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

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:

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

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.

Children of Mary Brooks (d. 1787, Frederick County, Virginia) — Mary Brooks (1745/1750 – aft. 15 May 1815) and Husband Jacob Hollingsworth (1742 – 1822)

Fort Hollingsworth, photograph (June 2015) by Wikimedia user Gwringle, at the Fort Hollingsworth-White House page at Wikimedia Commons

Or, Subtitled: Migration of Families with Quaker Roots from Pennsylvania through North Carolina into Northwest Georgia by 1790

Chester County, Pennsylvania, Beginnings of Jacob Hollingsworth

Alpheus H. Harlan, History and Genealogy of the Harlan Family, and Particularly of the Descendants of George and Michael Harlan, Who Settled in Chester County, Pa., 1687 (Baltimore: Lord Baltimore Press, 1914), p. 33

As has been noted previously, Jacob Hollingsworth, who married Mary Brooks about 1767-8, was the son of Samuel Hollingsworth and Barbara Shewin of Chester County, Pennsylvania. In his history of the Harlan family long connected to the Hollingsworths, Alpheus Harlan indicates that Jacob was born about 1740 or 1742.[1] According to J. Adger Stewart in his classic study of descendants of Valentine Hollingsworth, the immigrant ancestor, the first son of Samuel and Barbara Shewin Hollingsworth, also named Samuel, was born about 1740.[2] Stewart evidently bases this estimated birthdate on the fact that Samuel and Barbara married in 1738. He does not suggest a birthdate for Jacob, but implies that Jacob was born about 1742. As Alpheus Harlan notes, Samuel Hollingsworth was a farmer of Birmingham township in Chester County, and died there in November 1751.[3] This suggests that Jacob Hollingsworth was born in Birmingham township in Chester County.

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

Mark Jefferson Lindsey in 1870s; photo is reproduced in Henry C. Lindsey, The Mark Lindsey Heritage (Brownwood, Texas, 1982), p. 46; original in possession of John Ewan Kellogg, Coushatta, Louisiana, in 1980s

Or, Subtitled: The Lure of the New Cotton Frontier in Northwest Louisiana Prior to the War

In my last posting, I told you of a letter my uncle Henry C. Lindsey (Carlton to his family, but Henry professionally) sent me on 18 November 1980, in which he recounted what several elderly relatives he had just visited in Coushatta, Louisiana, told him about the move of Mark Jefferson Lindsey and wife Mary Ann Harrison to Louisiana in 1849 or 1850. These relatives told my uncle versions of stories I myself heard a number of times at the annual family reunion of descendants of Mark and Mary Ann in October each year in Red River Parish.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Margaret Tranquilla Lindsey Hunter (1834-1921) — Children of William Hunter and Margaret Lindsey

William Marshall Hunter and wife Laura Jane Dupree, about 1890; from Barney Hunter, “William Marshall Hunter and Laura Jane Dupree,” in Red River Parish: Our Heritage, ed. Red River Parish Heritage Society (Bossier City: Everett, 1989), p. 265

Or, Subtitled: “A Prominent Merchant and One of the Leading Pioneers in the Parish

As my last posting notes, both the 1900 and 1910 federal censuses indicate that William T. Hunter and Margaret Tranquilla Lindsey had had 10 children, of whom five were living in 1900 and three in 1910.[1] The 1870 federal census lists a male child in their household who appears in no other records, and whose name is often transcribed from that census as Mitchell, though, to me, the name seems Trichell rather than Mitchell. It’s clear to me the census taker has erroneously listed William and Margaret’s daughter Ida Tranquilla, whose age and position among their children matches the Mitchell/Trichell of the 1870 census, as a son. There was no son Mitchell in William and Margaret’s family.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Margaret Tranquilla Lindsey Hunter (1834-1921)

William and Margaret Lindsey Hunter, abt. 1870, photo uploaded by Kelly Browne to Margaret’s Find a Grave memorial page, Liberty cemetery, Martin, Red River Parish, Louisiana

Or, Subtitled: “Prominent as Planters, Merchants, Ministers of the Gospel”

Margaret Tranquilla Lindsey, daughter of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks, was born 14 January 1834 at Oakville in Lawrence County, Alabama. This date of birth is found on her tombstone at Liberty Baptist cemetery, Martin, Red River Parish, Louisiana.[1] Margaret’s son William Marshall Hunter pastored Liberty church for a number of years. It was founded by Reverend John Dupree, grandfather of Marshall’s wife Laura Jane Dupree.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Frances Rebecca Lindsey Kellogg (1831-1916) — Louisiana Years

Wayne County, Tennessee, Old Deed Bk. A, pp. 308-310

Or, Subtitled: “In Consideration of the Natural Love and Affection I Have and Bear to My Daughter Sally

Stop the Presses! New Information Correcting My Last Posting

In my first posting about Frances Rebecca Lindsey and husband Samuel Hiram Kellogg, I stated that I have long been puzzled by the question of how Samuel and Frances met, when he had roots in Wayne County, Tennessee, and hers were in Lawrence County, Alabama. I wrote that I have repeatedly tried to answer this question without finding a satisfactory explanation.  

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Samuel Asbury Lindsey (1825/6 – 1865) — Children of Samuel Asbury Lindsey

“In Memory of Judge Samuel Asbury Lindsey,” 57th legislative session, Texas legislature, resolution 222, online at website of Legislative Reference Library of Texas.

Or, Subtitled: “All My Life, My First and Chief Desire Was not Money but Knowledge, Learning, and Wisdom

When I ended my previous posting providing information about the life of Samuel Asbury Lindsey (1825/6 – 1865), son of Dennis Lindsey and Jane Brooks, I told you I’d write a subsequent one about Samuel’s children. Before I begin that account, however, I’d like to mention something I intended to say in the posting I have just linked, and forgot to include. This is about Samuel’s name.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Samuel Asbury Lindsey (1825/6 – 1865)

Samuel Asbury Lindsey, Mexican-American War discharge papers, photocopied in Henry C. Lindsey, The Mark Lindsey Heritage (Brownwood, Texas; 1982), p. 115

Or, Subtitled: “I Will Take Her in My Arms Back to Texas and Make a Fortune for Her”

Several sources provide information about Samuel’s date of birth. Those sources, unfortunately, conflict with each other. When he enrolled for service in the Mexican-American War on 6 March 1847 at Huntsville, Alabama, in Company H of the 13th Infantry, he gave his age as 23. This information is recorded in the U.S. Army Register of Enlistments, which also notes that he was a farmer born in Lawrence County, Alabama, was 6’1”, had light hair, gray eyes, and a fair complexion.[1]

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)”