Maxine. Lyle died at 18 months old. Thus, of his six children, only Flora May and Fern Millicent lived into adulthood and were married.
Family Members
Siblings
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Advertisement
