Noah Brooks
Noah Brooks was an American author and journalist born on October 24, 1830, in Castine, Maine. He had a challenging childhood, losing both parents by age seven and being raised by his sisters. Initially trained in landscape painting, Brooks shifted towards writing, contributing to various journals and newspapers, and ultimately became an assistant editor for the Overland Monthly in California. His personal and professional connection with President Abraham Lincoln led to opportunities, including a position as a special correspondent for the Sacramento Union and a potential appointment as Lincoln's personal secretary before the president’s assassination. Following Lincoln's death, Brooks published "Abraham Lincoln: A Biography for Young People," which became a bestseller. He later moved to New York, where he wrote for prominent newspapers and created engaging children's literature that drew from his own experiences, avoiding preachiness in favor of entertaining narratives. Brooks's writing often reflected themes from his upbringing in a seafaring town and included topics like baseball and life on the plains. His works are remembered for their ability to captivate young readers, marking him as a notable figure in 19th-century American literature. Brooks passed away in Pasadena, California, and is buried in his hometown of Castine.
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Noah Brooks
Journalist
- Born: October 24, 1830
- Birthplace: Castine, Maine
- Died: August 16, 1903
- Place of death: Pasadena, California
Biography
Noah Brooks was born October 24, 1830, in Castine, Maine. His father, Barker Brooks, was a ship builder, and his mother, Margaret (Perkins) Brooks, was a homemaker. Both parents came from prominent Massachusetts families. Brooks enjoyed a comfortable upbringing until the age of seven, at which point both of his parents died, and he was raised by his older sisters.
Brooks attended public schools in Castine. When he turned eighteen, he moved to Boston to study landscape painting for three years. While studying art, Brooks began to publish articles and short stories in various journals and newspapers, including the satirical Carpet-Bag. He soon realized that he was more suited to writing and abandoned painting to focus on his new-found talent.
Brooks married Caroline Fellows in 1856, and the couple had one daughter. Brooks left Massachusetts and relocated briefly in the Kansas Territory. By the mid-1850’s, he was headed for California, where he became part of many literary circles and began contributing regularly to the monthly literary journal the Overland Monthly. He joined the magazine’s staff as an assistant editor.
As the Civil War was escalating, Brooks’s wife and infant daughter died, and he moved to Washington, D.C., to work as a special correspondent for the Sacramento Union. While in D.C., Brooks rekindled a professional and personal relationship with President Abraham Lincoln. It is said that Brooks had an open invitation to the White House at any time, and that President Lincoln was so impressed by Brooks that Lincoln was arranging Brooks’s appointment as his personal secretary when he was assassinated. After Lincoln’s death, Brooks published Abraham Lincoln: A Biography for Young People, which remained a best seller for twenty years and was favorably reviewed by Robert Todd Lincoln.
By 1871, Brooks relocated to New York, where he worked for the New York Tribune, The New York Times, and the Newark Daily Advertiser. During his stay in New York, Brooks returned to writing fiction, publishing stories as serials in Scribner’s Monthly. The success of his sea-related stories evoked an invitation from Scribner’s to have Brooks write a story for their newly launched youth-based magazine, Nicholas. The semi-autobiographical “By the Sea” became hugely popular and inspired Brooks to write more children’s literature.
Much of Brooks’s fiction is based on growing up in a seafaring town. His characters are honest and believable, his settings are detailed, and his stories are entertaining. Unlike the children’s fiction of the time, Brooks’s stories are not preachy or moralistic; he intended them to be fun, escapist tales. Brooks always wrote about what he had experienced and enjoyed: baseball, life at sea, and life on the open plains.
Toward the late nineteenth century, Brooks became ill. He relocated to Pasadena, California, in hopes of rejuvenating his health, but died there shortly after arriving. He is buried in Castine, Maine. Brooks’s greatest achievement was his ability to write stories that engaged and intrigued children without moralizing.