Thomas Brooks (1775-1838) and Wife Sarah Whitlock (1774-1837): Kentucky Years, 1798-1836

Thomas Brooks’s affidavit, 10 March 1804, Wayne County, Kentucky, in Whitlock v. Whitlock, Commonwealth of Virginia Chancery District Court, Staunton, box 10, file 38

Or, Subtitled: “A Rough Hardy Race of Men, Very Large & Stout, & Altogether an Excellent Population, for a New Country”

Thomas and Sarah Brooks Establish Their Young Family in Kentucky (1798-9)

In the previous posting about Thomas Brooks (1775-1838), I track him up to 1798, when he moved with wife Sarah Whitlock and infant daughter Jane from Wythe County, Virginia, to Pulaski (soon to be Wayne) County, Kentucky. As that posting notes, when the Brooks family made that move, Thomas and Sarah were a young couple, he 23 and she 24. You may have noticed that the previous postings discussing the Virginia beginnings of this Brooks family cited no records for Thomas in Wythe County other than tax records — with the exception of the record in his family bible stating that Thomas and Sarah married 14 February 1796.

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) (1)

Or, Subtitled: Five John Lindseys Representing Three Distinct Families – Trials and Tribulations of Researching Lindseys in Spartanburg County, South Carollina, in 1700s/1800s

In a lengthy series of postings, I have followed the descendants of a Dennis Lindsey (about 1755 – 1795) who is the known son of a William Lindsey (about 1733 – about 1806) of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. As the posting I have just linked and postings about Dennis’s father William linked below state, we know that William and Dennis were father and son because records in the South Carolina Revolutionary audited account files of both men state that relationship.

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (4)

Dennis Lindsey Probate File 1
12 January 1795 bond of Mary Lindsey with Nathaniel Woodruff and William Moore, in loose-papers estate file of Dennis Lindsey, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Probate Court, estate file 1111

Or, Subtitled: Cittles, Chears, Coffy Pots, and Canters: What Can Be Gleaned from an Estate File

Dennis Lindsey’s Estate Documents: Prefatory Comments

Estate or probate files (or, in Louisiana, they’re called succession files) can, in my experience, run the gamut from genealogically astonishing — they can name all the heirs of the decedent and identify them as full or half-siblings, for instance — to disappointing. Too many of my ancestors left wills naming “my wife and all my children,” and estate files that show their estate being inventoried, appraised, and sold, without including any division of the proceeds of the estate naming the heirs of the decedent. Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (4)”

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (3)

Lindsey, Dennis 96 Dist. Plat Bks D, (North of Saluda), p. 182
Dennis Lindsey, February 1796 plat, Ninety-Six District, South Carolina, Plat Bk. D (North of Saluda), p. 182

Or, Subtitled: Land Deeded Before Being Granted

From 1790 to Dennis’s Death by 12 January 1795

In this next posting chronicling the life of Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795), son of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806), I’d like to focus on records pertaining to a 248-acre tract of land between Jamey’s and Ferguson’s Creeks of the Tyger River granted to Dennis in December 1792. This is the only piece of land I find Dennis owning at any point in his life — and it appears that, even before he acquired the grant, he had signed half of the land to George Bruton by a bond he made before the grant was made. Before we look at records about that piece of land, I want to remind you of some points I made in my previous posting, which are important to keep in mind as we look at records regarding Dennis’ land grant of 248 acres: Continue reading “The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): Dennis Lindsey (abt. 1755-1795) (3)”

The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806) (2)

Spartanburg County 1825 Mills Atlas Map, Library of Congress
Robert Mills, “Spartanburgh District, South Carolina,” from Mills’ Atlas of the State of South Carolina (Baltimore: F. Lucas, Jr., 1825); in the Library of Congress, call number G3913.S7 1820.M5, and digitized at the LOC website

Or, Subtitled: A Reminder of How Much We Can Learn from Migration Patterns and Land Records

Settling in South Carolina

By July 1768, William Lindsey was claiming land north of the Enoree River in what would later become Spartanburg County, South Carolina. For those interested in the currents of migration that brought early settlers to Spartanburg County, a good research aid is Frank Scott’s essay entitled “Migrations into Spartanburg Co.” at the SCGenweb site for Spartanburg County. As Scott notes, “After the French and Indian War, the Snow Campaign and a treaty that ceded the Cherokees’ claim to Spartanburg County, the area was finally opened to permanent settlement.” This brought an influx of settlers to the area between 1765-1770. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806) (2)”