Additions and Corrections to Previous Posting: John Hammons’s Daughter Elizabeth and Husband King L. Henderson

William Jasper Henderson, wife Larcena, and his mother Elizabeth Hammons Henderson — Find a Grave memorial page for William Jasper Henderson, Harris cemetery, Fayette County, Texas, created by Shara Hatcher, photo uploaded by Amanda Canion

In my last posting, I stated that John Hammons’s daughter Elizabeth appears to have been born 1805-1810, and that she married a Henderson, according to Becky Shrader’s testimony about John’s children in 1831. I also concluded that, because Elizabeth is not named in the 1838 list of John’s children the linked posting cites, she had died between 1831-8. And I indicated that I had not been able to determine the name of her Henderson husband.

Children of John Hammons (1770/2 – 1828) and His Whitlock Wife

Mobile County, Alabama, White Marriage Bk. 4, p. 63, available digitally at FamilySearch

Or, Subtitled: “There are six now living, two dead

In what follows, I’ll tell you what I know of the children of John Hammons and his wife who was a daughter of Thomas Whitlock and whose given name I have not discovered. I do not have proof positive that all of these children were born to John’s Whitlock wife, but since documents listing them as his children never indicate that any of these children were half-siblings to each other, I think it’s safe to assume that all are children of John’s Whitlock wife. Note that, according to Betsy Shrader in her 1831 affidavit cited below, John Hammons had two children in addition to the six listed below, who died prior to 1828 and of whose names I have not seen a record.

Children of Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) and Wife Hannah Phillips: Daughter Who Married John Hammons (2)

Warren County, Tennessee, Deed Bk. L, pp. 204-5

Or, Subtitled: “Defts who first being duly sworn on the Holy Evangalists depose as follows

Warren County, Tennessee, Years, 1807-1819

As the previous posting indicates, John Hammons Jr. disappears from the Wayne County tax list after 1807, when he moved with his father and brothers Leroy and Woodson to Warren County, Tennessee. On 7 August 1807, John entered 100 acres in White County by virtue of warrant #1686. The land entry states that the land was assigned to John by D. Ross by his attorney J. (or T.?) Hopkins, assignee of Stokely Donelson, assignee of Patrick Hamilton. The entry was location #143 in the 3rd district, and adjoined John’s occupant claim, location #141 and Martin Harpool.[1]

Children of Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) and Wife Hannah Phillips: Daughter Who Married John Hammons (1)

Wayne County, Kentucky, Court Order Bk. A, p. 5

Or, Subtitled: A Cross-Slit and Underkeel in Each Ear — The Value of Earmarks in Genealogy

According to Margaret Austin of Bay Village, Ohio, who researched the Hammons family exhaustively for years and shared her research notes with me in April 1997, Thomas Whitlock’s son-in-law John Hammons appears to have been born about 1770-2. Margaret based this date on the fact that John Hammons Jr. appears on a jury list in Patrick County, Virginia, on 13-14 August 1793 in the cases of Lyne vs. King and Adams vs. Mankin and Keaton.[1] Margaret Austin’s notes also state that John Hammonds Jr. provided a deposition on 8 October 1792 in the Patrick County case of Dickerson vs. Laurance, and was sued on 13 May 1793 for debt in Patrick County in the case of Senter vs. Hammonds Jr. Note the variant spellings of the surname: Hammons and Hammonds (as well as Hammon/Hammond).

Thomas Whitlock (abt. 1745 – 1830) of Louisa and Wythe Counties, Virginia, and Cumberland County, Kentucky: Cumberland County Estate Documents

Cumberland County, Kentucky, Will Bk. B, pp. 428-430

Or, Subtitled: A “Coffy” Mill, Kows, Chears, a Barrel of “Dryed” Apples, and a Large Bible

This posting is a continuation of a previous one discussing Thomas Whitlock’s final years in Cumberland County, Kentucky. That posting ended with a transcription of the will Thomas made on 22 January 1824 in Cumberland, County, which was proved in Cumberland County at May court 1830. As my final comments in the posting I’ve just linked state, in my view, Thomas likely died in 1830, perhaps in May or shortly before May. In what follows, I’ll discuss Thomas Whitlock’s estate documents, which include an estate inventory and appraisal, an account of the sale of his estate, and a final settlement.

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: Hannah Isbell Brooks (1809-1828), Margaret C. Brooks (1811-1826), and James Irwin Brooks (1813-1878)

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: 

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 Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: James Brooks (1772 – 1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell (2)

Inventory of estate of James Brooks, Lawrence County, Alabama, Orphans Court Minutes, Bk. D, pp. 162-3

Or, Subtitled: 17 Hedd Hogs, 1 Gray Horse, 1 Looking Glass, 1 Large Bible, etc.

In my last posting, I shared with you the information I have about the life of James Brooks, son of Thomas and Margaret Brooks of Frederick and Wythe Counties, Virginia, from his birth in Frederick County in 1772 to the death of his wife Nancy Isbell Brooks at Oakville in Lawrence County, Alabama, on 9 October 1835. I told you that James moved with his parents and siblings from Frederick to Wythe County, Virginia, in 1792, after James had come of age in Frederick County in 1789. 

Children of Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: James Brooks (1772 – 1835) and Wife Nancy Isbell (1)

Wayne County, Kentucky, Marriage Bonds 1801-1813, p. 66

Or, Subtitled: From Virginia to Alabama by Way of Kentucky and Tennessee

We’ve met the second child of Thomas and Margaret Brooks, their son James Brooks, in previous postings. As we’ve seen, James’s year of birth, 1772, is recorded in the register of a bible belonging to James and his wife Nancy Isbell. A transcript of this bible register was published in November 1952 by Memory Aldridge Lester in the Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine, with a note that the bible belonged at that time to Nettie Raymond Brooks Young of Moulton, Alabama, and Lester had transcribed the bible at Mrs. Young’s house in June 1951.[1] Lester published the same transcript again in 1974 in a book entitled Old Southern Bible Records.[2] The posting linked above provides digital images of both transcripts.