TOM W. BROOKS WAS SHOT TWICE ON THE BATTLEFIELD AT GETTYSBURG
CIVIL WAR RE-ENACTOR SIGNED OUR COPY OF THE VIDEO, "GETTYSBURG"
THERE IS A STRANGE AND COMPELLING URBAN LEGEND HERE, IN SOUTH MUSKOKA, ABOUT A LONG-AGO INCIDENT, THAT IS SAID TO HAVE OCCURRED ON A SNOWY STRETCH OF ROADWAY, A FEW MILES SOUTH OF URBAN GRAVENHURST. I HAVE HEARD A DOZEN VERSIONS OF THIS, AND HAVE WRITTEN DOWN ONE OF THEM FOR POSTERITY, PUBLISHED A YEAR OR SO AGO, BUT HERE IS THE LATEST VERSION:
IT WAS THIS TIME OF YEAR. WEATHER LIKE TODAY. WIND-DRIVEN SNOW, AND AT TIMES NEAR WHITE-OUTS. IT IS SAID, THAT A MOTORIST, WITH FAMILY ON BOARD, HAD PULLED OFF THE ROADWAY NEAR THE URBAN BOUNDARY OF GRAVENHURST, FEARFUL THAT THE PREVAILING WHITE-OUT COULD BE THE HARBINGER OF A TRAFFIC ACCIDENT. VISIBILITY WAS ALMOST DOWN TO ZERO. THE FAMILY, FROM THE SOUTHERN UNITED STATES, WAS TRAVELING SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION, AND HAD PULLED INTO GRAVENHURST TO RE-FUEL AND HAVE SOMETHING TO EAT.
AS THEY SAT THERE IN THE BLOWING SNOW, THEY KEPT THE WINDSHIELD WIPERS ENGAGED, TO CHECK ON THE ROAD AHEAD. AS IF SOMETHING SUPERNATURAL WAS OCCURRING, THE IMAGE OF A HORSE AND RIDER CAME AMBLING ALONG THE SHOULDER OF THE ROAD, ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE. THEY WATCHED AS A CIVIL WAR SOLDIER, FROM GENERAL LEE'S ARMY, CAME THROUGH THE HEAVY SNOW TOWARD THEIR CAR. WAS THIS THE TWILIGHT ZONE IN REAL LIFE, REAL TIME? HAD THIS FAMILY GONE BACK IN HISTORY, TO THE TIME OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR? BUT THIS WAS MUSKOKA. IN CANADA. IT IS SAID THE RIDER EXCHANGED POLITE GREETINGS WITH THE SNOWBOUND TRAVELERS, EXPRESSING THAT THE ROAD WAS CLEAR AHEAD, AND THEN VANISHED INTO THE SPRING STORM, AS GENTLY AND MYSTERIOUSLY AS HE HAD ARRIVED.
IT WAS, AS THEY HAD WITNESSED. THEIR EYES HADN'T DECEIVED THEM. A CIVIL WAR SOLDIER, OF THE LOUISIANA REGIMENT, HAD INDEED PASSED BY THE SOUTHERN FAMILY, RIDING HIS LEGENDARY HORSE, "SPIDER." IT IS WHAT TOM W. BROOKS, DID MOST DAYS OF HIS LIFE, RESIDING HERE IN GRAVENHURST. IF ONE WAS TO SEE THE SAME VISION TODAY, WELL SIR, YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN A GHOST RIDER, ON A PHANTOM HORSE. SPIDER PASSED AWAY A FEW YEARS AGO, AND TOM, A DEAR FRIEND, PASSED AWAY, THE RESULT OF A HEART ATTACK ON MARCH 28TH, WHILE A PATIENT AT THE HOSPITAL IN NEWMARKET. BUT IF YOU DID SEE TOM AND HIS MOUNT, TROTTING ALONG BETHUNE DRIVE, OR UP MUSKOKA ROAD IN OUR FAIR TOWN, IT WOULD EXPLAIN JUST HOW MUCH HE ADORED HIS TRAVELS FROM HOME TO TOWN ON HORSEBACK. HIS IS A GHOST I WOULD EXPECT TO GREET ME…..AND AS IN LIFE, OUR MEETING WOULD BE CORDIAL ON BOTH SIDES, ACKNOWLEDGE BY A SIMPLE NOD. IT WAS HIS TRADEMARK. HE DIDN'T NEED TO WAVE. HE NODDED. I WOULD NOT BACK. IT MEANT WE WERE FRIENDS. BUT THEN, WELL, HE NODDED TO A MILLION TRAVELERS HE MET ON HIS DAILY TRAVELS. YOU JUST CAN'T WEAR CIVIL WAR ATTIRE, RIDE A HORSE, AND NOT GET NOTICED. DID I MENTION HOW HE USED TO ENCOURAGE THE KIDS OF THIS TOWN TO COME AND PAT HIS HORSE? THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM IN HIS FULL REGALIA, WITH HIS HORSE, HE HAD STOPPED BY THE KINSMEN PARK, AT THE SOUTH END, WITH THE FOUNTAIN SPLASHING IN THE BACKGROUND. HE WAS SURROUNDED BY KIDS AND ADULTS. TRUTH IS, THEY FOUND HIM FASCINATING, AND HE LOVED TO SHOW OFF HIS RIDE. HE WAS NEVER TOO BUSY TO SHARE IN THIS WAY. TOM WAS A TOURIST ATTRACTION WHETHER HE WANTED TO BE OR NOT.
