Confederate Brooks of Stanly Co, NC

Disclaimer: The following is not intended in any way to show disregard or disrespect to any racial groups. It is entirely in celebration of the patriotism shown by those who fought for their country (at the time it was the Confederate States of America) and for their families. We honor them and the history that followed them.

Company F, 63rd Regiment NC Troops

(Fifth Cavalry)

Captain Thomas W. Harris

Organized at Garysburg, NC in the early fall of 1862. It was composed of companies enlisted under the Partisan Ranger Act of the Confederate Congress. Many rights went along with this Act, including that of the individual soldier's right to possess the captured property of the enemy. Many of the men in the 63rd Regiment were veterans of the army and had procured a transfer.

William Brooks

enlisted as private 1 July 1863 at the age of 28 - Captured near Madison Courthouse, VA 22 Sep 1863 and confined at Old Capitol Prison, Washington, DC. Transferred to Point Lookout, MD 26 Sep 1863. Transferred to Elmira, NY 16 Aug 1864 where he died of pneumonia 24 Feb 1865. He is buried at Woodlawn National Cemetery in Elmira, NY.

Jonathan Brooks

enlisted as private 1 July 1863 at age 21 - Killed in action at Jack's Shop, VA 22 Sep 1863.

Joshua Brooks

enlisted as private 1 July 1863 at age 20 - Present or accounted for through December 1864.

Joshua Brooks alone was the only one of these three brothers to survive the war. He married in Stanly county, NC to Puah Ellen Thomas and lived until 1913. These brave soldiers were the sons of John "Coffee John" and "Patsey" Elizabeth Cuthbertson Brooks. They lived in the 5th Almond district of Stanly county, NC in 1850 and were neighbors to Ezekiel Brooks on the old homestead.

An interesting account of their life comes from the Diary of Alta Brooks wherein she details the trip of her mother and herself from Pope county, AR to Stanly county, NC in 1901. She recounts how her Uncle John Brooks (brother to her father William H. and son of James Brooks) took her and her mother (Rebecca Melinda Cooper Brooks) to see Joshua and Ellen Brooks. Alta, Rebecca, Lessee and Maude picked blackberries and waded in the Rocky River.

Company H, 42nd Regiment NC Troops

Captain Jackson M. Hartsell

Formed in Stanly county 25 Mar 1862. Ordered to Salisbury where it was officially designated Company H, 42nd Regiment NC Troops. Officially mustered in on 10 May 1862 for three years or duration of war.

Alexander Brooks, Lieutenant

enlisted 25 Mar 1862 at the age of 28 - appointed 1st Lieutenant 25 Mar 1862. Resigned prior to June 30, 1862. Resignation accepted on an unspecified date. Also served in 83rd Regiment NC militia. Later served in Confederate States Navy.

James Brooks, private

enlisted 25 Mar 1862 at age 22 - present or accounted for until he deserted on December 19, 1862. (he rejoined later) Died in hospital at Weldon on or about February 15, 1863 of "amputated arm." Place and date injured not reported.

Joshua Brooks, private

enlisted 28 Feb 1863 at age 25 - present or accounted for until he died on or about 24 July 1863 of "febris typhoides." Place of death not reported.

These three soldiers of Company H, 42nd Regiment were all sons of David and Mary Tucker Brooks of Stanly county, NC. David and his family lived in Big Lick township near his friend, Andrew Huneycutt.

Thomas Joshua Brooks married Mary Perlina Huneycutt in 1852. They had seven children together before Joshua's death in the Civil War. His wife and father in law Andrew Huneycutt went to Salisbury and got his body and buried him in the family cemetery, beside his father and grandfather, William Brooks.

Alexander Brooks married Tempy Caroline Ledbetter, half-sister of his cousin, "Rabbit John" Brooks, son of James and Tempy Tucker Brooks. They were married in 1862 in the midst of the conflict and had five children together. Unfortunately, Alexander did not live long after the end of the Civil War, dying sometime before 1866.

James Brooks never married.

Company H, 65th Regiment NC Troops

(6th Regiment NC Cavalry)

Ezekiel M. Brooks, private

enlisted 24 Aug 1863 at age 27 - present or accounted for through August 1864 when he was reported as "absent on detached service."

Ezekiel Marion Brooks was the son of Ezekiel "Zeke" Brooks and Sinthia "Siddy" Green Brooks. He married in 1857 to Catherine Amalentha Rosilla Jane Byrd. The family lived on the old William Brooks homeplace now known as the Brooks-Hill homestead until 1892 when they sold the property to Henry Hill and moved to McKinney, Collin county, TX. Ezekiel M. Brooks lived in the Enloe community just SE of McKinney. He is found on the 1900 census there and died the same year. Some of his children who had married in Stanly County, NC moved back from Texas and lived again in Stanly county. Many of them remained in Collin Co, TX and raised families there.