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Brooks of Virginia,North Carolina & Tennessee



Tradition says that John Brooks, Sr. brought his wife, Susan, and their six sons to Virginia, lived there for a short while, then moved to North Carolina about 1735 where he was granted land in Bladen County, North Carolina. Bible records reflect that he came from near the mouth of the James River in Virginia. Another bible record states "John Brooks and Consort, Susan, from England, thought about 1700." Down through the generations a chest has been handed down, known as the Sea Chest of which it is said was brought from England by Susan. On the side of the chest in original lettering is "S. B. 1735". From 1743 to 1751 John Brooks served as Justice of the Peace in Bladen County; and in 1754 he was a vestryman for St. Davids Parish in the upper part of Bladen County known as Cumberland.[1] All of the land grants of John Brooks totalled about 1500 acres. He settled on the southside of Tick Creek which was about three miles East of Ore Hill, North Carolina. His sons, Joab and Mark, settled on the headwaters of Ephraim Creek, about two miles North West of Ore Hill. His son, Thomas, settled on the South Side of the Rocky River, near the Hugh Dixon Mill. The home of John Brooks was a two-storied frame weather board house with glass windows and paneled doors. This home was deeded to his son, Isaac. It still until about 1940. Issue:

  1. Thomas Brooks, born ca 1710, died 1796 in Chatham County, North Carolina.
  2. John Brooks, Jr., born ca 1715, married Jane May, the daughter of John May from Virginia to North Carolina, then to Georgia.
  3. Joab Brooks, born ca 1716, married Catherine Dimmaux.[2] The tradition in this family has it that Joab came from England with his parents to America. He was first found in Orange County, North Carolina where the Minutes of the Court show the inventory of the estate of one, Anthony Williams being presented to Court in 1752 by Joab Brooks. Joab Brooks received a land grant in Bladen County, North Carolina (now Cumberland County) in 1756/1757.[3] In 1761 Joab Brooks was granted 375 acres in Orange County on the waters of Ephraim’s Creek. It was on this land that he resided, and it was included in that portion of Chatham County which was formed from Orange County. All of his land grants totalled more than 1,000 acres. In 1757, Joab Brooks was appointed the Magistrate of Orange County; in 1758 he was a Member of the Governing Body. In 1761, he refused to qualify as a member of the court. IN 1765 he was again a Member of the Commission of Peace in Orange County. Issue:
  1. Margaret Brooks, probably removed to Tennessee.
  2. Larkin Tippen Brooks, born ca 1772, died 1837, went to Tennessee but returned to Chatham County, North Carolina where he married (about 1790) Catherine, the daughter of Thomas Brooks, Jr. and his wife, Martha (Temple) Brooks.
  3. Sarah Brooks married and removed to Tennessee.
  4. Joab Brooks, Jr., born 29 January 1770, died 26 March 1884, married his first cousin, Ruth Terrell Brooks, the daughter of Isaac and Ruth Terrell Brooks. The graves of Joab Brooks, Jr. and his wife, Ruth, are on the old Brooks Plantation near Siler City, North Carolina.
  5. Isaac Brooks, born ca 1774 married Ruth Evans (born 1775) in Chatham County, North Carolina. They were residents of Cannon County, Tennessee in 1850. Isaac Brooks was one of the first Representatives from Chatham North Carolina Assembly and while acting in this capacity he presented a bill to build a road through his section of the State. It was to be a road from the "Dan River through Guilford, Chatham and Cumberland Counties, to a point called Campbellton, now Fayetteville." The road ran through the Joab Brooks’ plantation about a mile South of Siler City, North Carolina.[4]
  6. John Dimmaux Brooks was born 1775 in Chatham County, North Carolina, married in 1793, Rebecca Boyd McKaughan. Rebecca was born 1775 in Pennsylvania, the daughter of Archibald McKaughan, Jr. and his wife, Jane (Mercer) McKaughan who lived in Pennsylvania, then Tennessee. She was the granddaughter of Archibald McKaughan, Sr. who married near Belfast, Ireland, Rebecca Boyd, the daughter of Alexander Boyd of Belfast. They later came to New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee. Rebecca died 8 November 1812 in Jackson County, Tennessee. John Dimmaux Brooks went to Tennessee for a time, but after his marriage, returned to Chatham County, North Caroliina. Issue:
1. Joab Brooks, born 1796, resident of Scott County, Arkansas in 1874, aged 79 years. 2. Jane Mercer Brooks. 3. Mary Hudson Brooks. 4. Winnifred Chappel Brooks. 5. Sarah Blocker Brooks. 6. Catherine Harris Brooks. 7. Archibald Brooks. 8. Rebecca Dimmax Brooks, born ca 1800 in Chatham County, North Carolina, married Zachary Lee and removed with him to Gwinnett County Georgia in 1825.[5]
  1. Mark Brooks, born ca 1720, died ca 1819, married Fannie Harris of Granville County, North Carolina.
  2. James Brooks, born ca 1725, died after 1812 in Georgia, married (1) Elizabeth Smith (2) ca 1765, Margaret Thompson.
  3. Isaac Brooks, born 1727, died 1825, married (1) Ruth Terrell (2) Hannah Harper, widow.[6]
[1] Cumberland County, North Carolina deed dated 1 October 1756. John Brooks of Cumberland County sold to Edward Dunsfield land which had been patented to him on 10 September 1735, located about ten miles from Rock Fish Creek.

[2] Joab Brooks, Sr. was listed on the 1820 Chatham County, North Carolina Census having 2 males under 10, male 16-18, male 16-26, male 45 and over; 2 females under 10, 3 females 10-16, 4 females 16-26, female 45 and over.

[3] Orange County, North Carolina Deeds. October 1758, Joab Brooks of Orange County sold to William Lomax of Cumberland County, North Carolina "land which the said Joab Brooks received by a certain letter patent dated A. D. 1757."

[4] Brooks and Kindred Families by Ida Brooks Kellam (1950).

[5] Personal records of Mrs. E. R. Lehman, P. O. Box 426, West Point, Georgia 31833 (1973).

[6] Brooks and Kindred Families by Ida Brooks Kellam (1950).