page_title: John Brooks (governor)
section_title: Governor of Massachusetts
hierarchical_section_title: John Brooks (governor) / Governor of Massachusetts
caption_attribution_description: Engraved portrait of Massachusetts Senator and Governor Caleb Strong
context_page_description: John Brooks was a doctor, military officer, and politician from Massachusetts. He served as the 11th Governor of Massachusetts from 1816 to 1823, and was one of the last Federalist officials elected in the United States.
  Trained as a doctor, Brooks was an officer of the Reading, Massachusetts militia when the American Revolutionary War broke out, and led his troops in the Battles of Lexington and Concord. He served under George Washington in the New York and New Jersey campaign of 1776, although he missed the Battle of Trenton due to illness. In 1777 he was part of the relief force for the Siege of Fort Stanwix, and led a successful assault against British positions in the key Second Battle of Saratoga. He played a significant role in the 1783 Newburgh Conspiracy, in which he helped quash ideas of mutiny in the Continental Army.
  After the war he returned to medical practice, but continued to be active in the state militia, helping to put down Shays' Rebellion in 1787. He served in the militia during the War of 1812, after which he was elected governor. Brooks was popular and politically moderate, and came to personify the "Era of Good Feelings" that followed the war.
context_section_description: Brooks, politically a Federalist, served in the state legislature for a number of years.  In 1816 Governor Caleb Strong announced his retirement.  The Federalist caucus first chose Harrison Gray Otis as its candidate, but he categorically refused the nomination.  The nomination was next offered to Lieutenant Governor William Phillips, Jr., but he also turned the nomination down because he was not the first choice.  The caucus then cast about for other candidates; Brooks was proposed by House Speaker Timothy Bigelow.  He also initially refused the nomination, but was convinced by a committee from the caucus to accept, and won the election.  He won reelection annually until 1823, when he retired from public service.
  The politics of the state was dominated by Federalists, despite their general decline elsewhere in the nation, in part because Brooks adopted moderate positions that denied the opposition Democratic-Republicans opportunities for vigorous opposition.  He included Republicans in patronage appointments, courted Republican politicians on the national level, including President James Monroe, and minimized his association with the Federalist leadership in Massachusetts.  Historian Ronald Formisano writes that Brooks "came to personify the non-partisan Era of Good Feelings in Massachusetts."
  In 1818, Brooks purchased 10 shares of the Suffolk Bank, a clearinghouse bank on State Street in Boston. The Panic of 1819 and the granting of statehood to Maine (which was until 1820 part of Massachusetts) introduced fractures in the strong Federalist party system in the state.  Dissident Federalists such as Josiah Quincy III joined Republicans in calls for a constitutional convention, citing the state constitution's requirement that Maine be allocated representation in the legislature as a reason.  Brooks lobbied against the idea, arguing that the legislature could draft proposed amendments, but a convention was held despite his efforts.  Nine amendments produced by the convention were eventually approved, but Federalist leaders managed to block most of the substantive reforms that had been sought.  One of the consequences of the panic was the rise, particularly in Boston, of a political faction known as the "Middling Interest".  This group was composed of primarily working class men who were unhappy with the state party's elitist leadership.  Led by Josiah Quincy, the split would eventually lead to the final collapse of Federalism in the state.
  Brooks announced in 1822 that he would not seek reelection in 1823.  The 1823 election saw the victory of Republican William Eustis over Federalist party leader Harrison Gray Otis.  Otis almost did not carry Boston, and lost other Federalist strongholds in the state.
  Brooks was a leading member of the Massachusetts Medical Society for many years, serving as its president after his retirement from politics, and was also president of the Bible Society of Massachusetts.  He was also president of the Society of the Cincinnati for many years, and was involved in the Washington Monument Association and the Bunker Hill Monument Association.
  Governor Brooks died in Medford on March 1, 1825, and was buried in Medford's Salem Street Burying Ground, where the family grave is marked by a large obelisk erected in his honor.
caption: Caleb Strong preceded Brooks as Governor
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