LEMUEL E. BROOKS, one of the representative and prosperous farmers of Oakfield township, and a valiant and honored soldier of the Civil war, was born in Independence township, Cuyahoga county, Ohio, ten miles south of Cleveland, on the 5th of December, 1840. He was the eighth in a family of fourteen children, born to Elisha and Maria (Cook) Brooks, and of whom six still survive, viz: Angeline, a resident of Grand Rapids; Harriet, the widow of John Rich, a resident of Greenville, Mich.; Amity, the wife of Henry Newton, of Breckenridge, Colorado; Lemuel E.; Samuel, a farmer of Insley, Newaygo county, Mich., and Phineas, an agriculturist living in Kansas. Elisha Brooks was a native of the " Green Mountain" state, was reared in St. Lawrence county, N. Y., and died in Oakfield, Mich., at the age of eighty-four years. In 1855 he came from Ohio to Michigan and bought eighty acres of land in Ionia county, which he soon traded for forty acres on the township line of Grattan and Oakfield, Kent county. At the date of his settlement in Michigan the country was in a wild state, and bears, deer, and wolves were frequently seen. Elisha Brooks was a pioneer of Ohio, having lived there about twenty years. His brother, David Brooks, served as a soldier in the war of 1812. In his politics the father of L. E. Brooks was at first a democrat, then a whig, and lastly a republican, having voted for the first candidate of the last named party. L. E. Brooks was thirteen years of age when he became a resident of Michigan. Here he was educated in the common schools, and enlisted, at the call to war, in company C, of the Second Michigan cavalry, at Grand Rapids, on the 14th of September, I86I. The regiment was soon ordered to St. Louis, thence to New Madrid, under Capt. R. A. Alger, the late secretary of war under the administration of President McKinley. Mr. Brooks participated in each of the hundred battles in which his regiment was engaged. The first action occurred at New Madrid and the next at Perryville, Ky., beginning at early morn and lasting until nine o'clock at night. The regiment also took part in the battle of Chickamauga and in the Atlanta campaign, including Strawberry Plains, New Hope church, Pumpkin Vine creek, Kenesaw Mountain, Resaca, Dalton, Missionary Ridge, Lookout Mountain, and many other minor battles. At an engagement near Newnan, Ga., Mr. Brooks was shot through the right lung, taken prisoner by the rebels, and hurried off to Andersonville. Here he spent eight long months enduring the horrible treatment of that place, and finally was liberated through an exchange of prisoners and placed on board the vessel Sultana, whose boilers exploded, killing 1,500 out of about 2, 200 men on board, 1,966 of these being paroled prisoners. Out of the thirty-three on board from the Second Michigan regiment, twenty-seven were saved, one of whom was Mr. Brooks. He was rescued after floating down the Mississippi river eleven miles to about three miles below Memphis. Going to Memphis, he was thence sent to Camp Chase, Ohio, and from there to Detroit, Mich., where he received an honorable discharge on June 30, 1865, after having served three years and nine months. Mr. Brooks was united in marriage to Miss Cornelia Putnam, and three children have been born to this union, viz: Edwin L., who married Miss Nellie Randall, one of Kent county's school-teachers, and is now postmaster at Grattan; Clara L., a bright young student, who has been educated in the Grattan graded schools; Johnnie, who died at three years of age. Mr. Brooks began life with small capital, having taken care of his father until the latter's death. The forty acres which he had to start with were traded for eighty on section No. 33, of Oakfield, in 1877. These eighty acres he has changed from one of poor condition to one of the most excellent farms in the township. The soil is a rich clay loam, adapted to the growth of all commodities cultivated in southern Michigan. He now, as a result of his arduous labors, lives at ease and ranks among the well-to-do men. Politically he has always been a supporter of the republican party. He voted first for "Honest Abe," and has dropped his ballot for Grant, Garfield, Harrison and McKinley. He has represented his people in district, county and senatorial conventions, and has been a member of the school board for about five years. Classed high in his community, he is honored and esteemed as an industrious, prosperous and worthy citizen.