JOHN GAUNT BROOKS

At the onset of the Civil War he enlisted as a private in the Third Kentucky Volunteers, Confederate Army, under Gen. Lloyd Tighlman. In 1863 his regiment formed a part of Gen. N. B. Forrest's Corps, and he fought in the battles of Shiloh, Baker's Creek, Harrisburg, Vicksburg and Jackson. For the last three years of the war he was orderly sargeant for his company.

At the end of the war he returned to his father's farm to try and get enough money to become a doctor. During the autumn and winter of 1865-1866 he attended Eureka College, Eureka, Illinois. The following June he began his study of medicine with Dr. Joseph W. Thompson of Paducah, Kentucky, and in the winter of 1866-1867 he attended lectures at the University of Nashville. Going to Philadelphia, he enrolled for a summer course in Jefferson Medical College, took the ensuing winter course and graduated in March, 1868.

Dr. Brooks first began his practice in partnership with Dr. David P. Juett at Lovelaceville, and on January 1, 1869, he moved to Paducah. In the winter of 1870-1871 he was in charge of quelling an epidemic of smallpox, and during this same period he was elected City Physician. It was in this capacity that he succeeded in getting the City Council to build a hospital.

In the fall of 1872 Dr. Brooks came to Hawaii where he became a government physician for the islands of Maui and Lanai. He was associated with fellow Kentuckian, Dr. J. B. Saunders, of Wailuku, Maui, in a partnership which lasted until Dr. Saunders' death in August 1873. A few months later (November 26, 1873) Dr. Brooks business card appears for the last time in the "Hawaiian Gazette", and he must have left shortly thereafter.

By 1874 he had returned to Kentucky and again had an office in Paducah. On May 20, 1875, he married Miss Marye King, daughter of ex-Governor John Q. A. King. The Brooks became parents of four sons and a daughter: King, James, Overton, John and Ethel (Mrs. David Davis Koger).*

In addition to the demands of a very heavy practice, the doctor served four years as a member of the City Council and another four years on the Board of Education for Paducah. For 27 years he was a director of the City National Bank of Paducah.

But it was within his profession that he was most active. Together with Drs. Joseph Thompson and James Singleton, Dr. Brooks organized the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Association in 1871 and served as its president in 1882. About 1876 he led the way in organizing the Paducah Medical and Surgical Club and later became its president for a term. In 1883 he founded a private sanitarium which he maintained for ten or twelve years when the work became so heavy he was forced to discontinue it. In 1887 he was president of the Kentucky State Medical Association. He was also a member of the McCracken County Medical Society, the Mississippi Valley Medical Association, the Inernational Congress, the American Anti-Tuberculosis League and the American Medical Association. He was the leader of a drive to build the Riverside Hospital in Paducah, which opened in 1905.

Dr. Brooks continued his active practice until June 1912, when he retired. On September 25, 1915, the doctor died in a sanitarium at Louisville, Kentucky, at the age of 74.

He was a member of the Paducah Lodge No. 127, F. & A.M. and a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church.

The following is taken from a memorial to Dr. Brooks read before the Southwestern Kentucky Medical Association: "Unlike some successful men, he was modest while firm in his convictions, but was never dogmatic. In all of the relations of life he was a courteous, splendid, chivalrous gentleman. His life is an inspiration to us, his surviving associates, to reach the highest degree in point of qualification and service. Our Association has during the forty-five years of its existence had many bright names upon its roll, many of whom were known personally or by reputation throughout our State. Some have won national reputation. In point of ability, enthusiasm, zeal and sincerity he was excelled by none. Always he did his best. Can mortal do more?"

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* 3/30/2000: Ethel Brook's married name, previous listed as Mrs. Koker, was corrected based on information from a family member.

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