HE WAS A BRILLIANT HISTORIAN, AND A WONDERFUL LECTURER ON CIVIL WAR HISTORY
The first time I met Tom W. Brooks, was when I took Suzanne and the boys, Andrew and Robert, to have breakfast, at Sloans Restaurant, on Muskoka Road. Being hobby historians of the Civil War, Suzanne and I stopped in our tracks, as Johnny Reb. sat at the counter sipping a coffee. There he was in the travel regalia of a Civil War soldier, representing the Confederate Army, and we wondered if we had stumbled through some unnoticed portal back in time. He was having coffee with his long time friend, and well known dog trainer, Al Mitchell…..a scene repeated many times in that old and familiar restaurant, on the main street of Gravenhurst. That was in 1989, shortly after we moved to town from Bracebridge, to take up residence here at Birch Hollow. Over the years I got to know Tom, especially as an associate writer with Muskoka Today, where I also had a twice monthly feature column. Tom believed in brevity, and was miserly about any expense of words beyond what was absolutely necessary to get a point across. He would have stopped reading my blogs at the third sentence. He hated those who wrote books and killed trees for the sake of vanity…..books that were pure crap, in his opinion. I never read one of his columns, that I didn't get the point, and a laugh at the same time. He had a wry sense of humor but the goodwill of a giant. He appeared crusty and indifferent, but that was only based on appearance. When you got to know him, it was as if you'd known him all your life. We could pick up conversations about history in the line-ups of grocery stores, the post office, or in any other shop we happened to meet up.
One afternoon, Suzanne looked out the window of the house, and yelled at me, "We've just been captured by the Confederate Army?" "How many are there," I asked. "Just one of them," she answered. "Well, let's just surrender and get it over with," I concluded, as I prepared to run down the lane to meet with our friend Tom. Tom and his trusty steed had taken a trot to Birch Hollow, to get a copy of the book I wrote on the naming of Bracebridge and Gravenhurst, in the summer of 2000. Tom admired the work of American author, Washington Irving, and it was after Irving's book, "Bracebridge Hall," that the Muskoka community was named. I asked him pointedly whether he was moved by the story of the "Headless Horseman," in the "Legend of Sleepy Hollow?" He just tapped the top of his Confederate cap, and said, "No, it's still here, hard as ever," referring to his head, and the fact that it was still attached to his neck. It was on this occasion, standing in our driveway here at Birch Hollow, that he told Suzanne and I, and the boys, about his experiences as a Civil War re-enactor, performing in Ted Turner's epic movie, "Gettysburg." He spun one of his trademark tales, about getting shot and killed twice in the movie, once in the showdown on Little Round-Top, against Chamberlain's battalion, and then again, as another solider, during the march up the hillside to Gettysburg. "The trick," he said, "Was getting as close to Martin Sheen, who played General Lee, as you could, because that's where the camera was concentrating. Always around the main actors. It's what I told some of my mates who wanted to be filmed. Stand next to the generals, I said, and you'll make the movie," he said, without even the slightest smirk.
