John Wood Brooks, who was chief engineer on the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1839, and superintendent of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad in New York in 1843, went on to make his fortune in the age of the western expansion of the railroads.
In 1845, at age 26, he successfully sought the backing of John Murray Forbes and other investment capitalists for the purchase of the bankrupt Michigan Central Railroad.
Brooks was employed by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in 1859 to survey the town of Brookfield Missouri, which was named after him. He is further remembered there by the names of the first four streets crossing Main Street-- 'John', 'Wood', 'Brooks' and 'Boston.'
In 1866 Brooks, Charles Burleigh and Stephen F. Gates patented a mechanical drill used on the Hoosac tunnel, which marked the beginning of modern tunneling.
By the 1860s Brooks was president of both the Michigan Central Railroad and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Brooks died in Heidelberg, Germany on September 16, 1881. At his funeral from his home in Milton, his casket was elegantly adorned with flowers--in the center a three foot floral locomotive honoring his work in Western railroads.
In 1845, at age 26, he successfully sought the backing of John Murray Forbes and other investment capitalists for the purchase of the bankrupt Michigan Central Railroad.
Brooks was employed by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in 1859 to survey the town of Brookfield Missouri, which was named after him. He is further remembered there by the names of the first four streets crossing Main Street-- 'John', 'Wood', 'Brooks' and 'Boston.'
In 1866 Brooks, Charles Burleigh and Stephen F. Gates patented a mechanical drill used on the Hoosac tunnel, which marked the beginning of modern tunneling.
By the 1860s Brooks was president of both the Michigan Central Railroad and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Brooks died in Heidelberg, Germany on September 16, 1881. At his funeral from his home in Milton, his casket was elegantly adorned with flowers--in the center a three foot floral locomotive honoring his work in Western railroads.
John Wood Brooks, who was chief engineer on the Boston and Maine Railroad in 1839, and superintendent of the Auburn and Rochester Railroad in New York in 1843, went on to make his fortune in the age of the western expansion of the railroads.
In 1845, at age 26, he successfully sought the backing of John Murray Forbes and other investment capitalists for the purchase of the bankrupt Michigan Central Railroad.
Brooks was employed by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in 1859 to survey the town of Brookfield Missouri, which was named after him. He is further remembered there by the names of the first four streets crossing Main Street-- 'John', 'Wood', 'Brooks' and 'Boston.'
In 1866 Brooks, Charles Burleigh and Stephen F. Gates patented a mechanical drill used on the Hoosac tunnel, which marked the beginning of modern tunneling.
By the 1860s Brooks was president of both the Michigan Central Railroad and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Brooks died in Heidelberg, Germany on September 16, 1881. At his funeral from his home in Milton, his casket was elegantly adorned with flowers--in the center a three foot floral locomotive honoring his work in Western railroads.
In 1845, at age 26, he successfully sought the backing of John Murray Forbes and other investment capitalists for the purchase of the bankrupt Michigan Central Railroad.
Brooks was employed by the Hannibal & St. Joseph Railroad in 1859 to survey the town of Brookfield Missouri, which was named after him. He is further remembered there by the names of the first four streets crossing Main Street-- 'John', 'Wood', 'Brooks' and 'Boston.'
In 1866 Brooks, Charles Burleigh and Stephen F. Gates patented a mechanical drill used on the Hoosac tunnel, which marked the beginning of modern tunneling.
By the 1860s Brooks was president of both the Michigan Central Railroad and the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company.
Brooks died in Heidelberg, Germany on September 16, 1881. At his funeral from his home in Milton, his casket was elegantly adorned with flowers--in the center a three foot floral locomotive honoring his work in Western railroads.
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