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A small beginning of my genealogy:
Marengo County was created by the Alabama Territorial legislature on 1818 Feb. 6, from land acquired from the Choctaw Indians by the treaty of 1816 Oct.24. The name of the county was suggested by Judge Abner Lipscombe, and was given as a compliment to the first white settlers, expatriated French citizens and commemorative of Napoleon's great victory at Marengo over the Austrian armies on 1800 June 14.Marengo County is situated in the west-central part of the state.It is bordered by Hale, Greene, Perry, Dallas, Wilcox, Clarke, Choctaw,Sumter.
George Grauer born 1801 Germany married Sophia Porter born 1801 North Carolina and migrated into Marengo County Alabama. Perhaps with a group of brothers and sisters, they all seemed to have settled closely together, even with Sophia's father Mark Porter and his families.
Sophia's daughter Elizabeth was born in 1827 Alabama and she married James Westbrook in Marengo County, a son of Moses.
The Westbrook families were also from 1700s North Carolina and may connect to a Richard Westbrook who served in the N C Militia in 1754.
It appears that Elizabeth Westbrook was a widow with one son, William, on the 1850 census so she must have been pregnant with George Grauer Westbrook that year. In 1879 her son George married Marsella Braswell, who's families were also early settlers of Marengo County; her mother was Mary Glass, also another family of early settlers. Mary's mother was Hannah Holt, a daughter of Cader Holt, a big plantation owner who was buying land in Marengo in the 1820s. The others mentioned above have land deeds dated 1830.
Elizabeth Westbrook remained a widow for many years and always took care of her mother Sophia, who we find together on the 1870 census when Elizabeth has remarried, to Mr. Lawson and had more children...Elizabeth's son George and his wife Marcella had several children, including Clarence Grauer Westbrook in 1879, who married Carrie Etheridge. Carrie named a son Bruce Garland Westbrook in 1919 and he married Christine Holley. Christine's son married Penton, a daughter of Lige Bennett Penton and Gertrude Jones starting their own legacy in Elmore County.
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