Month: January 2022

Children of James Brooks (1772-1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell: Clarissa E. Brooks (1818-1895), Alpha Caroline Brooks (1821-1890), and Samuel F. Brooks (1821-1846)

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S.W. Barbee, “Old Lawrence Reminscent,” Moulton Advertiser (13 October 1908), p. 1, col. 4-5.

Or, Subtitled: “He draws near the crater of a volcano who lays violent hands on the Golden Rule”

With this posting, I’m resuming my chronicle of the children of James Brooks (1772-1835) and Nancy Isbell of Wayne County, Kentucky, Warren County, Tennessee, and Lawrence County, Alabama. In previous postings, I’ve chronicled the lives of their first two children, Godfrey Isbell and Thomas R. Brooks, then of their children Hannah Isbell, Margaret C., and James Irwin Brooks, and most recently of their son Johnson H. Brooks (and here). This now brings us to James and Nancy’s seventh child, their daughter Clarissa E. Brooks.  

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Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos (2)

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Or, Subtitled: “This practical nurse, ‘Angie Robinson,’ in P.B. is fine — Eura her 157th baby”

Yesterday, I posted about my current family history obsession: I’ve been going through collections of old photos kept by family members no longer living, photos that have ended up with me, and I’m trying to identify as many of the people in these photos as I can. As I mentioned in my posting yesterday, I’m classifying different groups of photos as “gatherings” that I can now begin identifying by groups, when previously many of them had been jumbled together.

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Notes on Identifying Old Family Photos as a Genealogical Project: A “Gathering” of Batchelor Family Photos

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Or, Subtitled: Mystery Photos of Two WWI Soldiers

I’m going to take a short break from my current project of chronicling family lines descending from Thomas Brooks (abt. 1745 – 1805) and wife Margaret (probably Beaumont/Beamon) of Frederick and Wythe Counties, Virginia, to talk about another project on which I’ve recently been working. It’s a genealogical project that involves sorting through old family photos, unidentified ones, and trying to use clues provided on those photos to identify the unknown persons in the photos. 

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Children of Johnson H. Brooks (1815-1875) and Wives Elizabeth Hunter (Gailey) and Olive Jane Gibson

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S.W. Barbee, “Old Lawrence Reminiscent,” Moulton Advertiser (5 January 1909), p. 1, col. 3-4

Or, Subtitled: Tales of Runaway Matches and Stolen Brides

This posting continues and concludes the previous posting about Johnson H. Brooks (1815-1875), son of James Brooks and Nancy Isbell. In what follows, I’ll provide an outline sketch of Johnson’s children by his two wives Elizabeth Hunter (Gailey) and Olive Jane Gibson. As with previous outline sketches of grandchildren of James and Nancy Isbell Brooks that I’ve posted recently here, I’ll point you to George A. O’Reilly’s valuable book The History of the E. James Brooks Family of Lawrence County, Alabama for further information and documentation.[1]

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Children of James Brooks (1772 – 1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell: Johnson H. Brooks (1815-1875)

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S.W. Barbee, “Old Lawrence Reminiscent,” Moulton Advertiser (5 January 1909), p. 1, col. 3-4, transcribed by George A. O’Reilly, The History of E. James Brooks Family of Lawrence County, Alabama (1500 Trinity Road, Huntsville, Alabama 35802-2779; Oreilly0103@gmail.com). pp. 203-4

Or, Subtitled: More Affrays! — “His bellicose disposition led him into many a brawl with others, one of which cost him very dearly, since by it he lost an eye”

This posting is a continuation of two previous postings (here and here) discussing the children of James Brooks (1772-1835) and Nancy Isbell of Wayne County, Kentucky, Warren County, Tennessee, and Lawrence County, Alabama. The previous postings have discussed their children Godfrey Isbell Brooks, Thomas R. Brooks, Hannah Isbell Brooks, Margaret C. Brooks, and James Irwin Brooks. The next child of James Brooks and Nancy Isbell was:

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Children of James Brooks (1772 – 1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell: Hannah Isbell Brooks (1809-1828), Margaret C. Brooks (1811-1826), and James Irwin Brooks (1813-1878)

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State of Alabama v. James I. Brooks and John B. Smith, Lawrence County, Alabama, loose-papers court files box 22, folder 54, circuit court case 49

Or, Subtitled: Yet More Affrays! Public Fighting “to the Terror of the People; and Against the Peace and Dignity of the State of Alabama” 

In the previous posting, I began providing information about the children of James Brooks (1772-1835) and Nancy Isbell. That posting discussed James and Nancy’s first two children, sons Godfrey Isbell Brooks and Thomas R. Brooks. As I noted in the linked posting, the family bible owned by James and Nancy’s son James Irwin Brooks gives the named and birthdates of all of James and Nancy’s children, and is my source for this information. After sons Godfrey and Thomas, James and Nancy had the following children: 

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Children of James Brooks (1772 – 1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell: Godfrey Isbell Brooks (1804-1826) and Thomas R. Brooks (1807-1880)

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Moulton Advertiser (29 July 1880), p. 3, col. 1

Or, Subtitled: Affrays Aplenty

The names and birthdates of the children of James Brooks and Nancy Isbell are recorded in the family bible that passed to their son James Irwin Brooks (or, as I have suggested previously, it’s possible the bible actually belonged to James Irwin Brooks and he transcribed the information found in his parents’ bible into his own bible). Information about this bible is found in the two postings I’ve just linked and also here. Digital images of the transcript of the bible register published by Memory Aldridge Lester after she saw the original bible in June 1951 at the house of its owner, Nettie Raymond Brooks Young of Moulton, Alabama, are in the first posting linked above.

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