William Brooks (1752 - 1841)

Born 3 Feb 1752 in Prince William County, Virginia

Ancestors

Husband of Nancy Ann (Locke) Brooks — married 5 Sep 1769 in Prince William (now Fauquier), Co, Virginia

Descendants

Died 24 Jan 1841 at age 88 in Thompson Valley, Tazewell, Virginia, USA

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Biography

William Brooks was a Virginia colonist.

William Brooks lived in Appalachia, in Virginia.

William Brooks performed Patriotic Service in the American Revolution.

William Brooks was born in Prince William County (now Faquier County), Virginia, on 3 February 1752.

William Brooks married Nancy Ann Locke (1749-1846) on 5 Sep 1769 in Prince William (now Fauquier) County, Virginia. They had twelve children:

1. John L. (1770-?)
2. Margaret (1772-1846)
3. Richard (1774-1853)
4. Thomas (1776-1859)
5. Mary "Polly" (1778-1841)
6. Nancy (1780-1809)
7. William III (1782-?)
8. Sarah "Sally" (1783-ca. 1815)
9. Elizabeth (1785-before 1841)
10. James (1788-1852)
11. Mary (1789-1790)
12. Louise "Levicy" (1791-1836).

NB: William Brooke's family Bible, published in 1856, includes notes and dates of birth of some of his children.

Son Thomas was a Captain in the War of 1812.

Per the SAR application submitted regarding him, William served five enlistments as an American Revolutionary War soldier:

1) Enlisted Oct 1776 as a private in Capt. Richard Jordan's company, 6th Battalion of Continental forces commanded by Col. James Hendricks;

2) Enlisted Oct 1777 in Culpepper County, Virginia as a private in Capt. Richard Waugh's Company of Col. James Barber's Virginia Regiment, and served one month.

3) Served during the month of Nov 1877 as a sergeant in the 5th Troop of Virginia Light Dragoons commanded by Col. Theodoric Bland.

4) Enlisted in Feb 1781 in Botetourt County, Virginia as a private in Capt. James Woods' Company of Col. Hugh Crockett's Virginia Regiment. He participated in the battles of Alamance and Whitesall's Mill, North Carolina.

5) Enlisted on 1 Nov 1781 as a private in Capt. Thomas Hamilton's Company of Col. Charles Dabney's Virginia Regiment. He served until discharged on 1 May 1782.^[1]

William possessed considerable wealth and that Ann (Nancy) was accustomed to luxury, but the close of the Revolution found them in strained circumstances. His wealth had shrunk to a trunkfull of Continental currency of little value.

He submitted a pension application, R1259, Sept. 25, 1832, while a resident of Tazewell County, Virginia. It was issued 21 June 1833 in the amount or $26.66 per annum plus a sum due from 4 Mar 1831. He was then 81 years old.

There are many records in the Tazewell Court House of the Participation of William Brooks in county affairs, and of his services to his friends and neighbors. He and three of his sons were signers of the application for the formation of Tazewell County in 1793, then a part of Wythe County. He served on the first Grand Jury impaneled in Tazewell County, Virginia in November 1800.^[2]

William died in 1841. In 1843 wife Nancy Ann, at age 94 appeared before a Justice of the Peace to request a widow's military pension. It was granted. She died in 1846. William and Nancy Ann are buried on a hillside SW of Jeffersonville, now known as Tazewell, Virginia, to the right of where Plum Creek Road joins the Thompson Valley Road, on a farm owned in 1959 by Sam Bishop Ward.

From 1841 Tazewell County, Virginia, Court minutes: "It appearing to the satisfaction of the Court, that William Brooks, deceased, was a Revolutionary pensioner, that he departed this life on the 24th day of Jan 1841, leaving his widow, Ann Brooks, and the following being all his heirs and legal representatives, to wit, John Brooks, William Brooks, Margaret Kirk, Elizabeth Stephenson, Nancy Clyburn, Sally Todd, Polly Brooks and Louise Asberry/Asbury (Louise is Levicy or Livicy), it is ordered that the same be certified."^[3]

William Brooks was buried on 27 Jan 1841 in the Brooks Cemetery, Thompson Valley, Tazewell County, Virginia.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ Revolutionary War Pensions application on file at National Archives in Washington, D.C. Pension Number: SR1259, VA; Microfilm Series M-804, Roll No. 355.
2. ↑ To Honor A Patriot-William Brooks of Tazewell Co., Virginia by Charles F. Brooks
3. ↑ From J. W. Harman, Annals of Tazewell Co., Virginia, pg 246 (1841)
4. ↑ Find A Grave: Memorial #23447350

• Larry E. Smith, “McDowell and Wyoming County, West Virginia Families and Individuals,” (http://www.coalexchange.com/ smith/), accessed 17 Oct 2016.
• "Wyoming County Heritage", WGS, Page 87. Richard Locke Brooks was son of William and Nancy Ann Locke Brooks Fauquier Co then Tazewell Co, Virginia.
• "Archives of Tazewell...", Yantis, page 238. Information on Richard's parents, William and Nancy Ann Locke Brooks. Bible of William Brooks lists Richard's birth as 12 Feb 1774.
• SAR Membership: 46049
  
• DAR Record Number A015114-Service Description: Capts Woods, Waugh, Hamilton, Cols Dabney, Crockett, Barber
• "United States Rosters of Revolutionary War Soldiers and Sailors, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QGTG-CMXT : 1 March 2021), William Brooks, 1 Jun 1840; citing Military Service, Tazewell, Virginia, United States, Citing various published state rosters, United States; FHL microfilm 103140737.
• "United States Revolutionary War Rolls, 1775-1783," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QL6Y-XKCQ : 20 February 2021), William Brooks, 28 Sep 1776; citing 28 Sep 1776, Virginia, United States, citing NARA microfilm publication M246. Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Services, 1980. FHL microfilm 830,382.
• Biography and Sources by Tucker-5631