John Brooks of
John Brooks of Brown Co, OH is
probably the son of John Brooks II of Anson Co, NC.
He was born
John Brooks married Elizabeth
Hall, dau. of John Hall probably in Anson
Co, NC, left for a place about 5 miles
south of Lexington, Fayette Co, Ky sometime
around 1800 and then moved to Brown Co, OH by 1805 (Clermont Co, OH
at the time of his arrival). John and Elizabeth lived in Clark Township,
Brown Co, OH.
The youngest “John Brooks” in 1782
(the time of a Montgomery Co, NC tax list showing three other “John Brooks”) is
John II’s son, John III. He is not on the tax records of 1782 due to
his youth. John II dies in Jan, 1792 and
leaves his two sons in his will. They
are young but not incapable of venturing out on their own. Consequently, we find records in
John Brooks III may have left
Anson Co, NC for religious reasons, perhaps to help him understand his father’s
untimely demise and other recent tragedies in the Brooks family. Whatever the reason, the Brooks family of
Anson Co, NC produced many ministers of the Baptist, Methodist and Presbyterian
faiths. 1800 began the Second Great
Awakening, a religious revival period in American history. Rev.
Barton Stone was one such revival leader at Cane Ridge, KY in
1801. John Brooks III's family also had its share of ministers. It is reasonable to assume that he may have
been attracted to this:
A Shrine to Christian History
Each year, more than 15,000 visitors from around the
world come to see Cane Ridge Shrine, probably the most famous "frontier
church" in America, and the birthplace of religious denominations that
today have more than 5 million followers in the United States. The large log
meeting house, located on KY 537 in
The Great Revival of 1801 at Cane Ridge attracted an
estimated 20,000 to 30,000 people. For a week, 25 to 30 Presbyterian, Methodist
and Baptist ministers preached from wagon beds and tree stumps, inspiring
thousands to emotional professions of faith. The event established the
tradition of camp-meeting revivals in
In 1832, in
Concerning Rev. Stone’s beliefs:
Mr. Stone, after his
removal to Lexington, Kentucky, made a trip to Meigs
County, Ohio, for the purpose of immersing a Presbyterian minister named
William Caldwell. While there he preached, on its invitation, to the Separate
Baptist Association then assembled there. He says: "The result was, that
they agreed to cast away their formularies and creeds, and take the Bible alone
for their rule of faith and practice--to throw away their name ‘Baptist' and
take the name ‘Christian'--and to bury their association, and to become one
with us in the great work of Christian union. Then they marched up in a band to
the stand where Mr. Stone was preaching, shouting the praises of God, and
proclaiming aloud what they had done. We met them, and embraced each other in
Christian love, by which the union was cemented."
"History
of
John Brooks came to the township in 1805, and located
on Survey No. 2939, where he remained until his death in 1833. He raised a family of twelve children --
three boys and nine girls: Jane, the
eldest, was born in 1801 and is now the widow of William Neal, Sr.: John and Elizabeth, twins, were born in
April, 1803; John is still a resident of the township, a member of the
Methodist Protestant Church, and a highly respected citizen; William, born in 1805, resides on the old
homestead; he was for many years a minister in the Baptist Church, and is
characterized by his honesty and piety.
John and Elizabeth spent some time
in KY and then moved on to
John Brooks appears on only one
census record in Ohio, the 1820 enumeration.
Unfortunately, he died somewhat early at age 59 on
In the name of God,
amen. I John Brooks of Brown County,
state of Ohio Being weak in body but of sound mind and memory thanks to
Almighty God for the same. Calling to
mind the certainty of death, Do make and ordain this
my last Will and Testament. I commend my
body to be decently buried at the discretion of my Executors And my Soul to God
that gave it having a confident hope of reuniting in the morning of the General
resurrection. First I wish all my debts
to be settled as soon as possible To my beloved wife Elizabeth I bequeath one
third of all my Estate real and personal And the use profits and income of all
my Farm Houses and tenements during her widowhood And at her death or ceasing
to be my widow I bequeath all the same real property to my three sons that is
to say to Absalom my youngest to have fifty dollars out of the Landed Estate
and thus the balance to be equally divided between John Brooks, William Brooks
and Absalom Brooks. I leave and bequeath
to my Daughters Sally, Lucinda, Matilda and Caroline twenty dollars each to be
paid to them by my Executors when they come of Age to be made out of my
Personal Estate And
the remainder of my personal property to be equally divided between all my
Daughters (say) Jane Neele, Elizabeth Clinger, Mary
Dutton, Rebecca Leonard, Nancy Romrey, Sally Brooks,
Lucinda Brooks, Matilda Brooks and Caroline Brooks. I appoint John Brooks and William Brooks
Executors of this my last Will and Testament And I enjoin on them that they
comply with these premises And I revoke all other Will or Wills by me made and
Acknowledge this and this alone to be my last Will and Testament. In witness whereof I have hereunto, Set my
hand and seal this ?? day of
December in the Year of our Lord one Thousand Eight Hundred thirty two.
(his)
John X Brooks
(mark)
Children of John and Elizabeth Hall
Brooks:
Jane Irene Brooks b. 1801 prob. KY d. 1883 Brown Co, OH
m. William Neal m.
William Neal, Sr. ,
was born in 1800, and came to the township when ten years
of age, and when twenty
years of age married Jane Brooks. He
brought his
first piece of
economy he amassed nearly one
thousand acres during his lifetime. He
raised a
family of eight children,
five boys and three girls, most of whom still live
in the township. His eldest child, Elizabeth, married Jonas
Murphy; Julia
Ann married John Colthar, and resides in Pike Township; Lewis the oldest son,
married and lives on Survey
No. 10,717; John married Sarah J.
Kennedy, and
lives in
storekeeper; Sarah married Stephen Kennedy;
homestead, and
John Brooks b.
m. Nancy Curliss m.
Elizabeth Brooks b.
m. Frederick Klinger m.
William Brooks b. Oct 1805 OH d.
m. Abigail Rounds m.
Rebecca Brooks
Rebecca married James Leonard 9 Nov 1826 Brown Co, OH b. 1807 to Aaron Leonard of
Pennsylvania and Sarah Rounds of York Co, Mass.
Rebecca died c1839 and James remarried
Nancy Brooks b.
m.
Jonathan D. Rumery m.
m.
Lewis Thompson m.
m.
Joseph R. Rounds m.
Lucinda I. Brooks b. 1817 OH
m. Jacob
Frazee m.
Matilda Brooks b. Aug 1818 OH d.
m.
James Franklin Colthar m.
Absalom Brooks b. 3 Mar 1821 Union Plains, Brown Co, OH d.
Mt. Orab, Brown Co, OH
m. Mary Margaret Warner m.
Carolyn Frances Brooks
m1. David Webster
Mary Brooks
m. Solomon Dutton 28 Mar 1827 Brown Co, OH
Records for John Brooks of
Montgomery Co, NC
The Earliest Extant Deeds
1774-1842:
p. 319 -
page 127(Abstracts of Probate Reports:
1749-1789) Page 117 -- [n.d.] John Hall. Inv. by
Elizabeth Brooks, exr.
1820 Brown Co, OH
Clarke TS 011101-421010-0-3
See also Henry Hall
to John Brooks Jr. deed for 1779 (for Hall family connection)