BROOKS FAMILY HISTORY - Interactive Family Histories

BROOKS FAMILY HISTORY 7-13of Robert Brooks (1) - they appear to be much earlier than the birthdates of childrenof Robert Brooks (1).It appears that most of the children of Robert Brooks (1) were born from 1757 to1776. Based on the estimate of the oldest child of Robert Brooks (1), WinifredBrooks (born 1757), it is believed that Robert Brooks (1) was probably bornaround 1736. This birthdate is substantially later than the DAR application ofElla Kelly that states Robert was born in 1723. Establishing the approximatebirthdates of the children of Robert Brooks (1) is very key in determining hisparents and his siblings. Below is a summary of the birthdates of the children ofRobert and Brambly Brooks using the best known events associated with eachchild. These events implies that Robert and Brambly Brooks had the followingchildren:............Winifred Brooks, b. 1757 (daughter, Martha born 1775)............Lucy Brooks, b. 1759 (mar. 1780, husband’s second marriage with six children)............Wade Brooks, b. 1762 (mar. 1782)............Robert Brooks, b. 1762 (pension record states 1762, mar. 1780 requiring bond)............Jordan Brooks, b. 1766 (son, Isham born 1786, signed surety bond 1787)............Penelope Brooks, b. 1769 (mar. 1787)............Rebecca Brooks, b. 1772 (mar. 1790)............Jane Brooks, b. 1776 (mar. 1796)............Mary Brooks, b. before 1786 (mar. by 1804 - mar. in father’s will)............Sarah Brooks, b. before 1786 (mar. by 1804 - mar. in father’s will)............William Brooks, b. before 1788 (died by 1809, son part of father’s estate)Only two children of Winifred (Brooks) Butler have known birthdates (MarthaButler who was born in 1775 and Thomas Butler who was born in 1784). The1830 census of Edgefield County, South Carolina indicates that Winifred Butlerwas 80 to 90 years of age (indicating her birthdate was between 1740 to 1750)which is more consistent with the DAR estimate of 1748. Elderly widows duringthis timeframe had a tendency to state their age to be older than their actualage. If Winifred Brooks was born in 1748, she would be born eleven years priorto the next oldest child and twenty-eight years older than youngest known sibling.Both the gap in ages and bearing children over a twenty-eight year periodare red flags to accepting her birthdate as 1748. Additional birthdates ofWinifred’s other children and verification of the birthdate of her daughter, MarthaButler, are key to a better understanding of the estimate of the birthdate ofRobert Brooks (1). Additionally, there are still three other children of RobertBrooks (1) where there is not sufficient information to establish birthdates andthese birthdates could influence the estimation of the birthdate of Robert Brooks(1). If Robert Brooks was indeed born in 1736 (instead of 1723), then he couldnot be the son of Richard Brooks who wrote his will in Hanover County, Virginiain 1731.Numerous Brooks families resided the Lunenburg County, Virginia between1746 (county formation of Lunenburg) and 1765 (county formation ofMecklenburg from Lunenburg). It is not certain of the many men named RobertBrooks - which ones were Robert Brooks (1), the oldest proven Brooks ancestorof the authors. On February 1, 1747, a Robert Brooks bought land from DavidWalker, Deed Book 1, Page 280. According to “Early Settlers of Mecklenburg