The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D. A Canadian Hero

APPENDIX A – EXTENDED BROOKS FAMILY GENEALOGY

A.8 St. John N.D. Part 2

A 8.3 Social Activities & Departure

A 8.3.1 Hubert Brooks POSTMASTER for St. John & Commercial Club Member

According to the historical book "St. John, City at the End of the Rainbow", (see image below with header "POST OFFICE") at some point in time, Hubert (Rousseau) Brooks was also the POSTMASTER of St. John probably running the post office out of his General Store.

Volume 89 of the U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 has Hubert Brooks appointed POSTMASTER of Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota on Tuesday, May 12, 1903.

U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters in Rolette County, North Dakota, 1832-1930   Name     Post Office Location     Appointment Date   Wm P Hutchinson     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota     17 Nov 1892 Alfred Plante     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      29 Nov 1893 James Smith     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      31 Dec 1897 Hubert Brooks     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Tuesday, May 12, 1903 Alfred Plante     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Tuesday, December 08, 1914 William Schull     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Monday, January 02, 1922 Rolfe H Hesketh     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Tuesday, March 21, 1922 Rolfe H Hesketh     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Thursday, March 25, 1926 Rolfe H Hesketh     Saint John, Rolette, North Dakota      Tuesday, April 08, 1930         Joseph Plante      Laureat, Rolette, North Dakota      14 Jun 1888 Arthur Lemieux      Laureat, Rolette, North Dakota      26 Jun 1897 Joseph Plante      Laureat, Rolette, North Dakota      Thursday, September 06, 1906 Emma Plante      Laureat, Rolette, North Dakota      Wednesday, April 29, 1908 Eugene Plante      Laureat, Rolette, North Dakota      Wednesday, February 08, 1911

HOWEVER a blowup of the original box around the Hubert Brooks name, seems to say " Order rescinded 27 July 1903". This would explain why the St John POst Office has no record of Hubert Brooks being Post Master. IF this was the case, the question might be WHY the order was rescinded. Interesting! Regardless, at least for a brief period of time, Hubert Brooks was the POSTMASTER at St. John and is so recorded in the official National Archives Records.

Hubert Brooks was also active in the local St. John Commercial Club with brothers-in-law Eugene Turcotte, Oscar Bolstad and Fred Plante and son-in-law Dr. John Warren.

The St. John COMMERCIAL CLUB was brought into being April 23, 1908 by Father Gauthier and Dr. J.G. Warren who were initial trustees. O.J. Bolstad was also elected an initial trustee. The Club was focussed on a number of projects directed at the betterment of St. John. The Club also undertook other projects outside of the town, for example undertook the action for developing Fish Lake.

H. Brooks was elected to the Committe on Race Track for the St. John Commercial Club May 28, 1908.

St. John N.D. Commercial Club December 1908 Source:St. John Herald Newspaper Dec. 10, 1908

Hubert Brooks' Horse Pickerel - St. John N.D. " A dapple-gray horse named Pickerel, purchased by Hubert Brooks, operator of a general store, could pace when in a runaway team, and won its share of the races, even if it was nine years old. " PHOTO & QUOTE Courtesy: Book: St. John, City at the End of the Rainbow page 38

Hubert Brooks' Racehorse Pickerel Wins at Killarney Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, ND); Wednesday, August 17, 1910; Volume: XXIX; Issue: 246; Page: 2

Thos. Ellison Livery Stable St. John N.D.

A 8.3.2 Brooks Family Social & School Activities

Nellie and Dora Brooks Attend Faust Play in Rolla with OJ and AJ Bolstad Turtle Mountain Star Dec 10, 1903

Dora Brooks Singing at Anna Cain China Shower Social Turtle Mountain Star Oct 3, 1907

Jan 31 1909 Party at the Brooks' in St John St John Herald Feb 11, 1909

June 1909 COMMENCEMENT at St. John Grade School St. John Herald June 10, 1909

St. John School Dec. 1910 School Report Showing Perfect Attendance Turtle Mountain Star Dec. 8, 1910

Fred Brooks Intent to Attend LAW SCHOOL at Grand Forks N.D. Sept. 22, 1910 Turtle Mountain Star newspaper article

The following "news" items concerning the BROOKS family and friends were in the St. John Rumblings section later changed to "Local News Told In Short Paragraphs" of The Turtle Mountain Star for the period 1910 and beyond. This newspaper was published once a week on Thursday.
(This is a continuation from the "news" items between between the period 1892 to 1910 contained in Section 6.1.6.)

