Information on Brooks families compiled in folders at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania revealed no connection to my ancestor. Probably he would belong to one of the "no more is known about this branch of the family" branches in one of their folders.
One thing that did catch my eye was in the HSP collection of Philadelphia City Directories. The 1833 directory lists a Lewis Brooks, Blacksmith, at 54 Noble St. His name had been spelled Brooke in 1825. He does not appear in the 1835 directory. The picture above documents my pilgrimage to the intersection of Noble and Front Streets, located in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia, on the Delaware River side of I-95, just around the corner from the Spring Garden station on the Market-Frankford line. The Ben Franklin Bridge spans the distant skyline. The street sign with an arrow pointing left indicates that the present-day numbering begins at Front Street. (I-95 obliterated whatever portion of Noble may have once extended to the right.) I imagine that back in 1833 a low street number like 54 would have been located nearby.
Of all the theories I've considered about what the L.W. may have stood for in John L. W. Brooks, the simplest is that it stands for Lewis, especially if one were to emphasize the two syllables in pronouncing the name. The 1820 census for Northern Liberties has a George Brooks, which would fit the traditional naming pattern for John(Lewis)'s oldest son. On the other hand, the maternal grandfather was George, and he may have been the namesake. It isn't much to go on, but that's all I have for now. At any rate, the cobblestones/bricks make it easy to imagine this section of Front Street back around 1830.
