Albert M. Brookes (1843 - 1924)

From GAR General Orders No. 4, Seattle, October 28th, 1924:

IN MEMORIAM

Albert M. Brookes

Past Department Commander, Department of Washington and Alaska, was born at Galena, Illinois, September 2, 1843, and died at Seattle, Washington, August 7, 1924. He enlisted August 15, 1862, in Co. K, 24th Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, as a private, and was honorably discharged from the same June 10, 1865, by reason of the close of the Civil War.

The regiment saw much hard and active service and he was with it at all times, sharing with his comrades all of the vicissitudes of war.

He joined John F. Miller Post No. 31 as a charter member in December, 1886, coming from Stevens Post No. 1 by transfer card.

He was elected Department Commander in June, 1885, serving until the following June. At the time of his death he was the Senior Past Commander of this Department.

From the Journal of Proceedings of the 43rd Annual Encampment of the Department of Washington and Alaska, Grand Army of the Republic, June 1925:

Albert M. Brookes

Comrade Albert M. Brookes enlisted in the service of his country as a private soldier on Augst 15, 1862, in Company K, 24th Wisconsin Infantry, and was honorably discharged therefrom June 10, 1865, having served faithfully for two years, seven months and twenty-five days, during which time he, with his regiment, participated in the following noted battles of the Civil War, viz.: Perryville, Ky.; Stone River, Tenn.; Chicamauga [sic], Tenn.; Resaca, Ga.; Dallas, Newhope [sic] Church, Kenesaw Mountain, Peach Tree Creek, Siege of Atlanta, Jonesboro, Lovejoy Station, Spring Hill, Franklin, and Nashville, besides numerous skirmishes. 

Comrade Brookes was born in the State of Illinois and became a citizen of our splendid State of Washington in its territorial days, and at once took up an active part in its civic and industrial affairs, in which he continued until within a week of his death, which occurred at his pleasant home in Seattle on August 7, 1924. He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Laura Brookes, residing in Seattle. No children were born to them, otherwise their home life was congenial in every respect. 

Comrade Brookes was, up to the time of his passing away, a large employer of men and women in his business, who always held him in high esteem and who paid to his memory at his simple funeral, a most loving tribute.

Comrade Brookes joined Miller Post (No. 31) December 22, 1886, as a charter member, and assisted in the organization of the Post, being the last of its charter members to pass to the world beyond, after over 39 years of uninterrupted membership. He was elected Commander of this Department in 1885. He was a man of excellent personal appearance and demeanor, of pleasing manners, a good executive, simple and direct in all his methods, and a presiding officer of dignity and fairness over any assemblage of his fellows to which he was called.

The last Department Encampment which Comrade Brookes attended was at Spokane, in 1923, and it was not until after his death that his deep love and interest in all pertaining to the G. A. R. was fully known and realized. Those whose duty it was to examine into his affairs, business matters and otherwise, found record proof of his real devotion and interest in the G. A. R., of which he had kept in painstaking order every report of this Encampment and that of the National Encampment, also every badge ever issued by either this or the National Encampment, as well as mementoes, letters and well-arranged data. As to his worth as a soldier for his country in its severest trial, the number of battles he participated in give most eloquent testimony.

Information about his gravesite can be found here.