The Parentage of Christopher William(s) Brooks, Part 2

With all the confusion about who Christopher William(s) Brooks' father was, I started wondering what event occurred that first pointed me in the direction of Christopher Brooks Sr and Susannah Williams as Christopher William(s) Brooks' parents. Here are some details:

Henry WILLIAMS mentioned daughter Susannah RICE in his will written 1785. By that time, Susannah was already remarried to William Higgason RICE. Their Caswell Co., NC marriage bond listed Wm H. Rice and Susannah BROOKS, married 20 Dec 1784. According to the Caswell Co., NC Guardian Accounts, William H. RICE was legal guardian of Christopher Williams BROOKS in 1797; Caswell Co., NC Record Book C, p. 262, October Court 1797: Christopher Williams Brooks orphan in acct. with William H. Rice guardian. Cash paid to George Somers, William Holderness; tax paid for 1795 and 96. (Katherine Kerr Kendall's abstracts of Will Books, 1777-1814, p. 57).

Additionally, when Christopher Brooks Sr died in 1781, there were several court record entries for the administration of his estate:

• December court 1781 Susannah Brooks resigned her adminisration of estate of her husband (Christopher Brooks) to her father, Colonel Henry Williams. (Source: Historical Abstracts of the Court of pleas and Quarter Sessions Minutes of Caswell County, Kendall: p.7, Dec 1781)

• Adminstrators Bond in the amount of 500 pounds, dated 4 Dec 1781 signed by Henry Williams and Nath'l. Williams in presence of A. Murphey to bind Henry Williams as Administrator of Christopher Brooks, Deceased. Caswell County March Court 1782 - Inventory of estate of Christopher Brooks returned by Henry Williams, Administrator, and ordered to be recorded. Sold by David Shelton, Sheriff 24 Jan 1782. Buyers included Susannah Brookes, Henry Williams, William Holderness, Nath'l Williams, John Pane, Thos. Brookes.

George Brooks, Supposed Father of Christopher Williams Brooks - Records Search Results

Many researchers believe George Brooks to be the father of Christopher William Brooks, b. 1781. A land grant was issued to George Brooks, Sgt by the state of NC for 1000 acres in Maury Co., TN for Revolutionary War Service. The land grant stated that the land was to be transferred to Christopher Brooks, "heir of George Brooks." Because Christopher Brooks was still a minor, the land grant was then transferred to Henry Williams, whom I believe to be Christopher's grandfather (assuming Christopher is son of Christopher Brooks Sr and Susannah Williams). After Henry Williams died, Elizabeth Williams, his wife and executrix of his estate, sold his interest in this land to Nathan Williams (probably son of Elizabeth and Henry Williams) in 1813.

Today, I searched for George Brooks in the these records at the NC State Archives, 109 E. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC. My goal was to find some hint of relationship to other Brooks family members. Although I did not see mention of any family members, I did find the following records:

1. Caswell Co., NC List of Taxables for 1777, 1780, & 1784 , microfilm, Call No. 020.70001:

• 1777: Glouster District, George Brooks, 650 Acres, 7 wp, 0 bp - Where did this 650 acres come from? I did not see a land grant in Caswell, Orange, or Granville County, NC Land Grants.

• 1780: I only looked for Christopher Brooks. I don't believe George Brooks was listed.
• To Do: Look up George Brooks in 1780 tax list
• 1784: No George Brooks

2. Caswell Co., NC Record of Wills, Volumes A, B, C, microfilm, Call No. 020.80001. These records were also abstracted by Katherine Kerr Kendall's "Caswell County, NC Will Books, 1777 – 1814 & 1814 - 1843" which can be searched on ancestry.com

• I don't think I looked specifically for George Brooks here; if so, it was a younger George Brooks who is the son of Charles & Sally (Williams) Brooks
• I did not find an older George Brooks in the Will Book abstracts using Ancestry.com's search function either

3. Caswell Co., NC Loose Papers of Estate Files, Call No. 020.508.xxx

• Although I did not review the specific folder on this trip, I am fairly certain there were no BROOKS estate folders at the Archives (I inquired in June 2005)

4. Caswell Co., NC Land grants from the State of NC, card catalog:

• George Brooks, File no. 444, 300 acres, Entry no. 622 entered 11 Jan 1779; Grant no. 605, issued 13 Oct 1783; Book 53, p. 25; Located on the Middle fork of the South Fork of Country Line Creek

5. Caswell Co., NC Index to Real Estate Conveyances, Grantors and Grantees, microfilm

• These records need to be searched again. The Grantors index was indecipherable because the pages copied were too light. To Do: Review Kendall's Deed Abstracts 1777-1817 at the Olivia Raney History Library

Elizabeth Williams Estate Files 1814

I collected wills and estate records of the Caswell County, North Carolina WILLIAMS family members. The call number of the file box that had loose papers of estate records was:
C.R. 020.508.102.

