J. M. Brooks, Ouachita County, AR

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SOURCE: Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1889.
Contributed by Carol Smith.
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Ouachita County, Arkansas - from Goodspeed's History of Arkansas

p. 657:
J. M. Brooks is the proprietor of the Brooks House at Camden, Arkansas, one of the best hostelries in this portion of the State. He is a native of
Camden, and as such is looked upon with considerable pride by the people of the county as a worthy representative of a cultured and refined
commonwealth. His birth occurred on January 26, 1960, he being a son of Joab and Anna S. (Ruth) Brooks, the former a native of Georgia and
the latter of New York. In 1856 they located in Arkansas, and the father was engaged in speculating in Camden until his death in 1861. He was
the father of two children: Ruth (wife of James Morfett, of Butte City, Montana) and James M. Upon the death of Mr. Brooks his widow married
James Jennings, a gunsmith and dealer in tombstones, well known throughout the county. He was city marshal for over ten years, and became
quite noted for his bravery and nerve. J. M. Brooks was obliged to begin earning his own living at an early day, and consequently received only
about one year's schooling. He was determined, however, to become a well-informed man, and many of his leisure moments, especially the early
part of the evening, were devoted to study, and he thus acquired a fair business education. He was reared to the hotel business, and certainly
has a thorough knowledge of that work, and having just completed a new brick addition to his old building which is two stories in height and is
in modern style, his establishment is well fitted to accommodate a large number of guests. He has forty sleeping rooms, and can accommodate
over one hundred guests, his house being the only first class one in the town. Mr. Brooks is a hospitable and accommodating landlord, and
does everything in his power to please his patrons and make them comfortable, and that he is successful is fully attested by all who have
patronized his house. His mother engaged in the hotel business in 1860, and together they have had a wide experience in hotel life, and have but
few equals. Mr. Brooks was married in June 1889, to Miss Anna Y. Young, a daughter of Co. J. R. Young. Mr. Brooks has been a member of the K.
of P. for the past ten years.