Children of Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: Susanna Brooks and Husband Ezekiel Harlan (2)

Pennsylvania Gazette (20 September 1753), p. 3, col. 2

Or, Subtitled: “Wears a cap or wig, black velvet jacket and breeches, and ruffled ſhirts, but may change his apparel”

My previous posting tells you that Susanna Brooks and her husband Ezekiel Harlan have led me on a merry chase as I’ve tried to figure out even the most basic facts about them on the basis of limited evidence, including which particular Ezekiel Harlan Susanna married, when she was born, when and where the couple met, and when and where they died. I’ve become fairly confident that the Ezekiel Harlan whom Susanna married was an Ezekiel Harlan who was born in 1769-1770, and was the son of Ezekiel Harlan (born 1732-6) who was son of Ezekiel Harlan (1707-1754) and wife Hannah Oborn of Chester County, Pennsylvania. To add to the confusion created by the plethora of Ezekiels in this line, the Ezekiel Harlan born in 1769-1770 had a son Ezekiel, too, who was likely born around 1787-8, and who appears in records of Hardin County, Kentucky, along with his father.

Children of Thomas Brooks (abt. 1747 – 1805) and Wife Margaret: Susanna Brooks and Husband Ezekiel Harlan

Hardin County, Kentucky, Deed Bk. D, pp. 426-8

Or, Subtitled: “From there on, all trace is lost”

Working on the family of Susanna Brooks Harlan, a daughter of Thomas Brooks and Margaret Beaumont/Beamon’s, has been a real trip — significant gaps in records, wild twists and turns, hypothetical possibilities that I can’t prove, but which seem tantalizingly close to the truth. I can think of few other genealogical research projects I’ve undertaken in which I’ve encountered such surprises, with so many uncertainties and tangles. What follows is my attempt to sort out the tangles. My conclusions may be wildly wrong, but this is my best attempt to put together the facts as I can find them, and make a coherent narrative out of them.

Children of Mary Brooks (1745/1750 – aft. 15 May 1815) and Jacob Hollingsworth (1742 – 1822) — Samuel Hollingsworth (1768/1770 – 1802) and Wife Mary Garner

8 August 1802 letters of administration to Mary Hollingsworth and Jacob Hollingsworth for estate of Samuel Hollingsworth, Franklin County, Georgia, Court of Ordinary Minutes Bk. 1801-1804, p. 24

Or, Subtitled: A Family with Quaker Roots in the Middle Colonies Continues Heading West

As I’ve noted previously, Samuel Hollingsworth appears to have been born about 1768-1770, probably in Guilford County, North Carolina, and he died before 8 August 1802 in Franklin County, Georgia. He was, I think, either the second or third child of Jacob Hollingsworth and Mary Brooks. According to Sadie Greening Sparks, a marriage bond in Randolph County, North Carolina, shows that Samuel married Mary Garner there in 1788.[1] I have searched for this bond but have not found it — though I do not doubt Sparks’s word about it; she did meticulous research, documenting sources carefully. The 1768-1770 birthdate for Samuel is based on his 1788 marriage to Mary Garner.[2]

Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: John Wesley Lindsey (1814-1903) — Wayne County, Kentucky, and Lawrence County, Alabama, Years

Lindsey, John W., Signature to Original Will of Thomas Brooks
John Wesley Lindsey’s signature as witness to will of his grandfather Thomas M. Brooks, 2 October 1838, Morgan County, Alabama (from loose-papers estate file of Thomas Brooks, Morgan County)

Or, Subtitled: Weathervane Turns on Fortunes of North Alabama Merchant Planters in 1830s

John Wesley Lindsey’s Birth in Wayne County, Kentucky, April 1814

In line with their strong Methodist commitments, Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks named their first child (and eldest son) John Wesley, after the founder of Methodism. As we’ve seen, Dennis had a brother who also bore the name Wesley — Fielding Wesley Lindsey. Another brother, William Burke Lindsey, was named for the first Methodist circuit rider in Wayne County, Kentucky, at the time the Lindsey family lived there. John B. McFerrin, another Methodist circuit rider whom James Edmond Saunders mentions in connection with Mark and Dennis Lindsey in his Early Settlers of Alabama, as we’ve noted, provides abundant information about William Burke in his History of Methodism in Tennessee.[1] Continue reading “Children of Dennis Lindsey (1794-1836) and Jane Brooks: John Wesley Lindsey (1814-1903) — Wayne County, Kentucky, and Lawrence County, Alabama, Years”

The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Catherine Lindsey and Husband Roger Thornton

Hancock GA WB A, 225
Will of Roger Thornton, Hancock County, Georgia, Will Bk. A, p. 225

Hancock GA WB A, 226
Will of Roger Thornton, Hancock County, Georgia, Will Bk. A, p. 226

Or, Subtitled: When Eastern North Carolina Moves to Georgia — Featherbeds and Land Grants

In my next series of articles about the family of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762), who came as a young indentured servant from Ireland to Richmond County, Virginia, in 1718 and died in Granville County, North Carolina, in 1762, I’m going to tell you what I know of his children. This first article in the series focuses on Dennis’ daughter Catherine and her husband Roger Thornton. Continue reading “The Children of Dennis Linchey/Lindsey (abt. 1700-1762): Catherine Lindsey and Husband Roger Thornton”