It is interesting to see how the newspaper tracked the comings and goings of not only the people in Rolla but also in neighboring St. John and other local towns. Almost a gossip column! However the "news items" do provide a glimpse into the life in St. John and the surrounding area at that time.

A 8.3.3 Departure From St. John 1911-1915

The first to announce his intention on leaving St. John was Dr. John Warren June 15, 1911. See Turtle Mountain STAR newspaper article to the right.

Dr. John Warren Announces Decision to Leave St. John ND June 15, 1911 Turtle Mountain STAR Newspaper

Both the Brooks and their close friends the Plantes, the Foussards, and the Martineaus were to leave St. John over the span of a 4 year period.

According to Paul LeBlanc of St. John, an article in the Dec. 1911 Turtle Mountain Star newspaper, H Brooks store burnt in the first week of Dec. 1911 at 2:45 A.M. in the morning. Stock in the store was valued at $15,000.00 not counting accounts receivable.

Typical Ad Found in Weekly Rolette County Newspapers
Circa Late 1890s Early 1900s Advertizing Canadian West

One reason that the A.N. Bourassa General Store fire story was included alongside Hubert's General Store fire story, is that shortly after these fires both men (and their families) would end up moving away from St. John to LaFleche Saskatchewan.

It is not clear what event or events led the various extended Brooks families (Brooks/ Bolstads/ Warrens) to leave St. John, but since they by and large went to different locations in Canada and the US it would suggest that they were deliberately moving away from St, John as opposed to moving to some other specific opportunity.

Despite extensive land holding in Baxter and Hutchinson Townships of Rolette County, was the store fire the "trigger event" that prompted Hubert to look elsewhere, rather than build over? Perhaps the frequent advertisements appearing wekly in the local papers (see example at right) extolling the benefits of Canada's West finally caused the family to move to even greener pastures.
One potential factor was that oral history states that work was starting to get hard to find in St. John at that time -- so families would naturally move on -- making it difficult for merchants like Hubert Brooks and the Martineaus, making it difficult for a doctor like John Warren and also for a bank like the one in which Oscar Bolstad worked.

However to counter this argument, the book St. John, City at the End of the Rainbow notes that St John reached its peak of growth and prosperity in 1913 so the "mass exodus" is somewhat puzzling - especially for the Brooks clan who ended up in LaFleche Saskatchewan not exactly the bustling mecca of opportunity.

Did John Warren leaving first set the process in motion of looking for greener pastures?

Perhaps the Brooks clan saw potential growth opportunity in LaFleche? Had Alfred, after his St. Boniface College stint, scouted out new opportunities and talked up LaFleche? The reason for the move back to a frontier "starting-over" town remains unclear - especially when the family was so well established in St. John.

The family migration pattern of moving to an even more "basic frontier starting-over" location was the only consistent factor withg each successive family move. Grand Forks to St. John to LaFleche and finally to Bluesky.

The Rolla based Turtle Mountain Star ran this brief news item on May 29, 1913 on a farewell party for Mrs Marie Brooks.

And the same newspaper ran this brief news item on June 12, 1913.

The next chapter covers the eventual destination in Saskatchewan of the Brooks / Bolstad/ Warren familes. The Foussards were to move to Minnesota. The Martineau boys moved to the Twin City area and went to school there, 2 were dentists, and one a doctor. The Martineau girls also came. There clearly was an exodus from St. John.

As we will also see in the next chapter, the John Warren family was the first to leave in the summer of 1911, the Brooks men first tried to establish homesteads in Saskatchewan starting in summer of 1912, finally moving Monday June 16,1913 as per the Thursday June 19, 1913 Turtle Mountain Star news item shown below.

The Life and Times of Hubert Brooks M.C. C.D.