The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D.
A Canadian Hero
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Hubert and Marie Brooks adapted quite easily to life in St. John following their move in 1892/1893.
While in St. John, daughters Nellie and Dora would marry (details to follow) and sons Aimé, Joseph and Otto were born.
Based on the Oct. 20, 1892 Turtle Mountain Star newspaper comment, it would seem that Hubert Brooks' first business activity in St John was a General Store which he and Alfred Plante purchased from F. Martineau.
However when F Martineau realized that life was not what he thought it would be back in Quebec, he decided to return back to St. John and on or just prior to Nov 15, 1893, F. Martineau bought back his St. John store from Brooks and Plante.
Hubert would run a succesful Hardware and Lumber Store followed by General Store, for a period Chairman of the Village Council, and was a member of the Commercial Club.
Hubert was also an active member of the Republican Party and was a delegate representing Rolla County to the 1900 Republican Legislative Convention for North Dakota, and Hubert was also on the CREDENTIALS committe for the convention.
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St. John struggled for a number of years having difficulties attracting settlers. Finally by 1902 the town's business personnel made changes that made St John "something of a modern town" !
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After the turnaround began in 1902 it wasn't very long before the St. John citizens decided it was time to become incorporated as a village. For this purpose they filed a petition. There was 26 YES ballots cast on May 2, 1903; and on May 18, 1903, 28 ballots were cast for village officers. St. John N.D. Record of Voters on May 18, 1903 & POLL Results; |
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When St. John was incorporated as a village the population was listed as 245. (In 1906 the population grew to 350
and seven years later in 1913 the population had grown to 500. At this point in time, St. John reached its peak of growth and prosperity.
(Interestingly Hubert Brooks
and family would leave St. John in the summer of 1913.)
TRUSTEES FOR THE VILLAGE of St. JOHN N.D. for March 1908 - March 1910
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The earliest involvement that can be found for Hubert Brooks in the affairs of the Village of St. John was an May 5, 1904 article in the Turtle Mountain Star that noted that Governor White has appointed A.J. Bolstad and Horace Bourassa as Board Trustees for St. John. Other appointments O.J. Bolstad clerk and H. Brooks as treasurer. In March of 1908 Hubert Brooksand two other citizens were voted in as TRUSTEES for the Village of St. John N.D. However Mr. Rudrud declined to participate as a Trustee. Thus Brooks and Bourassa handled the affairs of the village until the next election the following year. According to the St. John Tribune newspaper they did so to much acclaim. For the March 1909 VILLAGE ELECTION, Brooks and Bourassa wanting to ensure that there were 3 Trustees, got Wm. ("Billy") Coghlan to be the third on their slate. The three eventually won and Hubert Brooks was elected Chairman of the Village Council. |
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Later, Hubert Brooks would change his hardware and lumber store into a general (merchant) store.
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Some photos from Hubert Brooks' general merchant store in St. John N.D. appear below.
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As seen in the map above (location), Hubert Brooks had a GENERAL STORE on (the main street) Foussard Avenue of
St. John.
Interestingly, A.N. Bourassa also had a General Store right across the street from Hubert in St. John.
A.N. Bourassa would end up in LaFleche SK
in the same year as Hubert, that is 1913.
In LaFleche he would again own a General Store - whereas Hubert ended up being a co-owner of the Metropole Hotel.
Clearly the two families were friends and it would be interesting to known what drove them both to leave St. John for LaFleche at the same time.
(ASIDE: A.N. Bourassa was but one of eight children of Mr. and Mrs. F.X.A. Bourassa who had moved to St John from Central Falls R. I. circa 1883 where they had located for less
than a year after moving from Champlain Quebec. A.N. Bourassa for a period had served in the N.D. State legislative. His brother Abdallah at one time owned the Lafeyette Hotel,
brother Horace Bourassa was a dealer in lumber and farm machinery, brother L.G. Bourassa was a photographer, sister Georgiana was the wife of J.O.P. Durocher, sister Lumina was the wife of Omer Charboneau.
A.N. Bourassa's mother died July 22, 1903 of heart disease after living in St. John for 20 years -- unfortunately of bad health for most of this time.)
Others in St. John at the time were: St. John Drug Store - Ivek & Warren Props; Pool & Billard Parlors - Elmer Phillbaum Prop; City Restaurant - L.S. Lick Prop.; Livery Feed & Sale Stable - Thos Ellison Prop.
A photo has recently surfaced which shows that Hubert Brooks also had a SUPPLY STORE
a few miles out of town on (Big) FISH LAKE (now named Lake Upsilon).
It is believed that the BROOKS SUPPLY STORE was on the east side of Lake Upsilon
just north of where the county park is now located.
Property Sales Records has the Lake Upsilon Supply Store property location description was as follows: "That portion of Wallinder's First Addition to Birchwood Park described as follows, to wit; Begining at the SW corner on the shore line of Lake Upsilon of Lot 46 of Wallinder's First Addition to Birchwood Park, thence running east 115 feet, thence in a notherly direction on the east side of Park Street 280 feet, thence running east 220 feet, thence running south on the West side of Bay Street 114 feet to the shoreline of Lake Upsilon. thence around the shore line of Lake Upsilon to the place of begining, being a part of Lot 1 of Section 10, Township 163, Range 71, containing 2 acres more or less." (see Scetion 8.2 for map)
H. Brooks starting planning his Fish Lake Store early April 1909. The store proper was 20 by 24 feet in dimension. Attached to the store was a boathouse as well as a cottage that the Brooks family used occasionally in the summer months.
Early June 1909, H. Brooks opened his large general store to the public. H. Brooks had Prof. N.D. Fradd in charge of his Fish Lake Store.
H. Brooks had purchased a large 20 foot launch with a 6 hp gasoline engine from the Brooks Boat Company of Saginaw Michigan. The boat was launched July 1, 1909 and considered to be one of the finest boats on the lake.
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The largest of the lakes in Rolette County is Big Fish Lake / Lake Upsilon. The lake is shaped like the Greek letter Y (20th letter of the Greek alphabet). It is located approximately 14 miles north west of St. John in Hutchinson Township. It is known as a beautiful spot with steepwooded banks of balsam, poplar, ash, elm, oak, birch and fruit bearing shrubs such as high bush cranberries, Juneberry and pinchberries. The combined shoreline of the lake is approximately 13 miles long.
Back when Hubert Brooks established his BROOKS SUPPLY STORE on the lake, it was a popular vacation spot for residents of St. John and Rolla as well as surrounding areas.
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The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D.
