Caswell Co NC Wills – BROOKS

The following original wills are housed at the North Carolina State Archives in Raleigh, North Carolina.  The collection title is “Caswell County, North Carolina Series of Original Wills, 1771-1927″ and the call number is C.R. 020.801.1. The Brooks family wills were contained in the first box of the series (no. 1).  There might have been more Brooks family wills contained in the box written after 1900. I only inventoried those wills written before 1900 (on 10/25/2008).

1. Richard Brookes, dated 1790 (wife Ann)
2. Ann Brooks, dated 1808 (wife of Richard)
3. Thomas Brooks, dated 1855 (wife Martha)

The will of Richard Brookes was recorded in Caswell County, North Carolina Will Book B, p. 321.  This will was abstracted in Katherine Kerr Kendall’s book “Caswell County, North Carolina will books, 1777-1814″ on page 30. (See entry below)

The abstract reads the following:

Richard Brooks (spelled Brookes on original) [actually the "e" is crossed out on the original that I looked at in 2008] – Will – w. 3 Oct 1789. Wife Ann; 4 youngest children William Bird Brooks (under 21), Betsy Brooks, Frances Armstead Brooks, John Brooks; daughter Ann Smith Graves; Exec: wife Ann and son in law Solomon Graves. Wit: W. F. Smith, Israel Barker.

The will of Ann Brooks was recorded in Caswell County, North Carolina Will Book E, p. 379.  This will was abstracted in Katherine Kerr Kendall’s book “Caswell County, North Carolina will books, 1777-1814″ on page 109. (See entry below)

The abstract reads the following:

Ann Brooks – Will – w. 4 Mar 1806. Son William B. Brooks; 9 grandchildren: Wm B. Brooks sons John, Robert, & William and daughters Betsy, Ann, and Joanna; Frances A. Sheppard’s daughters Ann, Betsy, and Polley.  Exec:  son Wm B. Brooks. Wit:  Sol Graves, S. Graves, John L. Graves.

The will of Thomas Brooks includes the following:

Thomas Brooks – Will – written 31 Mar 1855
Wife: Martha Brooks
Children: son William Brooks (under 21), daughters Nicy and Mary Ann.
Exec: Wife Martha Brooks
Wits: Charles G Russell and Byrd D Paylor

There was no estate folder for Richard Brookes at the archives. There are, however, estate folders for the Thomas and Ann Brooks listed above.

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Goals:

1. To copy, scan, and transcribe the wills of Richard, Ann, and Thomas Brooks of Caswell Co., NC from the Archives – update 10/25/08: These 3 wills were copied by the Archives.  4/2/09: Wills were scanned into my computer and info entered into my genealogy software.
2. To copy, scan, and transcribe the estate records of Ann and Thomas Brooks of Caswell Co., NC from the Archives 

Sources:

1. Caswell County, North Carolina Series of Original Wills, 1771-1927, C.R. 020.801.1, North Carolina State Archives.
2. Katherine Kerr Kendall, Caswell County, North Carolina will books 1777-1814. 1784 tax list. guardians’ accounts 1794-1819 and Caswell County North Carolina will books 1814-1843. guardians’ accounts 1819-1847. 1850 & 1860 census mortality schedules powers of attorney from deed books 1777-1880, can be searched online at ancestry.com.

Related Posts:

Brooks family estate records from Caswell County, North Carolina

Flippin – Brooks NC Connections

In an earlier post, I noted that a Dorothy Brookes married Thomas Flippin, 1769, Gloucester Co., VA. They had 3 known children, – Armistead (b. 1770), Jenny (b. 1775), and Thomas Flippin (b. 1773) – who were born in Gloucester Co., VA. and recorded in the Kingston Parish Registry.

Although Dorothy Brooks’ parents are not known by me at this time, I believe she is connected to one of the Thomas Brooks families of Gloucester Co., VA and Caswell Co., NC.

The following are Brooks – Flippin references from Caswell Co., NC:

April court 1790 – Henry Flippin, orphan of Thomas Flippin, late of Gloucester Co., VA, chose Thomas Brooks Sen. to be his guardian. Thomas Brooks Jun, attorney, was appointed power of attorney to demand and receive all negroes, money, etc. due said orphan from the estate.

January Court, 1794 – Armistead Flippin reported the inventory of the estate of Thomas Brooks, dec’d.

