Brooks, Cora O.

Cora O. Brooks (1872-1951)

Keene, NH

In 1910, thirty-two year old Cora O. Brooks resided in the household of retired doctor Edward A. Renouff at 65 Roxbury Street in Keene. Brooks, a woman of color, had grown up in Petersville, Maryland but was working as a domestic servant in southwest New Hampshire by the 1910s.

Cora O. Brooks was born to William and Virginia Brooks in Petersville, MD, in about 1872. The earliest mention of Cora in historical documents following her birth is in the 1880 US Federal Census. The Brooks family was listed as mulatto and residents of Petersville. Her father William was an engineer at a local distillery at the time. Eight year old Cora, in school, was an elder sister to siblings Edward (b.1874), John W. (b.1876), and Helen A. Brooks (b.1879).

By the time Cora Brooks was in her 20s, she was working as a domestic servant in Baltimore, MD. In the year 1900, she worked within the household of a physician from Maine, Edward Mellins. This connection to a physician may have led her to New England. At some point in that decade, Cora moved to New England. The 1910 census reveals that Cora was working wage per hour in Keene as a domestic servant within the household of Dr. Edward Renouff, along with a 28-year old Jamaican cook Emmanuel Lopez and a 56-year old Irish secretary Mary Kepple.

Brooks’ time in Keene may have been short-lived. In both 1911 and 1913, she was listed in the city directories working as a waitress, yet still living at the Renouff home at 65 Roxbury Street. By 1914, Cora moved back to Maryland. A newspaper article in The News, dated Oct. 17, 1914, reveals that Cora applied for a license to marry John. H. Warfield, a Black 39-year old former resident of Detroit, MI. At the time of their marriage, Cora was 37 years old. Both bride and groom were listed as colored.

Information regarding Cora Brooks’ married life remains unknown to date. There are no known children and she continued to use her maiden name in later years. She died in Petersville, MD, on November 12, 1951 at the age of 79 years. She was remembered as a trustee of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and as an active member of the community.

GENEALOGY

CORA A. BROOKS was born in Petersville, MD, in 1872 to WILLIAM BROOKS and VIRGINIA __. She married JOHN H. WARFIELD (b.1875, Detroit, MI) in October 1914. Cora Brooks died November 12, 1951 in Petersville, MD.