Family History - Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

William I. Brooks: The Runaway Cowboy

October 1, 2025 by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

In October of 1927, when my grandfather, William Ignatius Brooks, was just 12 years old, he ran away from his grandfather’s house in Lawrence, MA. He had been sent to live with his maternal grandfather, Walter Chandler of the Lawrence Police Department, because he developed a habit of running away, and his parents couldn’t seem … Read more

New Article on the New England Historical Society Website

October 1, 2025May 28, 2025 by Rebecca Beatrice Brooks

The New England Historical Society recently published an article I wrote about my ancestor, William Burbeck, and his feud with Paul Revere. William Burbeck is my seventh great-grandfather on my paternal grandmother Beatrice Burbeck’s side of the family. William Burbeck was an artisan, artilleryman, and Freemason in Boston during the time of the American Revolution. … Read more