"Nate" Brooks at once homesteaded
a claim which took in what is now
known as Arch Beach and part of
Laguna Heights, and purchased the
balance lying between the former and
Laguna from George Rogers, who
had preempted it from the Government,
paying $1.25 per acre for it. The
holdings of Mr. Brooks totaled 600 acres.
This spot was to "Nate" Brooks the very
choicest spot on earth and he held on
to what he had during many years when
others became discouraged and "let go"
their holdings. He was made of sterner
stuff and the hardships and deprivations he endured to hold on to his land were remarkable. His promptness in meeting every obligation was characteristic of the man. Money was not to be earned nearer than Los Angeles, and then only by working in the grain fields for one dollar a day from sun up till sun down; and later on as he saw the development of his dreams he was ever ready to even mortgage his holdings to promote the best interests of Laguna Beach. In 1883 he platted Arch Beach and installed a small water system from a 500-foot tunnel in the hills. In 1912 he subdivided Laguna Heights, developing water for that tract after thirty years of patient search and experimental digging and pumping. He could be depended upon to help in any enterprise that was beneficial to all, and he lived to see many of his dreams come to pass.
After living a life of single blessedness for nearly fifty years he was united in marriage on December 14, 1899, with Mrs. Catherine A. Skidmore, widow of the late George E. Skidmore, well-known pioneer merchant of Los Angeles and a native of Texas. A mention of his life will be found in the sketch of J. W. Skidmore on another page of this history. Mrs. Brooks was in maidenhood Catherine A. Brenizer, daughter of Josiah K. and Antoinette (Roberts) Brenizer, the former a native of Ohio, where he was born on a farm and while pursuing the even tenor of his way the Civil War broke out and he enlisted in the Forty-Sixth Illinois Regiment and served his country from 1861 to 1865. He came West in the early seventies and settled on a ranch near Compton, later retired to Long Beach and died, in 1905, in Los Angeles where he was then living. His wife was born in Pennsylvania but was reared near Rockford, Ill., her father being one of the founders of that city. Mrs. Catherine A. Brooks, who is one of the pioneers of California and had many interesting and dangerous experiences in the early days, was an able helpmate to her husband and when he died, on April 27, 1914, after an illness of some months' duration, she became sole owner--by purchasing the interests of the other heirs--of Laguna Heights, and this property is now being looked after by her son, Joseph W. Skidmore.
At the passing of this worthy pioneer of Orange County, not only the county and Laguna Beach, but the state lost one of its upbuilders. "Nate" Brooks always backed his "boosting" of his favored section with cash, and he could always raise that. No one ever went to him for help that he did not put his hand in his pocket and give the aid asked for.
Other settlers came to Laguna Beach in those hard years, saw, but failed to "stick". Making the utmost record compatible with opportunity, without duality of allegiance to his self-set task, with a complete hold on the realities of life, with a towering self-confidence, erected on a solid foundation, "Nate" Brooks must be regarded as "The Father" of Laguna Beach. It is easy, and cheap, to be wise after the event. Well did he know that his vision's realization could not be an act of startling immediacy, and this has been borne out by subsequent events. Communities often express their feeling toward the "father" of their town in monumental masonry. Santa Ana, for instance, has the Spurgeon building, dedicated to the memory of the father of the county seat.
The memory of the father of Laguna Beach, Lorenzo Nathan Brooks, is perpetuated in the work he started. Most beginnings are difficult, and this case was not an exception. May those who happen to have been accorded the privilege of continuing the good work, so bravely started by this valiant pioneer, prove themselves worthy of their predecessor.
