{{Short description|American politician}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = George Merrick Brooks | image = George Merrick Brooks (Massachusetts Congressman).jpg | state = [[Massachusetts]] | district = [[Massachusetts's 7th congressional district|7th]] | term_start = November 2, 1869 | term_end = May 13, 1872 | preceded = [[George S. Boutwell]] | succeeded = [[Constantine C. Esty]] | office2 = Chairman of the [[Concord, Massachusetts]] Board of Selecmen | term_start2 = | term_end2 = | office3 = Member of the [[Concord, Massachusetts]] Board of Selecmen | term_start3 = 1858 | term_end3 = 1858 | office4 = Member of the [[Massachusetts Senate]] Fourth Middlesex District | term_start4 = 1859 | term_end4 = 1859 | office5 = Member of the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] | term_start5 = 1858 | term_end5 = 1858 | birth_date = July 26, 1824 | birth_place = [[Concord, Massachusetts]] | death_date = September 22, 1893 (aged 69) | death_place = [[Concord, Massachusetts]] | party = [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] | spouse = | relations = | children = | alma_mater = | occupation = | profession = | signature = | website = }}<!-- This article was automatically created by [[User:polbot]] from http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000879. The prose may be stilted, and there may be grammatical and Wikification errors. Please improve in any way you see fit. -->
'''George Merrick Brooks''' (July 26, 1824 – September 22, 1893) was an American lawyer and politician. He served as a [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. representative]] from [[Massachusetts]] from 1869 to 1872 and also served as a state legislator and probate judge.
== Life and career == Brooks was born in [[Concord, Massachusetts]], to parents Nathan Brooks and Mary Merrick Brooks, a leader in the [[The Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society|Concord Female Anti-Slavery Society]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2013 |title=Antislavery in Concord {{!}} Essay 03a {{!}} Some Key Concord Abolitionists |url=https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/antislavery/03a_essay |access-date=2025-07-30 |website=[[Concord Free Public Library]]}}</ref> Brooks attended an academy in Concord and a boarding school at [[Waltham, Massachusetts|Waltham]]. He graduated from [[Harvard University]] in 1844. He studied law, gained [[Admission to the bar in the United States|admission to the bar]] in 1847, and commenced practice in Concord. He served in the [[Massachusetts House of Representatives]] in 1858 and in the [[Massachusetts Senate]] in 1859. He also served on the Concord [[select board]] and on the board of the [[Concord Free Public Library]].
Brooks was elected as a [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] to the [[41st United States Congress|Forty-first]] Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of [[George S. Boutwell]]. He was reelected to the [[42nd United States Congress|Forty-second]] Congress and served from November 2, 1869, to May 13, 1872, when he resigned, having been appointed to a judicial position. He served as [[Middlesex Probate and Family Court|judge of probate for Middlesex County]] until his death in [[Concord, Massachusetts]], September 22, 1893. He was interred in [[Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, Massachusetts)|Sleepy Hollow Cemetery]].
He was the brother-in-law of US Attorney General [[Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar]], through the marriage of his sister Caroline Downes Brooks Hoar.
==References== {{Reflist}} {{CongBio|B000879}}
==External links== *[https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/buildinghistories/cfpl/the-brooks-house-ca-1865 The Brooks House] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200103031405/https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/buildinghistories/cfpl/the-brooks-house-ca-1865 |date=2020-01-03 }} *[https://concordlibrary.org/special-collections/fin_aids/brooks Nathan Brooks Papers (Father)] *[https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7500338/george-merrick-brooks George Merrick Brooks Find A Grave] *[https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/B/BROOKS,-George-Merrick-(B000879)/ George Merrick Brooks US House Biography]
{{s-start}} {{s-par|us-hs}} {{US House succession box | state=Massachusetts | district=7 | before=[[George S. Boutwell]] | after=[[Constantine C. Esty]] | years=1869–1872}} {{s-end}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, George Merrick}} [[Category:1824 births]] [[Category:1893 deaths]] [[Category:19th-century United States representatives]] [[Category:19th-century members of the Massachusetts General Court]] [[Category:Burials at Sleepy Hollow Cemetery (Concord, Massachusetts)]] [[Category:Harvard University alumni]] [[Category:Judges of the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court]] [[Category:Massachusetts lawyers]] [[Category:Massachusetts state senators]] [[Category:Politicians from Concord, Massachusetts]] [[Category:Republican Party Massachusetts state senators]] [[Category:Republican Party members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives]] [[Category:Republican Party United States representatives from Massachusetts]]