The first folder I pulled was labelled: "Elizabeth Williams, 1814."

I believe this folder contains estate records of two separate Elizabeths, one who died in 1813 and one who died in 1816. The following information is a summary of the pages enclosed in the folder.

(1) Elizabeth Williams, 1814:

Administrators bond, Nathan WILLIAMS 10 January 1814:
Nathan WILLIAMS, John HENSLEE, and Quintonn ANDERSON are bound onto Solomon GRAVES, chairman of the county court of Caswell in the sum of four hundred pounds to be paid to said chairman Solomon GRAVES, sealed this 10th day of January 1814.

Nathan WILLIAMS has been appointed administrator of all the singular goods and chattels, rights and credits of Elizabeth WILLIAMS dec'd, do make and cause to be made a true and perfect inventory of all singular goods and chattels, rights and credits of the deceased which have or shall come to the hands or possession of the said Nathan WILLIAMS...promises to make a true account and administer according to law...signed and sealed by Nathan WILLIAMS, John HENSLEE, Q. ANDERSON; test A. MURPHEY Clk.

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An inventory of the estate of Elizabeth WILLIAMS, decd, returned to January court 1814, on oath by the administrator, Nathan WILLIAMS, and ordered to be recorded in book F, folio 395 by A. E. MURPHEY, clk:

An inventory of property Elizabeth WILLIAMS Decd leased and purchased of the 15th October 1813:

Two Negro men Viz: Sampson and Jacob
one bed and furniture
two cows and calf
two yewes and lambs
one pewter dish
two pewter basons
1/2 dozen pewter plates
one earthen dish
two earthen pans
two earthen mugs
one black walnut chest
one woman's saddle
one iron pott and one iron skillet
fifty pounds that was willed but not received
returned by me Nathan WILLIAMS, admr.
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A list of a sale of the estate of Elizabeth WILLIAMS decd on the 24th day of January 1814, (Ordered to be recorded in book F folio 418, Test A. E. MURPHEY, Clk, April court 1814):

To Elizabeth WILLIAMS:
iron pot, $1.61
iron scillett, $0.71
earthan dish, $0.33 1/3
earthan pan, $0.11
mug, $0.41
walnut chest, $6.00
2 ewes? of lambs, $3.60
cow and calf, $13.30
Negro man Sampson, $101.53
$127.60 1/3

To Charles BROOKS: (Elizabeth WILLIAMS’ son in law)
1 earthen pan, $0.15
1 pewter bason, $2.00
1 pewter bason, $1.00
1 womans saddle, $2.00
1 bed and furniture, $29.00
$34.15

To James GRAVES:
1 small mug, $0.10
1 countepin? $4.00
Cow and calf, $10.25
$14.35

To Zachariah NEAL: (Married Rebecca RICE, dau of Susannah WILLIAMS Brooks and Wm H. RICE)
1 bed quilt, $6.75
$6.75

To Nathaniel L. RICE:
1 pewter dish, $1.10
Sheat?, $2.50
$3.60

To Hosea MCNEILL:
1/2 dozen pewter plates, $3.40
$3.40

To John HENSLEE:
1 Negro boy Jacob, $513.10
$513.10

Total: $702.95 1/3 by Nathan WILLIAMS, Administrator
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The following documents were included in the same file, but probably from another Elizabeth WILLIAMS, possibly the same Elizabeth who purchased items from the estate of Elizabeth WILLIAMS in 1814. This woman died between Jan 1814 and Jan 1816.

(2) Elizabeth Williams, 1816:

Administrators Bond, 8 January 1816, Nathan WILLIAMS, Henry WILLIAMS, and William LEA, bound unto Solomon GRAVES, chairman in the sum of five thousand pounds, in the county of Caswell, this 8th day of January 1816…Nathan WILLIAMS is appointed administrator of the singular goods and chattels, rights and credits of Elizabeth WILLIAMS, decd. Signed and sealed by Nathan WILLIAMS, Henry WILLIAMS, William LEA; A. E. MURPHEY, clk.

Sales estate 12 Jan 1816, (not included in the estate file) of Elizabeth WILLIAMS returned to April Court, 1816 and recorded in Book G, p. 179: Buyers were Henry WILLIAMS, Nathan WILLIAMS, etc., 12 Jan 1816 (Katherine Kerr Kendall's Abstracts of Caswell County Will Books, p. 11).

