Joseph G. Brooks

Joseph G. Brooks was born in 1871 and married his wife Rosa in 1896. As of 1910, he was living in a mortgage-free home on Lakeland Road with his wife and seven children. According to oral history, he lost his arm while working with a rail switching operation. Around the opening of the 20th century, the Brooks and Johnson families moved from the eastern section of Lakeland to the central section, an area populated by whites.