Brooks, F. C.

F. C. Brooks, born in Manchester, New Hampshire, on May 8, 1863, uniquely combined a career as a skilled musician with that of a successful Fresno County horticulturist. The only child of manufacturer George Washington Brooks and Moretta Cheney, he received a strong public education before pursuing advanced musical studies at the New England Conservatory. He specialized in the clarinet, studying under Professor E. Strasser of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and later played in various bands and orchestras while working for the Waltham Watch Company in Massachusetts. On Christmas Day, 1891, he married Sarah Adelaide Kirk in Waltham, and the couple eventually raised six children: Hazel Adelia, Florence Adelaide, Thelma Blanche, Carl Frederick, Eleanor Dorothy, and Vera Evangeline.

In 1910, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks relocated their family west to Fresno, California, where they purchased a twenty-acre property on Chittenden Avenue. They constructed a home and significantly improved the land by planting a fine orchard of peaches and apricots. Alongside his diligent management of the ranch, Mr. Brooks continued to follow his passion for music by playing the clarinet in the Park Band and the White Theater orchestra. He was also active in the community as a member of the Red Men fraternity and aligned with the Republican party in national politics. His life in the region beautifully demonstrates how early California settlers successfully balanced cultural artistry with agricultural enterprise.