If This House Could Talk...

By Bonnie Heidinger

If this house could talk, it would reveal that Benjamin W. Brooks, a physician and landowner, built this residence located about ¾ of a mile south of the Jonesboro square.

Dr. Brooks and Lucinda, his wife, were residing in this large two story brick home by the 1820s. George E. Parks, Anna historian, wrote that Brooks came to Union County about 1820. Dr. Brooks wrote in the Vandalia Advocate of 1835 that he was one of two physicians in Jonesboro and both were without business because of the healthiness of the place. The Brooks’ son, James Vance, was born in 1824, and his name “J. V. Brooks” is embossed on one of the original stone front steps. J. V. Brooks is listed in the Jonesboro Gazette of 1867 as one of four Jonesboro doctors.

The rectangular brick house was built with sixteen-inch walls, but a kitchen was added onto the back later. There is a two-room cellar with a side entrance. Five fireplaces provided heat to the original house. The large size of the home attests to the affluence of the occupants. The downstairs rooms included a parlor, a music room, a dining room, and a living room. The upstairs consisted of four bedrooms.

The five acres now remaining with the residence feature a cave that Judy Halter, an Anna spelunker, has explored and documented. The current owner who grew up in the home has heard stories that the cave may have been used in the Underground Railroad to hide runaway slaves.

Can you guess the exact location and current owner of this historical treasure? If so, contact P.A.S.T. through our web site pastonline.org or send your response to Box 778, Jonesboro, IL 62952. The first person to send the correct answers will receive a prize from P.A.S.T. Please include any history you know of the house or its inhabitants as well as any memories you have of visits there. The location and current owner will be revealed in an upcoming issue of the Gazette Democrat along with additional information.