Whitfield Butler Brooks Sr. (1790 - 1851)

Born 3 Feb 1790 in Newberry, Newberry, South Carolina, United States

Ancestors

Descendants

Died 28 Dec 1851 at age 61 in Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina, United States

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Biography

Whitfield Brooks was born February 3, 1790 in Newberry, South Carolina the son of Zachariah Smith Brooks and Elizabeth Butler.^[1][2] He was married to Mary Parsons (Carroll) Brooks (1800-1870) on June 16, 1818 In Edgefield County, South Carolina^[3] and had these known children:

1. James Madison Brooks b. 1810 Newberry, SC d. December 1869 SC.
2. Nancy Brooks 1813-1830
3. Preston Smith Brooks (1818-1857)
4. Capt James Carroll Brooks b. 27 Jan 1821, Edgefield, SC d. 21 May 1899, Columbia, SC^[4]
5. Mary Elizabeth Brooks b. 1822 SC d. 15 Aug 1852 Edgefield, SC.
6. George Butler Brooks b. 1824 d. 5 Oct 1825 Edgefield, SC
7. Whitfield Butler Brooks Jr. (1825-1847)
8. Ellen Sophia Brooks Dunovant b. 23 Jan 1829 Edgefield, SC d. 8 Jan 1870 Edgefield, SC
9. John Hampden Brooks (1833-1911)

"This gentleman was the son of Colonel Zachariah Smith Brooks, and Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Captain James Butler, who was killed in the foray of the "bloody scout," in October, 1781, at Turner's Station, on Cloud's Creek, Edgefield District. She was about seven years old at her father's death and is better known as the youngest sister of General William Butler. Whitfield Brooks was born in Newberry District; but his father afterwards removed to Big Creek, Edgefield District, where he lived, and died beyond the age of three-score and ten. Whitfield Brooks received his academic education mainly at Mount Bethel in Newbery District. He graduated in the South Carolina College in the class of 1812, and was one of four (Preston, O'Hara, Brooks, and Massey), who were appointed to deliver orations at Commencement. Some of his classmates -Pinckney and O'Neall- who received the first and second honors, and Preston, who was the first of the four to whom the orations were assigned, are not unknown, and are still spared by the mercy of God.

He studied law at Edgefield, with Colonel Simkins, and was admitted to the Bar, in Columbia, in 1815. The Court of Equity for Edgefield, was established in 1814, and immediately thereafter, Whitfield Brooks received the pro tem, appointment of Commissioner in Equity for Edgefield, from the Governor. He was, subsequently, in December, 1815, elected by the Legislature to the same office, which he held for eighteen years, and until he was forced to resign, on account of ill health. He married, on the 16th of June, 1818, Miss Mary P. Carroll, of the City of Charleston. He served in the House of Representatives, from Edgefield District, one of more terms. He removed from his pleasant home, in the village of Edgefield, to his Roseland Plantation, in the spring of 1848, leaving his eldest son, Preston S. Brooks, and his family, in possession of his village residence."

Whitfield passed away on December 28, 1851 in Edgefield, South Carolina and was buried in the Edgefield Village Cemetery in Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina.^[5]

His will was probated on November 8, 1851 in Edgefield County, South Carolina.^[6]

He gave Preston Smith Brooks (1818-1857) his gold pencil and pocketknife; James C. Brooks his gold watch chain; John Hampden Brooks (1833-1911) his walking stick. He left his 3 unnamed younger children $100 each to have their portraits taken. (It's thought that the 3 youngest living at the time were Mary Elizabeth Brooks, Ellen Sophia Brooks Dunovant, and John Hampden Brooks (1833-1911)) To Brother-in-law Dr. Maximilian LaBode he gave silver a goblet & $25, brother-in-law James P. Carroll was given his old escritoin which had been given to him by his father. He gave his God-daughter Mary P. Carroll a silver cup and $15. All of his Glenn Springs estate in Spartanburg District, except the slaves, wagons, mules, mare & one colt and whatever furniture his wife wanted, was to be sold and equally divided among his children except for $100 which was to be set apart and given to the Vestry & Wardens of the Episcopal Church at Glenn Springs in five annual installments to the support of the minister of the church. The land bought from the Estate of Todd & from Lewis Bean and Thomas Payne respectively, and also his pine land tract of 100 near Good Hope was to be sold and divided among his children. To John Hampden Brooks (1833-1911) he gave a bond that he held against his son-in-law R.G. M Dunovant and his son Preston Smith Brooks (1818-1857) conditioned for the payment of $1,500 on or before 6 Sept 1854 with interest from the 1st day of November, also the sum of $1,250 with interest from the date of the will to be paid to him out of the residue of his estate, and the following 25 slaves; George, Betsey, Moses, Phil, Clarissa, Charlotte, Lucy, Dora, Taylor, Jacob, Harry, Eliza, Harriett, Butter, Tempe, Amy, Adrene & her 4 children Charlotte, Josephine, Jane & Georgiana, and Young Barnet, Madison, Adam, Allen. If any of the slaves died before he turned 21 then John was to receive a substitute, or their monetary value from the estate. While John was still a minor his portion was to remain in the custody & possession of his mother. Whitfield freed his wife from any stipulations held on her inheritance from her late mother. He instructed his wife to have the rest of the land located between that which he had given John and daughter Ellen Dunovant to be valued and the amount given to Ellen as the parcel of her share of his estate if she so chooses. He named his wife Executris and after her death he named Preston, James, & John.^[7]

