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)

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.  

Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747-1805): Frederick County, Virginia, Beginnings

Will of Mary Brooks, 9 July 1786, Frederick County, Virginia, Will Bk. 5, p. 158

Or, Subtitled: “I will and bequeath to my beloved son Thomas Brooks, whom I likewise constitute make and ordain my whole and sole Executor”

I’ve now finished telling you what I know of Thomas Brooks (1775-1838), who moved with his parents from Frederick County, Virginia, where he was born in 1775, to Wythe County, Virginia, in 1793, and from there to Wayne County, Kentucky, in 1798. As I’ve also shown you, at the very end of his and his wife Sarah’s lives, the couple moved their family from Kentucky to Morgan County, Alabama, in November 1836, and in 1837, Sarah died at the home of their daughter Jane Brooks Lindsey in Lawrence County, Alabama, with Thomas dying under Jane’s care in 1838.

The Conundrum of Sorting John Lindseys, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Latter Half of 1700s and Early 1800s

South Carolina Colonial Plat Bk. 9, p. 1

Or, Subtitled: “’Curiouser and curiouser!’ Cried Alice”

These notes about the challenge of sorting men named John Lindsey in records of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, in the latter part of the 1700s and early part of the 1800s begin with the conundrum of a 20 March 1817 deed of William Lindsey to Spencer Bobo, both of Spartanburg County.[1] I discussed this deed in detail in a previous posting. As that posting notes, William Lindsey deeded to Spencer Bobo 200 acres on which William was then living, stating that he was selling “all the plantation and tract of Land where I now live supposed 200 acres more or less with every appurtenance thereunto belonging N. adjoining said Bobo’s land, E. joining Brewton, S. joining John Lindsey, and W. joining John Crocker.” The witnesses to this deed were John Lindsey and James Brewton/Bruton.

Children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest — Rachel Lindsey and First Husband Jacob Cooper (2)

15 November 1829 summons by Thomas Bomar, Spartanburg court of ordinary, announcing Isaac Lindsey’s application for probate of the will of Jacob Cooper, Spartanburg County, South Carolina, loose-papers estate file of Jacob Cooper, file 580

Or, Subtitled: “Sail Bills,” Meeting Houses, and Family Squabbles

As the previous posting notes, the Spartanburg county loose-papers estate file of Jacob Cooper and the case file for the equity court case his widow Rachel Lindsey Cooper pursued on behalf of herself and their son Jacob Henry Cooper against the other heirs of the estate contain rich genealogical information, enabling us to document quite a bit of this family’s history over a considerable length of time.[1] In what follows, I want to discuss these two sets of documents and to note what they tell us about the Cooper family.

Children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest — Elizabeth and Isaac

Tombstone of Isaac Lindsey, Cedar Grove Baptist cemetery, Fountain Inn, Laurens County, South Carolina, photo uploaded by gerald to Isaac’s Find a Grave memorial page created by Robin Farley Dixson Coon

Or, Subtitled: Those Darned Census Entries That Name Folks by Initials

This is the second in a series of postings discussing the children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and wife Rachel Earnest of Spartanburg County, South Carolina. In a previous posting, I discussed this couple’s first three children, Cassandra, John, and Nicy Malinda. These postings about the children of William Lindsey and Rachel Earnest follow two postings in which I discussed William and Rachel in detail — here and here. The following posting begins with the fourth child of William Lindsey and Rachel Earnest, their daughter Elizabeth.

Children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest — Cassandra, John, Nicy Malinda

Biography of John Jefferson Johnson, Memoirs of Georgia: Containing Historical Accounts of the State’s Civil, Military, Industrial and Professional Interests, and Personal Sketches of Many of Its People, vol. 1 (Atlanta: Southern Historical Association, 1895), pp. 299-300

Or, Subtitled: Tracking Spartanburg County, South Carolina, Lindseys to Georgia and Points West

This posting about the children of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) and Rachel Earnest of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, is a continuation of a series of postings about this family. The first two postings in this series are here and here. Since William and Rachel had a large family of nine (known) children, I’ll post about the children of this family in several groups. This posting deals with their first three (?) children, Cassandra, John, and Nicy Malinda. I use a question mark here because, as explained below, I know so little about John that I’m not entirely sure where he fits in the order of children born to William and Rachel.

The Children of William Lindsey (abt. 1733-abt. 1806): William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) (2)

Coroner’s inquisition report for William Lindsey, Spartanburg County Quorum Court, “The State vs. the Dead Body of William Lindsey,” Coroner’s Inquisition, online at the CSI: Dixie site of the Center for Virtual History at University of Georgia (p. 1)

Or, Subtitled: “The Unkindest Cut of All — It Were Well It Had Slept in the Inventive Brain of the Aforesaid William Halbert

This posting, which examines the life of William Lindsey (1760/1770 – 1840) of Spartanburg County, South Carolina, from 1830 up to William’s death in 1840 (and beyond that date, in the case of his wife Rachel) is the second in a series of postings about William and his family. The first posting in the series is here.

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.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Mark Jefferson Lindsey (1820-1878)

Pen-and-ink drawing of Mark Jefferson Lindsey from “an old family bible,” reproduced in Henry C. Lindsey, The Mark Lindsey Heritage (Brownwood, Texas, 1982), p. 3

Or, Subtitled: Migration of Alabama Families to Northwest Louisiana, Late 1840s and Early 1850s

Establishing Mark’s Birthdate

In the bible of his sister Frances Rebecca Kellogg, Mark Jefferson Lindsey recorded his birthdate, stating that he was born “in the year 1820 Oct the 9,” son of D. and Jane Lindsey. Above the diary entry, Mark has written the date on which he made this record: “December the 4 1853.” We’re able to know that Mark himself wrote this entry since his handwriting matches that of other documents he wrote. In the signatures of Mark below, note the stylized J, for instance, with the loop running back through the top of it, and the stylized capital M. The first is from a 15 September 1838 deed of trust between Jacob H. Huffaker and John M. Davis in Oakville, Lawrence County, Alabama, for a debt Huffaker owed Davis, with Mark signing as trustee.[1] The second is Mark’s signature as he gave bond on 19 October 1839 for his marriage to Mary Ann Harrison in Lawrence County.[2] The birth record for Mark in his sister Frances Rebecca’s bible is, it’s easy to ascertain, written in the same hand — by Mark himself.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Sarah Brooks Lindsey Speake (1818-1889)

Lindsey, Sarah Brooks Speake Obit., Moulton Advertiser, 24 Jan. 1889, p. 2, col. 5
“In Memoriam [Sarah Lindsey Speake],” Moulton Advertiser, 24 January 1889, p. 2, col. 5.

Or, Subtitled: “Hers Was a Strong Character — One on Which One Could Rely”

Often, when it comes to female ancestors, we have limited evidence to document their lives, especially as we move back in time. In the Southern United States, it was not the norm for women, including those of higher social status, to read and write from the colonial period into the 18th century.[1] As a result, we have few documents from that time frame written by Southern women recording details of their daily lives, how they viewed what was happening around them, and so on. Continue reading “Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Sarah Brooks Lindsey Speake (1818-1889)”