In front of me right now, is the copy of the Video Cassette, of the movie, "Gettysburg," Tom signed on that day, July 10th, 2000, right in the middle of my driveway, with the reins of his horse in one hand, pen in the other. I held it for him. What a treasure it has been in our collection of local memorabilia. It is by far our most watched and enjoyed movie.
On another occasion, I asked if he would consider a speaking engagement at the Muskoka Lakes Museum, in Port Carling. He was so gracious and co-operative, and let me tell you, I was king for a day……for bringing this fascinating chap to speak about this under-recognized subject of British (Commonwealth) subjects (Canadians) who signed up for both the North and South in this multi-year conflict. He had the large attendance spellbound by his stories of Canadians, specifically, who fought and died for either the army of the North, Lincoln's Army, and just as commonplace, the South, under General Lee. As a re-enactor and historian, he was part of the Louisiana Battalion. He wrote a popular book on the subject, and it went into multiple printings. I have a signed copy in my archives. At the museum meeting, his was an historic event on its own merit. This topic had never been discussed before at a major Muskoka museum, and the details he was able to present, brought about a whole new understanding of how British subjects took sides in this devastating war, that took millions of lives. He told the audience about his regular trips to the United States, taking small Canadian flags to place on the graves of our citizens; some at the request of families, he had assisted with research, to learn more about their ancestors who had been killed in action. In fact, he had done some work for Suzanne, when he volunteered to research a Civil War soldier, Charles Winter, buried in the old Ufford United Church Cemetery, which had been identified initially, by her mother, Harriet, from a list of those buried in the tiny church plot.
His knowledge of the Civil War generally was extensive, and as a noted historian, his research capabilities will be greatly missed, amongst his associates who admired his tenacity to dig for the truth. Tom Brooks was an historian who practiced "critical analysis" of accepted histories, and he corrected many longstanding errors in historical accounting of events, and personal biographies, of those Canadians who did fight for either the North or South. He didn't accept history without being convinced it was accurate, and this made hours of work for the intrepid researcher.
I have long considered Tom Brooks, to have been one of the finest historians I've ever known……and believe me, I've know a lot. He was direct, and didn't mince words, and some times was brutally honest. After quitting as a columnist for Muskoka Today, I pursued him relentlessly, after I had also agreed to return to the paper after a brief hiatus. His small column always got more readers than mine, but his words added a character to the paper, which had been so profoundly impressed and imbedded by Hugh Clairmont, and son Mark, as publishers, from the beginning. Tom did come back but it wasn't for long. Just the same, I was always pleased he had done me this favor……by making a return appearance, to entertain the readers who loved his work.
For two days, we've been hearing rumors about Tom's death. As a local historian, and old news hound, it's expected I will know these things, five minutes after the event. But as a matter of irony, the first publication to have the feature story, was the online news source, "Muskoka Today," the newspaper (in his day) he used to write for……
I respected Tom Brooks for his dedication to historical research. I thought it was incredibly neat, that he kept up appearances for all these years…….frightening those who may have been drinking and driving, or not paying attention to the roadway……coming upon a lone Civil War soldier, coming toward them through the four seasons. He was an icon in Gravenhurst, and my sense of normalcy always hinged, on seeing Tom once or twice each week……and that for me, kept the world I live in…..balanced nicely on its axis. Our family will miss this gentle giant……who on his horse looked so statuesque and historic, but was as kind a man, as God could have put on this wonderful earth.
There will be a memorial service later this spring for Tom W. Brooks, of Gravenhurst, Ontario, Canada.
THIS IS ALSO THE EVENING, THAT COMMENCES THE "MUSKOKA AS WALDEN" BLOG, FEATURING THE PHOTOGRAPHS OF FRED SCHULZ. TO VISIT THE FIRST INSTALLMENT OF THIS YEAR LONG PROJECT, TO CELEBRATE MUSKOKA, YOU CAN CLICK ON THIS…… http://muskokaaswaldenpond.blogspot.ca/
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