THE REV. JOHN COTTON BROOKS
1873-1907
It was characteristic of the Rev. John Cotton Brooks that when he wrote from Providence, Rhode Island, November 15, 1878, accepting the rectorship of Christ Church, he said that he would try to be in Springfield in time to help with the Christmas celebration. Those words express his attitude throughout his rare ministry of twenty-eight years. He gave unstintingly of his time, of his money, of his love, of himself, to whose need he knew. It is probably impossible to-day to find a group of persons regardless of color, race or creed, who lived in Springfield, during Mr. Brooks' rectorship here, who cannot individually speak of repeated acts of heroic devotion to many known households. At the time of Mr. Brooks' death, stories were repeatedly told, showing how high a place he held in the hearts of persons in different walks of life. One parishioner calling at a home of limited means saw hanging on the wall a picture of Mr. Brooks cut from a newspaper, with a wreath hung around it, a humble token of sincere, loving reverence. A cabman told another Christ Church member, that there was not some hour of the day or night during which he had not been called to take Mr. Brooks to one or another house, where trouble or sickness had found an abiding place. One Roman Catholic woman to whom Mr. Brooks had often given food and fuel to supply her need, was asked if she attended Mr. Brooks' funeral. "Yes," she said, "and if it had' been held in Boston, I would have gone, if I had had to walk," and those who knew her, knew she would have made the attempt. Many speak often of his love for children, and especially his delight in their Christmas parties, and how rarely a child came
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