Charles Timothy Brooks letter (RLC.Ms.503)

Biographical note

Charles Timothy Brooks (1813-1883), a Unitarian pastor, poet, and German translator, was born in Salem, Massachusetts, on June 20, 1813. He studied theology at Harvard and the Cambridge Divinity School and graduated in 1835, after which he began preaching in Nahant, Massachusetts, and in other New England towns. On June 4, 1837, Brooks was appointed the pastor of the Unitarian Congregational Church in Newport, Rhode Island. On October 18, 1837, he married Harriet Lyman Hazard (1812-1904) with whom he had five children. Brooks remained in his pastorate position at the Unitarian Congregational Church for thirty seven years, when he resigned due to poor eyesight. Following his resignation in 1871, Brooks was involved in establishing the Channing Memorial Church in Newport, in memorial of William Ellery Channing (1780-1842), the noted Unitarian preacher from Newport, Rhode Island. Charles Timothy Brooks died on June 14, 1883.