James Whitlock (1651-1716), Virginia Immigrant: Virginia Records

G.C. Chamberlayne, The Vestry Book and Register of St. Peter’s Parish, New Kent and James City Counties, Virginia, 1684-1786 (Richmond: Library of Virginia, 1937), p. 447

Or, Subtitled: Glimpsing Tidewater Virginia Immigrants in the 17th Century and Their English Roots

As the previous posting states, we first catch sight of the immigrant James Whitlock (1651-1716) in Virginia records in a 12 July 1680 power of attorney filed in an (Old) Rappahannock County will book, a power of attorney given by James’s cousin in England, Anthony Whitlock (born 1657), to empower James to act on behalf of the estate of Anthony’s uncle Thomas Whitlock (1615-1659), who had died in (Old) Rappahannock County in 1659.[1] Anthony Whitlock’s power of attorney, given in London with affidavits supporting it from James’s uncle John Whitlock (1625-1708) and Anthony’s aunt Johanna Whitlock Harris (1617-1684), states (as do the supporting affidavits) that James Whitlock was Anthony’s kinsman and was a Virginia planter.

James Whitlock (bef. 1690 – 1736) of New Kent and Hanover County, Virginia, with Wife Frances

Vestry Book of St. Paul’s Parish, Hanover County, Virginia, 1706-1786, held by State Library of Virginia, minutes for 8 November 1736; digital copy available at FamilySearch

Or, Subtitled: “Mr. James Whitlock was Sworn a Vestry man for this parish and took the Oaths appointed by law, before Peter Garland Gent.”

Researchers have conventionally estimated the birth of the James Whitlock (bef. 1690 – 1736) who was father of James Whitlock younger, who died between 7 March and 28 November 1749 in St. Paul’s parish, Louisia County, Virginia, between 1680 and 1690. For the sake of convenience, in this posting, I’m going to refer to the three James Whitlocks of Gloucester, New Kent, Hanover, and Louisa County, Virginia, who form a chain of fathers and sons, as follows:

James 1 (1651-1716)

James 2 (bef. 1690 – 1736)

James 3 (abt. 1718 – 1749)

Children of Charles Whitlock (abt. 1739 – 1814) and Wife Esther: Agnes, Alexander, and William Whitlock

Tombstone of Agnes Whitlock Dodson, photo by Roane County, Tennessee, Historical Society — see Find a Grave memorial page of Agnes Dodson, Steekee cemetery, Loudon, Loudon County, Tennessee, created by Genealogy Friends, maintained by Dawn Curtis

Or, Subtitled: Post-Revolutionary Migration from Western North Carolina to Tennessee and Kentucky

As the previous posting indicates, the 24 March 1811 will of Charles Whitlock in Stokes County, North Carolina, names his wife Esther, who was still living when Charles wrote the will, and the following children: John, James, William, Thomas, Alexander, Agnes (Dodson), and Mary (Pruitt).[1] The will states that James had predeceased his father. I’m listing the children in the order in which their names appear in the will. A number of pieces of evidence suggest that Charles did not name his children by order of birth in his will, and that Agnes was his and Esther’s oldest child, probably followed by Alexander. 

Here’s the information I have about Charles and Esther Whitlock’s children Agnes, Alexander, and William:

Ruth Brooks (1775/1780 – 1837 and Husband John Greenwood, and Mary Rice (1776/8 – abt. 1825) and Husband Joshua Wilson: Additions to Previous Postings

Drew Smith, Organize Your Genealogy (Cincinnati: Family Tree Books, 2016), p. 108

Or, Subtitled: Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative

Sometimes our searches for genealogical records yield negative results. That is, we search for material we hope or even expect to find in vital records, land records, court records, etc., and find that no such material is there. Part of the process of genealogical research is noting the lack of records for which we’ve done careful searches.

Children of Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: Ruth Brooks (1775/1780 – 1837) and Husband William Greenwood (1)

John Carroll Power, History of the Early Settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois (Springfield, Illinois: Edwin A. Wilson, 1876), p. 335

Or, Subtitled: “The Greenwood family is one, around which cluster many interesting reminiscences”

Ruth Brooks was, I’ve concluded, the fifth child of Thomas Brooks and Margaret Beaumont/Beamon of Frederick and Wythe Counties, Virginia. When I say “I’ve concluded,” I don’t mean there’s uncertainty about whether Ruth was a child of Thomas and Margaret. Thomas’s 4 November 1804 will in Wythe County names daughter Ruthie Greenwood.[1]

Children of Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: Margaret Brooks (1772 – 1857) and Husband Joseph Day

Kentucky State Historical Society and State Archives, Grayson County, Kentucky, Registry of Deaths 1857, in Kentucky Birth, Marriage, and Death Records, 1852-1910digitized at the Family Search site

Or, Subtitled: “Joseph Day Junr hath been Guilty of unneceſsary frequenting places of divertion & dancing”

In this posting, I’m returning to my ongoing project of tracking family lines stemming from Mary Brooks, who died in Frederick County, Virginia, in 1787. In previous postings, I’ve tracked the following children of Mary and their descendants: Mary (1745/1750 – abt. 1815), who married Jacob Hollingsworth; Elizabeth (1747/1750 – 1816), who married George Rice; Sarah (1750/1755 – 1810/1820), who married an Ashdale/Asdale/Asdell; and James, who did not marry. As I’ve also noted in this series of postings about the children of Mary Brooks, I know nothing about her daughter Susanna except that Mary’s will identifies Susanna as Susanna Haynes. 

Thomas Brooks (1775-1838) and Wife Sarah Whitlock (1774-1837): Virginia Beginnings, 1775-1798

“Brooks Bible,” Itawamba [Mississippi] Settlers 8,3 (September, 1988), pp. 151-2

Or, Subtitled: A Virginia ➤ Kentucky ➤ Alabama Migration Pattern

Introduction: Now the Brooks Family Line

At the end of April 2021, I completed a lengthy series of postings that I began in November 2019. This series shared my information about my Lindsey immigrant ancestor, Dennis Linchey, who arrived in Richmond County, Virginia, aboard the ship Expectation some time before 1 June 1718 as an indentured servant from Ireland, and about his descendants. The series of postings that runs from November 2019 to April 2021 provides all the information I have about the descendants of Dennis Linchey, whose surname shifted to Lindsey before his death in August 1762 in Granville County, North Carolina — though my series does not follow family lines down to the last generations in each line.

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: Mary Jane Lindsey (1826-1850) and Husband James Irwin Brooks

Marriage license and return from original records marriage file; recorded in Lawrence County, Alabama, Marriage Bk. B, p. 256

Or, Subtitled: A Wife Dying Too Soon, Leaving a Bereaved Husband and Two Little Boys

Mary Jane Lindsey was the seventh child (and second daughter) of Dennis Lindsey and Jane Brooks. Her older sister Sarah Brooks Lindsey had been named for Jane’s mother Sarah Whitlock Brooks. Mary Jane was named for her father’s mother Mary Jane Dinsmore Lindsey.