Francis T. Brooke

Who was Francis T. Brooke?

Francis Taliaferro Brooke was born in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. His parents were Richard Brooke of Smithfield and Ann Hay Taliaferro. These parents are the uncle and aunt of Major General Dabney Herndon Maury. His brother Robert Brooke became governor of Virginia, and his brother Lawrence Brooke was the surgeon of the Bon Homme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones. He was educated by tutors and in private grammar schools in Fredericksburg.

During the American Revolution he was active in the militia and served on General Greene's staff with the rank of lieutenant. At the end of the war he studied medicine for a year but then decided to study law in his brother Robert’s office. He was admitted to the bar in 1788 and practiced in Monongahela and Harrison counties. Later he was made Commonwealth’s Attorney in the district court and practiced in Essex County, Virginia, where he was elected to the House of Delegates in 1794. Two years later he moved to Fredericksburg and was elected to the State Senate in 1800.

After the Revolution, Brooke remained active in the Virginia militia and was promoted to the rank of major in 1796, lieutenant colonel in 1800 and brigadier general in 1802. He was an original member of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati.