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Terrirorial legislator: also Lawrence's first store, first building, first wedding.
Paul R. Brooks was born in York, Maine, on July 22, 1834. He received an academic education and in 1851 went to Boston where he clerked in a dry goods store for three years.
In September, 1854, he came to Kansas and opened the first store in the first building erected in Lawrence, a log cabin on Massachusetts Street. He was appointed deputy postmaster. From 1857 to 1860 he conducted a boot and shoe business.
Mr. Brooks married in Lawrence, on Oct. 3, 1858, Mary Boughton, daughter of Rev. Alanson Boughton, a Baptist minister of New York. She was born in Cayuga County, New York and came to Lawrence in 1857 with a married sister.
Mr. and Mrs. Brooks were married in the Methodist Church on Vermont Street. It was the first church wedding in Lawrence.
The following has been taken from a newspaper clippping: "Ten Years Ago (1923) - October 3, Thursday - First Bridge in Lawrence."
"Sixty-five years ago today the first wedding ceremony was performed in Lawrence, the bride and groom being Miss Mary A. Boughton and Mr. Paul R. Brooks. Mary Jenkins was the bridesmaid and Robert L. Fraser, the best man. The wedding took place in the Methodist church, a building which is still standing on Vermont Street opposite the Elks Club, but which has since been made into a dwelling. The Rev. Charles Reynolds, the Episcopal clergyman, performed the ceremony. The next day one of the Methodist deacons announced that there would be no more theatricals in that church.
Although no invitations were issued, a beautiful moonlight night and the novelty of the occasion brought a crowd of people which filled the church and many were forced to stand on the outside. Several window panes were broken by these onlookers and a bill for them was presented to Mr. Brooks and promptly paid. The reception was held after the ceremony at the home on Kentucky Street which was later destroyed by Quantrell."
In the fall of 1858, Mr. Books was elected to the territorial legislature on the free-state ticket. The legislature first met in Lecompton, but adjourned to Lawrence. It was again called to Lecompton by the governor, but again adjourned to Lawrence, and here the session was held which declared for the abolishment of slavery in Kansas.
During the war, Mr. Brooks was quartermaster of the Third Kansas Regiment. At the time of the Quantrill Raid his home on Kentucky Street was burned. Mr. Brooks and his wife were visiting in Maine. Had he been at home he would probably have lost his life as he was one of the first men for whom the raiders called. Mr. Brooks was Douglas County treasurer from 1881-1886.
This picture of Mr. Paul R. Brooks was given to Spencer Research Library by their nephew, Mr. Edwin C. Meservey of Kansas City, Mo., in 1932.
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| Related links: |
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Mary A. (Boughton) Brooks
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| Type: |
image |
| Project: |
WJHS Grant |
| Temporal coverage: |
1850's, 1860's, 1870's, 1880's |
| Creator: |
Willis Studio |
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