Frederick Charles Brooks, Sr. was born June 2, 1850 in Coventry, Warwick, England to parents also from England, Frederick Charles Brooks, I and Mary Ann Boyler Wilson. He migrated to the United States and that is where he met and married Harriet Whatman, whom was also a native of England, and a daughter of Henry Whatman, also from England. Frederick & his wife later gained US Citizenship and were baptized LDS and became upstanding citizens of the ever growing community of Ogden, Utah. Frederick was a farmer and worked hard to support his family of 8 and was dedicated to his Mormon faith.
Frederick & Harriet had 6 children born unto them, Sarah Alice Brooks, Frederick (Fred) Charles Brooks, Jr., William Joseph Brooks, David Josiah Brooks, Frances Rebecca Brooks, and Annie Flora Brooks. Annie was born in 1879, but later died at 3 months and 1 day old. Frederick being a man of family values wanted his family to be buried together, went to the cemetery that we now know as the Ogden City Cemetery and bought 10 plots, he figured in a few extra in just in case. He paid a sum of $10.00 for all 10 plots. At the time the cemetery was only a field with tons of sage brush and weeds. He spent several hours cleaning the 10 plots of weeds and the like. (The 10 plots were dubbed later “The Brooks Family Burial Plot”) Also at the time, there were no grounds keepers or grave diggers so Frederick, Sr. himself buried his infant daughter in one of the plots. Now all the graves are full with his family mostly. He was the 2nd to be buried in the “Brooks Family Burial Plots” when he passed away March 2, 1902 in Ogden, Utah.
Later the plots would fill, slowly at first with Annie being the first, the father Frederick Brooks, Sr. was the 2nd to be buried in the Brooks Family Burial Plot in 1902, then his son Frederick, Jr. was buried there in 1919, then a grandson (Son of David J. Brooks) named David Earl Brooks died and was buried there in 1926, then Frederick, Sr.’s wife, Harriet moved to Reno, Nevada and died in 1933 there, however, her body was shipped back to the Ogden City Cemetery to be buried in the Brooks Family Burial Plots. In 1955, Frances Brooks’ daughter’s mother-in-law, Hazel James (Park) came to Frances and asked her to sell the last two burial plots to her, one for Hazel and one for Hazel’s husband, Russell L. Park who just died. After careful consideration and much prodding of Frances’ daughter Harriet to refuse the sale to her own mother-in-law, after all the hard work her father had gone to-to make sure Frances would be buried there Frances sold only one of the last two remaining burial plots to Hazel James (Park) for the burial of Russell L. Park, leaving the last burial plot for Frances Brooks. David Josiah Brooks, father of David Earl Brooks was buried next to his son in 1964 in the Brooks Family Burial Plot. Though William Brooks died in 1965 he wasn’t buried in the family plot nor was Alice who died in 1968, however, my great-grandmother, Frances Rebecca Brooks was the last to be buried there…she would first leave a wonderful tribute to her father’s hard work of cleaning & setting aside the family burial plots for the family. On Frederick Sr. & Harriet Whatman Brooks‘ double headstone reads on the back all of the children’s names and death dates. Frances also bought and paid for all the headstones you see in the Brooks’ Family Burial Plots, as only 2 had headstones prior to that. Frances Rebecca Brooks was the last to be buried there in 1987.