Alfred I. Brooker, BiographyPorter County biographical sketches . . . .
Transcribed biography of Alfred I. Brooker
ALFRED I. BROOKER.
There is no more important business in a community or one in which its exponents are in greater demand than the brick contractor, for the majority of buildings at the present day, are made of this material, and it requires a man of undoubted intelligence, as well as experience, to make a success of this line of work. Such a man is Alfred I. Brooker, who is a manufacturer of considerable prominence. He is a product of Litchfield, Medina County, Ohio, where he was born September 4, 1845, his parents, Warren and Mary A. (Kire) Brooker, having been born in the Nutmeg State. They removed to Medina, Ohio, about 1835 where Mr. Brooker entered and improved a farm, operating at the same time a sawmill. He died in the fall of 1878, at the age of seventy-six years, having been a Whig and Republican politically throughout life. He was a member of the Congregational Church, of which his widow, who survives him, at the age of eighty-eight years, is also a worthy member. To them twelve children were born, eleven of whom reached maturity: William, who was a soldier of the Mexican war, and also served in the One-hundredth Ohio Cavalry during the Civil war; Warren was a musician in the Union Army during the Rebellion; Mary A., (Kellogg) of Ohio; Emeline (Reid), who died at Warsaw, Ohio; Lucius, who served in the One-hundredth Ohio Cavalry, as Lieutenant; Nettie (Travers), who is dead; Hiram, who served in the Thirty-eighth Ohio Infantry, and is now a resident of Indiana; Merritt W., of Ohio; Jane, who has been married twice, and is now a Mrs. Nickson of Michigan; Fred, who died in Ohio, and a daughter that died in infancy. The paternal grandfather, Warren Brooker, was born in Litchfield, Connecticut, his ancestors having come from England. He was a farmer, and lived to an advanced age, dying in full communion with the Congregational Church. Alfred I. Brooker spent the healthy and happy life of the farmer's boy until he attained his thirteenth year, when he began the manufacture of brick with his brother, Fred, being thus employed during the summer months. At the age of fifteen, he took an interest in the business, and in 1865, went to Toledo, Ohio, where he was engaged in the manufacture of brick until about 1873, after which he worked for wages at Napoleon. From that point he went to Defiance, Ohio, in the spring of 1883, thence to Toledo, where he started a brickyard for a brother, and successfully operated it for five years. After the discovery of gas at Findlay, he went to that point and opened a brickyard, of which he has been superintendent ever since. Here he began operating an hydraulic plant, the first one to be established outside the city of St. Louis. In April, 1890, he came to Porter County, Indiana, built a plant, and has been its superintendent ever since. He is the general superintendent of three flourishing plants, which have an annual output of 28,000,000 brick, and he has a well established reputation for being the best brick maker in the country. As a Republican, he has taken an active interest in the political affairs of his section, but his manifold business interests would have prevented him from entering the political arena were he so inclined.
Mr. Brooker has been married twice, first to Mrs. Fannie (Viers) Button, a daughter of Elisha and Frances Viers, the former of whom was of German origin. He and his wife reared one son, Henry, and two daughters: Delia and Fannie. To Mr. and Mrs. Brooker eight children were given: Edith, who died at the age of twenty-five years; Nettie, who became the wife of Scott Ross; Charles; Frances; Grace; Harry and Homer. Mr. Brooker was left a widower in September, 1887, and he afterward led to the altar, Georgia Aber, a native of Humboldt County, California. Mr. Brooker and his present wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, as was his first wife before him. He is a worthy citizen, progressive, public spirited and intelligent, and it is a well known fact that he is a thorough master of the business to which his attention is directed.
Source: Goodspeed Brothers. 1894. Pictorial and Biographical Record of La Porte, Porter, Lake and Starke Counties, Indiana. Chicago, Illinois: Goodspeed Brothers. 569 p.
Page(s) in Source: 501-502
This biography has been transcribed exactly as it was originally published in the source. Please note that we do not provide photocopies or digital scans of biographies appearing on this website.
Biography transcribed by Steven R. Shook