Slaves

Slaves of Whitfield Butler Brooks Sr. - Slavery Documentation Page

Research Notes

Check to see if he fought in the Mexican - American War or another. He had the prefix of Colonel yet he was born after the American Revolution and died before the Civil War.

Sources

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} Ancestry.com. Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina [database on-line]. Provo, UT: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2005. Original data:O'Neall, John Belton,. Biographical sketches of the bench and bar of South Carolina. Charleston, S.C.: S.G. Courtenay & Co., 1859, Section: Vol II. Members of the bar. Ancestry Sharing Link
2. ↑ Ancestry.com. South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, South Carolina County, District and Probate Courts, South Carolina Will Transcripts, 1782-1868; Author: Brimelow, Judith M.; Probate Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, Name: Zachariah Smith Brooks, Residence Date: Abt 1845, Residence Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, Will Date: 1 Nov 1845, Probate Date: 6 Jun 1848, Probate Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, USA, Inferred Death Year: 1848, Inferred Death Place: South Carolina, USA, Item Description: Index and Will, Vol 1-2, Book D, 1836-1853, Others Listed: Zachariah Smith Brooks, Whitfield Brooks Son, Louiza Daughter's Children, Mary Daughter's Children, Cornelia Daughter's Children, Benheathland Bird Daughter, Nancy Blocker Daughter, Whitfield Butler Brooks Grandson. Ancestry Sharing Link
3. ↑ Ancestry.com. South Carolina, U.S., Compiled Marriage Index, 1641-1965 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2005, Name: Whitfield Brooks, Spouse: Mary Parsons Carroll, Marriage Date: 16 Jun 1818, Source: Edgefield Marriage Records-Carlee McClendon-Pottersville Museum. Ancestry Sharing Link
4. ↑ "United States, GenealogyBank Historical Newspaper Obituaries, 1815-2011", database, FamilySearch Whitfield in entry for Capt James Carroll Brooks, 1899.
5. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/57844823/whitfield-butler-brooks : accessed 23 January 2022), memorial page for COL Whitfield Butler Brooks (3 Feb 1790–28 Dec 1851), Find A Grave: Memorial #57844823, citing Edgefield Village Cemetery, Edgefield, Edgefield County, South Carolina, USA ; Maintained by Robert C. Peurifoy (contributor 46928811).
6. ↑ Ancestry.com. South Carolina, U.S., Wills and Probate Records, 1670-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015, Original data: South Carolina County, District and Probate Courts, Will and Deeds, 1780-1900, Genealogical Collection; Author: Daughters of the American Revolution (South Carolina); Probate Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, Name: Whitfield Brooks, Residence Date: Abt 1851, Residence Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, Will Date: 8 Nov 1851, Probate Date: 8 Nov 1851, Probate Place: Edgefield, South Carolina, USA, Inferred Death Year: 1851, Inferred Death Place: South Carolina, USA, Item Description: Will and Deeds, 1780-1900. Ancestry Sharing Link, Ancestry Sharing Link, Ancestry Sharing Link, Ancestry Sharing Link
7. ↑ Will Book D, pgs 446-447. Recorded Jan. 6, 1852 - John Hill, O.E.D. Box 60 - pkg. 2462. Edgefield County, South Carolina.

See also:

• "United States Census, 1850," database with images, FamilySearch Whitfield Brooks, Edgefield, Edgefield, South Carolina, United States; citing family , NARA microfilm publication (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• Ancestry Profile

• Ancestry Profile Private Tree Contact Owner

Acknowledgments

• Thank you to Gail Willard for creating WikiTree profile Brooks-3947 through the import of 85i8r3_66786307rdi3kl35282812.ged on May 2, 2013.