Sales estate 29 Jan 1816 (not included in the estate file) of Elizabeth WILLIAMS returned to April Court 1816 and recorded in Book G, p. 180, Sales to: George Brooks, William H Rice, Nathaniel L Rice, Sally Brooks, Samuel Fielder, James Shepherd, John Penix, Williamson Rice, Devreu Hightower, Christopher Brookes, etc… 29 Jan 1816 (Katherine Kerr Kendall's Abstracts of Caswell County Will Books, p. 11-12).

Inventory of Property, 7 Apr 1816 (not included in the estate file) of Elizabeth WILLIAMS, decd by N. WILLIAMS adm. returned to April court 1816, and recorded in Book G, p. 168: A memo on Nathan WILLIAMS; bonds on George Brooks, Susannah Rice, Henry WILLIAMS, Benjamin Spencer (this bond is doubtful). 7 Apr 1816 (Katherine Kerr Kendall's Abstracts of Caswell County Will Books, p. 11).


An inventory of account of bonds and cash (Jan Court 1817) found in possession of Elizabeth WILLIAMS dec'd at her death, by Nathan WILLIAMS, adm., returned to court on oath by the administrator and ordered to be recorded, Test Azariah GRAVES, Clk, January Court, 1817. Recorded in book G p. 354, Test A. GRAVES, clk:

Cash on hand: $55.72
one bond on Henry WILLIAMS due 21 Nov 1807, $7.75
one bond on Nathan WILLIAMS due 25 Dec 1815, $89.75
one bond on George BROOKS and Nathan WILLIAMS due Mar 1810 for $200.00
one bond on Susannah RICE due 25 Dec 1815 for $60.00
one account on Benjamin CANTRAL for $2.50
One account on Nathan WILLIAMS for $164.84 & 1/4; total of $580.56 & 1/4;

One note on Benjamin SPENCER due on demand dated 26 Dec 1794 for the sum of 26 pounds, 3 sh., 10 3/4 pence; considered of no value in consequence of insolvency and non residence;

One note on Daniel WILLIAMS due on demand dated 17 Dec 1787 for the sum of 7 pounds considered of no value in consequence of being ______ long since;

The above statement I hereby certify contains all cash bonds and account which I found in the possession of Elizabeth WILLIAMS, decd. Sworn to Nathan WILLIAMS, adm.

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WILLIAMS family, Granville Co., NC

Today I combed through the Granville Co., NC usgenweb files looking for information on the Williams family. My ancestor, Henry Williams, was not from Granville Co.; he was from Caswell Co., NC. However, his father, Daniel Williams lived in Granville Co., NC along with many of Henry's siblings.

Here is what I found:

• The wills of Thomas Williams (1761) and William Williams (1763)

• Marriage record of Charles Williams to Hannah Clewall, 23 Feb 1797; This Charles Williams was probably a son of William Williams and is mentioned in his will.

• Revolutionary War Pension files for Samuel F. Williams, son of William Williams, and Solomon Williams.

• History of Granville Co., NC including Judge Henderson and John Williams. This Williams - Henderson connection intrigued me because Daniel Williams married Ursula Henderson.

• Orphan accounts of Granville Co., NC: Elinor Armsby to Daniel and Ursula Williams to learn housewifery, 22 Mar 1759; Samuel Wheeler to James Williams to learn carpentry, 21 Mar 17589.

All of this information was copied and saved to my "Daniel Williams.doc" file.

WILLIAMS family, Lunenburg Co., VA

In 1757, Daniel Williams, planter, of Granville Co., NC deeded a tract of land consisting of 420 acres in Lunenburg Co., VA to his son, Henry Williams "for love and affection." Henry and his wife Elizabeth lived in Lunenburg Co., VA through 1762. In 1764 Lunenburg Co was divided to form Mecklenburg Co., VA in the south. Henry and Elizabeth Williams were then listed as living in Mecklenburg Co., VA between 1765-1770; therefore this land must have laid in the area that was originally Lunenburg that became Mecklenburg Co., VA in 1764. The Willliams family removed to Orange Co., NC, then Caswell Co., NC about 1770.

Today I searched for Henry Williams in the USGenWeb Lunenburg Co., VA archive files for deeds and court records. Although I did not find any references to Henry Williams, my ancestor, I did find a family record file of Reverend John Williams, that was submitted by JoLee Gregory Spears. Reverend John Williams of Lunenburg Co., VA was a 1st cousin of my ancestor, Henry Williams.

JoLee's family record contained a link to Reverend John Williams and Henry Williams' grandfather, John Williams, the Wealthy Welshman published by Scott K. Williams.

This website was a wealth of information regarding the history of the Williams Family in America. Scott K. Williams' two significant references were the following:

1) "Williams 300 Years of Leadership in America: A History of the Descendants of John Williams of Llangollen, Wales" by Lewis James Williams, 1997. This book can be found at the State Library of North Carolina.

