impression of the appearance and personal character of that eminent man. He was then a member of the Illinois legislature and had come to Kaskaskia on political business. While there he held a conference with a number of leading Whigs, Dr. Brooks among them. That gentleman in recently referring to that event said: "Mr. Lincoln even in those days gave evidence that no observing man could misread, of having great power and being far above the average of men in intellect. He was awkward and ill at ease, not seeming to know what should be done with his hands and feet, but never at a loss for a thought, or eloquence with which to give it expression. He had perfect command of all the illustrations to make clear his points, and seemed re markably well informed. He impressed me as one of the most remarkable men I had ever met, and when he was nominated to the Presidency I did not feel any surprise." Dr. Brooks, while living in Kaskaskia, was married on December 8, 1839, to Rebecca T. Hope, daughter of the late Captain Thomas Hope of Hampton, Virginia. She is still living, although for a number of years an invalid. Three children were born to them and are still living: Mary, the wife of Dr. H. J. Herrick; Dr. M. L. Brooks, jr., of the Eighteenth ward; and Mr. T. H. Brooks, the well-known foundry man. Dr. Brooks is a member of the Second Presbyterian church and one of the elders therein. HENRY K. JAMES. FRANCIS C. SESSIONS. IN THE ancient Anglo-Saxon tongue appears a name that may be best expressed in modern English by the word. "Sass." In this old language it means a dweller on, or a tiller of the soil. Pursuing the study of the name further down the annals of heraldry, the name "Sasson" appears, with the same meaning. The family who bore it were tillers of the soil, and investigation still further shows Sesson, Sisson, Sission, and Sessions-natural dialectic derivatives of the same root, bearing the same meaning, and borne by families whose avocations were shown by their names. In the history of the ancient town of Wantage, England, appears, early in the sixteenth century, the first records of the English family Sessions. Like many another family in English history, the occupation is evidenced by the name, and the student of history is not surprised to find the family farmers. There the occupation of farmer usually is that of overseer to the large manors of an English lord or baronet, rather than as practised in America, where a farmer is his own overseer. In the old town records mention is made of Alexander Sessions, the farmer of the Dudley Manor. That he was a good farmer is further shown, and when Thomas Dudley, deputy governor of the Massachusetts Bay colony, came with his superior, John Winthrop, and a company of emigrants, to America in 1630, Alexander Sessions was requested to come in his capacity as farmer for the new estates of his employer. Little that is definite can be said now of the history of Alexander Sessions in the New World, during the early years of of the colony. That he shared the privations of the colony, aided in its develop ment, and managed well his trust, can safely be inferred from his character and from the history of the colony as brought down to us. About sixteen years after he came the site of the present town of Andover, Massachusetts was purchase from the Indians for "six English pounds, and one coat." A town was laid out, and the unpronounceable native name for this locality changed to Andover, in memory of an English town from which many of its settlers came. By this time Alexander Sessions had decided to abandon labor for another man and to be a "freeman." He became one of the first settlers of Andover, and one year after is mentioned in the town records as a "Freeman of Andover, Mass., 1647." From this date onward but little can be said of Alexander till April 24, 1674, a record appears showing that "Alexander Sessions and Elizabeth Spafford were united in marriage." To them were born seven sons: John, Alexander, Timothy, Samuel, Nehemiah, Josiah and Joseph, whose biblical names attest the Calvanistic principles of their parents. Of these sons, Alexander was, in after years, one of the most prominent. He was born about 1680. In 1704 he went to Pomfret, Connecticut, a town started in that colony in 1686, where he, too, followed the occupation shown by his name, and where he lived to the great age of four score and eleven years. His mental and bodily vigor remained till almost the last. Until his 88th year, when he became blind, he managed the details of his large estate with remarkable energy and fidelity. All his life he was a careful student of the Bible. After reaching four score years of age he committed to memory the New Testament, the psalms and many other parts of the Old Testament. Among his children, Robert, his fifth child, born March 15, 1752, became one of the most prominent. About the time he attained his majority he went to Boston, where he was employed by a Mr. Davis, a lumber dealer, as a common laborer. This was in the summer of 1773, the year that England's persecutions of the colonies terminated in a farmers' "tea party," to which Robert Sessions was an uninvited guest. England had decreed that America must buy tea only of her merchants, and thus by a monopoly, over which America had no voice, control the action and trade of the colonies. The "tea party " was the first effective expression of the people against this foreign arbitrary power. After all negotiation had failed, and every measure to remove the obnoxious tax was lost, the people took matters in their own hands. Early in December a shipload of tea anchored ト position in Boston, while I was a young man whose home and relations were in Connecticut. The appointed and disguised party proving too small for the quick work necessary, other young men, similarly circumstanced with myself, joined them in their labors. The chests were drawn up by a tackle, one man bringing them forward, another putting a rope around them, and others hoisting them to the deck and carrying them to the vessel's side. The chests were then opened, the tea emptied over he side and the chests thrown overboard. Perfect regularity prevailed during the whole transaction. Although in Boston harbor. A New England Many years after a little volume came from the New England press, and under the title of Tea Leaves,' preserved the story and something of all the actors. Several of the guests to this "Boston tea party" had preserved their recollections, and among them is found Mr. Sessions. He says: I was living in Boston at the time, in the family of Mr. Davis, a lumber merchant, as a common laborer. On that eventful evening, when Mr. Davis came in from the town meeting, I asked him what was to be done with the tea. 'They are now throwing it overboard," he replied. Receiving permission I went immediately to the spot. Everything was as light as day by the means of lamps and torches, a pin might be seen lying on the wharf. I went on board where they were at work and took hold with my own hands. I was not one of those appointed to destroy the tea, and who disguised themselves as Indians, but was a volunteer, the disguised men being largely men of family and there were many people on the wharf, entire silence prevailed-no clamor, no talking. Nothing was meddled with but the teas on board. After having emptied the whole, the deck was swept clean and every thing put in its proper place. An officer on board was requested to come up from the cabin and see that no damage was done except to the tea. At about the close of the scene a man was discovered making his way through the crowd with his He was immediately laid hold of and his coat skirts torn off, with their pockets, and thrown into the dock with the rest of the tea. I was obliged to leave the town at once, as it was of course known that I was concerned in the affair It is noticeable that invitations to this tea party were not given in the conventional style even of that day; nor has the like been seen since. The Boston poet, Dr. Holmes, in his " Ballad of the Boston Tea Party," thus describes the event : "An evening party-only that, No gold-laced coat, no stiff cravat, No silk-robed dames, no fiddling band, And then the poet, in his own entertaining style, tells who came to this party. These were barbers, smithwrights, tapsters, coopers, ship-yard |