BROOKS.
BROOKS.
In 1854 he accepted the cliair of literature
and mathematics in the Monticello academj-,
N. Y. , and in the following year the professorshii)
of matliematics in the state normal school at
Millersville, Pa., a
position which he
held for eleven years,
during which time he
developed a new sys-
tem of mathematical
instruction that
gave the school a
national reputation.
He published a series
of mathematical
text-books, which
became models for
many other works
upon the subject.
In 1866 he was elect-
ed president of the
school to succeed
Prof. James P. Wickersham. As he was thorough-
ly acquainted with its workings the promotion
was in the line of services. In 1858 the degree
of M. A. Avas conferred upon him by Union college.
In 1868 he was unanimously elected to the presi-
dency of the Pennsylvania state teachers' associ-
ation. In 1876 the degree of doctor of i^hilosophy
was conferred upon him by three different institu-
tions. At the Centennial exposition in Philadel-
phia he had charge of the normal department of
the Pennsylvania exhibit, and his mathematical
works on exhibition were favorably noticed by the
French commissioners of education in their report
to their government. In 1883 he resigned his
position at Millersville and settled in Philadelphia.
The following year he was elected president of
the National school of oratory, which position he
resigned at the end of a year to devote himself to
general educational work. He gave courses
of lectures in connection with the various sum-
mer schools for the education of teachers, and
for two years had charge of the normal depart-
ment of the Florida Chautauqua. In the spring
of 1891 he was elected superintendent of public
schools in Philadelphia. In 1898 he was presi-
dent of the department of superintendence of the
National educational association. His published
works include, besides his well-known mathema-
tical text-books: "Philosophy of Arithmetic"
(1876); "Normal Methods of Teaching" (1879);
Elocution and Reading " (1882) ; " Mental
Science and Culture" (1882); "Plane and Solid
Geometry" (1889); "The Story of the Iliad"
(1890) ; " The Story of the Odyssey " (1891) ; -'Plane
and Spherical Trigonometry " (1891) ; "The Normal
Rudiments of Arithmetic " (1895) ; " The Normal
Standard Arithmetic" (1895). King Arthur 1899.
BROOKS, ElbridgeStreeter, author, was born
in Lowell, Mass., Ajjril 14, 1846; son of Elbridge
Gerry and Martha Fowle (Monroe) Brooks. His
father was a prominent Universalist minister.
He removed to New York city in 1859, and was
educated in the public schools and in the College
of the city of New York. In 1865 he entered the
publishing house of D. Appleton & Co., and
was afterwards employed ly Sheldon & Co.,
Henry Holt & Co., and E. Steiger, until 1880,
when he joined the staff of the PiiUuhers'
Weekly. Three years later he became literary
and dramatic writer on the Brookh'u Times, and
from November, 1884, to February, 1887, was
associate editor of the St. Nicholas. In Febru-
ary, 1887, he removed to Boston, and entered
the corporation of D. Lothrop Co., as editor and
literary adviser. In 1879 he began to write
sketches, stories, verses and plays for the young,
which appeared in St. Nicholas, Wide Aicake,
Harper's Young People, Golden Days, and the
Independent. . A series of histories entitled " The
Story of the States " was edited by him, and he
is the author of one of that series, " The Story of
New York" (1888). In 1887 Tufts college con-
ferred upon him the degree of A.M. On Jan. 1,
1892, he became editor-in-chief of Wide Awake,
and the other Lothrop magazines. He was made
a member of the Authors' club of New York, and
achieved especial success in the field of historical
studies and stories popularly told. A list of his
published volumes include : "Life Work of El-
bridge Gerry Brooks" (1881); "Historic Boys;
their Endeavors, their Achievements, and their
Times" (1885); "In No-Man's Land" (1885);
" Chivalric Days, and the Boys and Girls who
Helped to Make Them" (1886); "Historic
Girls " (1887); " Storied Holidays " (1887) ; " The
Story of the American Indian " (1887) ; " The
Story of the American Sailor" (1888); "The
Story of the American Soldier " (1889) ; " A Son
of Issachar " (1890) ; " Historic Happenings, told
in Verse and Story " (1893) ; " The True Story of
Christopher Columbus " (1893) ; " Heroic Hap-
penings told in Ver.se and Story " (1893); " The
Century Book for Young Americans " (1894) ;
"A Boy of the First Empire" (1895);^ "Great
Men's Sons: Who They Were, What They Did,
and How They Turned Out " (1895) ; " The Cen-
tury Book of Famous Americans " (1896) ; " The-
Story of Abraham Lincoln (1896), and compiled,
from the German, "Animals in Action" (1902).
He died in Somerville, Mass.. Jan. 7, 1902.
BROOKS, Erastus, journalist, was born in Portland, Me., Jan. 31, 1815; son of James Brooks, who commanded The Yankee, which sailed from Portland in the war of 1812-'14. He was cliiefly self-educated, save a sliort term at Brown universitv, and a session at HaverhiU