2) The transcript of the Williams Family Bible written by John Drayton Williams, son of Washington Williams, grandson of Gen. James Williams; In 1910 Barbara A. McClung copied John D. Williams' family bible that he wrote in 1845 which she borrowed from William D. Williams, Jr (Greenville, TN). If I'm not mistaking, this transcription by Barbara A. McClung is housed in the Calvin M. McClung Historical Collection at the Knox Co., TN Library and is copied in several rootsweb files online.

I am very excited about all the great publications references I have come across this week on my Williams family. Now I just have to find enough records to prove that Henry Williams is really my ancestor!!! I'm not sure of what the genealogy netiquette of saying this is, but proving that Henry Williams' daughter, Susannah Williams Brooks Rice was married to Christopher Brooks, and that they were the parents of my ancestor, Christopher Williams Brooks, would disprove existing publications listing George Brooks as C W's father.

With a little help from my new-found friend in TN, I hope to solve this mystery soon.

James WILLIAMS, 96th District, SC (con't)

Another To Do:

1. Read Williams Graves' "James Williams, An American Patriot in the Carolina Backcountry"; 2002.

2. Copy the following article which can be found at the NC Genealogy Library (or the Olivia Raney History Library - closed stacks): Madge C. Frink. "Colonel James Williams: A Sketch of a Patriot and the Events Leading to the Battle of King’s Mountain." Daughter’s of the American Revolution Magazine 118 (1984): 644-6.

Update: I could not find this article by Madge C. Frink in volume 118. This source has been cited for other family pages, so this is kind of strange. I did find another volume with an article about James Williams, but MY LIBRARY IS MISSING THAT VOLUME.

Too bad I can't remember where I saw this source cited. I guess I need to keep better blogs :)

James WILLIAMS, 96th District, SC

In my previous post, I mentioned that my ancestor, Henry Williams of Caswell Co., NC had a brother, Colonel James Williams of the 96th District, SC who died in the Revolutionary War. I received the book I ordered "James Williams: An American Patriot in the Carolina Backcountry" by William Graves in the mail this week to confirm this relationship. Graves' book gives an excellent account of the life of Colonel James Williams and includes familial activities and history based on primary sources of letters, wills, estate, and court records.

The author of this book confirms that my ancestor, Henry Williams, was in deed the brother of Colonel James Williams and says that Colonel James Williams transferred much of his assets, including his slaves, to his brother's house for safe keeping from the Tories shortly before he died (p. 25-27).

Details of his whole estate were recorded in both Caswell Co., NC and in the 96th District, SC. This was a great find. As a side, my ancestor, Henry Williams, was also a Colonel in the Revolutionary War; Henry Williams' great-grandson, Iverson Lea Brooks later became a General in the War between the States.

To Do:

1. Copy the Will of James Williams from the Caswell Co., NC Will folders at the State Archives [If not located, look for will recorded in Caswell Co Will Book A, p. 113, December Court 1780]
2. Copy the estate files of James Williams from the loose papers in the estate of James in Caswell Co., NC at the State Archives
3. Go through and index the Land Grants issued the Williams family in Granville Co., NC before 1800. - Updated: A summary of Land Grants was posted here.

WILLIAMS family (Caswell Co., NC)

Last week I combed through some more WILLIAMS family entries in Katherine Kerr Kendall's Abstract of Caswell County, NC Will Books, 1777-1843 that is posted online at ancestry.com. I found some correlations between my Henry Williams and his brother James Williams. Henry Williams administered the estate of James Williams who wrote his will in 1780 in Caswell Co., NC, having sought refuge from his home town of 96th District, SC.
Evidently this James Williams was a pretty famous Colonel in the Revolutionary War. Colonel James Williams died at the battle of King's Mountain, Oct 1780 and is buried in Gaffney, SC.
I ordered the book "James Williams: An American Patriot in the Carolina Backcountry" by William Graves hoping to learn more about his family to see if he really was a brother to my Henry Williams.

The Parentage of Christopher Williams BROOKS

There are Revolutionary Land records that give 1,000 acres to Christopher Williams Brooks, "heir of Sgt. George Brooks"; This has led researchers to believe that Christopher Williams Brooks was the son of this George Brooks. However, I am trying to prove that this is not the case, that Christopher Williams Brooks is the son of Christopher Brooks and Susannah Williams (dau of Colonel Henry Williams). It is possible that C. W. Brooks was a nephew, and George and Christopher Brooks Sr were brothers. My goal is to find the original land grants to see 1) if it really says "George" and 2) if it indicates a better relationship between George and Christopher Williams Brooks.The TN archives charges $20 to photocopy and mail the land grants. I pinged the TN mailing lists and got some responses - one poster said that the records are microfilmed and are very hard to read. I would hate to pay $20 for something that I could not even read.