Robert Brooke - Brooke County, WV
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silverquill
N 40° 23.886 W 080° 35.514
17T E 534632 N 4472023
Robert Brooke, Governor of Virginia, gave his name to Brooke County, West Virginia, when it was formed from Ohio County in 1797. Billed as the "Top of West Virginia," Brooke and Hancock counties from the panhandle of the state.
Waymark Code: WM5P90
Location: West Virginia, United States
Date Posted: 01/29/2009
Views: 9
Text of the Historical Marker:
BROOKE COUNTY
Formed in 1797 from Ohio Co. Named for Robert Brooke who was governor of Virginia in 1794-1796. Alexander Campbell here founded the Christian Church and established a college. First Grimes Golden apple tree in this county.
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Robert Brooke (died 27 February 1800) was a Virginia politician who served as governor of Virginia from 1794 to 1796 and as attorney general of Virginia from 1796 to 1800.
Brooke was born about 1760, probably in Spotsylvania County. Having traveled to Scotland about 1774 to attend the University of Edinburgh, he was temporarily stranded in Great Britain when the American Revolution broke out. Brooke returned to Virginia late in 1780.
Brooke was a Freemason and in November 1795 succeeded John Marshall as grand master of the Grand Lodge of Virginia. Heavily in debt, he died in Fredericksburg, Virginia, on February 27, 1800.
Brooke County, West Virginia, is named in his honor.
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From the Wikipedia entry (
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