April Court 1795 – Armistead Flippin purchased items and reported on the sale of items from Thomas Brooks’ estate (co-admin. Jane Brooks)

[Note: I am not sure if the Thomas Brooks estates in 1794 and 1795 are for the same person because Jane is only mentioned as co-admin on the later one - To Do: Copy and review estate file of Thomas Brooks, 1794, Caswell Co., NC]

April Court 1798 – Jane Brooks and Armistead Flippin produced an account settlement for the estate of Thomas Brooks, Jun. (listed payments to persons)

Note GS 5/18/07: It is possible that Jane Brooks was the wife of Thomas Brooks and she administered his estate along with Armistead Flippin. Jane was probaby “Jenny” Flippin from the Gloucester Co., VA Kingston Parish Registry, daughter of Thomas Flippin and Dorothy Brookes, born Feb 10, 1775. Kay Haden (khaden at comcast dot net) included this information in the pdf file she sent to me on 5/17/07 on Jonathan Brooks. In her file, she listed Thomas Brooks Jr married Jane “Jenny” Flippin 16 Feb 1791 in Caswell Co., NC. She cited W. Leigh Brooks and IGI as her sources for this information.

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Additional Flippin family references in Caswell Co., are:

Janurary court 1804 – Armistead Flippin is allowed to keep 1 negro named John from the estate of Henry Dixon Jr; The legatees “agreed he shall keep for his share of estate.”

Note: Armistead Flippin must be connected to the Dixon family somehow to receive items from his estate.

In 1808, Samuel Flippin purchased items from the estate of Phillip Cox.

Brooks family references from Kingston Parish, Gloucester / Matthews Co., VA

Yesterday I emailed Kay Haden who posted a rootwebs family tree file that included information on the Brooks, Williams, and Holderness families. In her file, she lists Thomas and Mary Blacknall Brooks as the parents of Elizabeth (md. Holderness), George, Charles, and Christopher Brooks (md. Susannah Williams). In her email, she listed the Kingston Parish Registry of Gloucester (later Matthews Co.), VA as her source for the information on George and Christopher Brooks. I found copies of the registry online on ancestry.com. I was able to pull all of the references to the Brook(e)s families, as well I found the connection to the Flippin family.

There were 17 entries for Brook(e)s family members in the Kingston Parish Registry of Gloucester Co., VA (Kingston Parish became Mathews County, VA in 1791). Some of the entries indicate time of birth, marriage, death, and familial relationships. There are two page numbers listed at the end of each entry, the first is the page in Matheny’s book; the second page number is the page of the original vestry register.

Thomas Brooks & Mary Blacknall Family:

Thomas Brooks married Mrs. Mary Blacknall, Dec. 16, 1749, by Rev. Richard Locke. License. (3/217)

1. George Brookes, son of Thomas and Mary. Born May 8 and Baptized June 12, 1757. (32/14)

2. _______her Brookes, son of Thomas and Mary. Baptized February 1_, 1755. No page listed.

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George Brooks & Susannah Davis Family:

George Brooks married Susannah Davis, May 18, 1756. (3/221)

1. John Brooks, son of George and Susanna. Born May 8 and Baptized November 15, 1767. (32)

2. Joyce Keeble Brookes, daughter of George and Susanna. Born May 30 and Baptized June 30, 1762. (32/23)

3. Nancy Brookes, daughter of George and Susanna. Born January 20 and Baptized March 13, 1774. (32/156)

4. Susanna(h) Brookes, daughter of George and Susannah. Born April 21 and Baptized June 16, 1765. (32/28)

5. Thomas Brookes, son of George and Susanna. Born February 26, 1757. (32/14)

6. William Brookes, son of George and Susanna. Born October 12 and Baptized December 9, 1770. (32/38)

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Dorothy Brookes & Thomas Flippin Family

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Other miscellaneous Brook(e)s family entries:

Johannah Brookes married Henry Robinson, Nov. 7, 1765. License. (19/225)

Mary Brookes married Thomas Jones, May 12, 1763. License. (224)

Ann Brooks married Christopher Dawson, June 25, 1758. (6/222)

Ann Smith Brooks, daughter of Richard and ______. Born April __, 1770 and Baptized April 11, 1770. (32/37)

Joseph Brooks married Frances Murry Killigrew, Dec. 29, 1754. (3/220)

Source information: Kingston Parish, Virginia Register, 1749-1827 by Matheny, Emma R., comp. Richmond, VA: 1963. Source Location: Ancestry.com & Olivia Raney History Library, Wake Co., NC