Genealogy Report: Ancestors of Billy Robert Wilson
Ancestors of Billy Robert Wilson
44.James Brock.
Notes for James Brock:
Brocks living in Lowndes County Alabama included James Brocks Sr., James Watson Brock, Alexander, Lavinia Brock, Lucinda Brock, and David J. Brock. In 1850, David and his wife Frances were living near Callie Holsten Campbell (Rebecca Brock Holsten's daughter).
In Lowndes County Alabama, James Brock's family were land owners as follows: Alexander Brock 205 acres; James Brock 366 acres; and the 160 acres held by Nancy Brock's husband Abel Deen. My other ancestors, the Hilbuns, held a total of 1750 acres in that same area.
Grace Campbell Clowe wrote, "According to research done back in the 1930's by one of my grandfather's aunts, my Rebecca Brock, born 1796 in Edgefield District SC, was the daughter of James Brock. The family supposedly moved from Edgefield District with a group of families, which included my Campbells and Holstens, to Alabama in the mid-1820's - they are all neighbors in the early SC censuses. My Rebecca's first husband was William Holsten, but she died in Bibb Co. in 1880 as Rebecca Day, widow of Silas Day. In several old deeds involving my family, I spied the surname Watson as a witness in Edgefield District. In 1830 Lowndes Co. James is next door to my David Campbell; in 1840 James Sr., James Jr., and Alex are on the same page with Perdues and Sawyers - other Edgefield people."
Children of James Brock are:
| 22 | i. | Alexander Brock, born July 06, 1812 in South Carolina; died May 09, 1879 in Atlanta, Winn Parish, Louisiana; married (1) ? Abt. 1836 in Probably Lowndes County Alabama; married (2) Matilda Ann Rogers December 05, 1849 in Ouachita Parish La.. | ||
| ii. | Nancy Brock, born 1803 in South Carolina; married Abel Averett Deen 1818 in South Carolina. |
| Notes for Abel Averett Deen: Abel Deen and Nancy Brock received a land patent on August 9, 1837 to 159.92 acres of land in Lowndes County Alabama in the Southeast corner of Section 35, Township 12-N, Range 15-E. They were neighbors of James Brock Sr. and Alexander Brock. The following information was developedby me in a cooperative effort with Carolyn Endel Strahan, whose E-mail address is [email protected]. She lives in Plain Dealing, La. and is a descendant of Elijah "Lige" Brock. Alexander had a sister, Nancy Brock, who married Abel Deen. Abel Deen was born in 1800 and Nancy was born in 1803, both in South Carolina. They were married in 1818. They migrated to Lowndes County Alabama and received a Land Patent to 160 acres which was described as the SE quarter of the 35th Section on Township 12-N, Range 15-E. They subsequently moved to Texas but moved back as far as Winn Parish Louisiana. Jesse Deen of Montgomery is a descendant of Nancy Brock Deen. So was Dan Deen, one ofthe leaders of a group of vigilantes who put an end to the West-Kimball Clan of highway robbers. |
| iii. | Rebecca Brock, born 1796; died 1880 in Bibb County Alabama; married (1) William Holstein; married (2) Silas Day. |
48.John C. Sr. Hare, born Abt. 1763 in Cumberland County, North Carolina.He was the son of 96. John Hair and 97. Margaret ?.He married 49. Elizabeth Owen.
49.Elizabeth Owen.
Notes for John C. Sr. Hare:
John C. Hare Sr. was born about 1763 possibly in Cumberland County, NC the son of John Hare and Margaret [maiden name unknown] Hare-Kosht. He married Elizabeth Owen. No information is available to show when or where, or Elizabeth's ancestry. We do not know for sure that John had a middle initial. He was John Sr. and had a son John C. Jr. Therefore, he must have had the same name as Junior. The C. probably stood for Calhoun which was a prominent middle name in the family, and may be the maiden name of Margaret Hare-Kosht, John's mother.
John and Elizabeth had eight children all born in North Carolina: John C. Hare Jr. born about 1785; Henry Bryan Hare Sr. (our ancestor) born about 1787; Elizabeth Hare born about 1789; Owen Hare born about 1791; Terricy Lydia Hare born about 1792; Mary Catherine Hare born about 1793; Peter Hare Sr. born about 1797; and Euphrania Frances Hare born about 1807.
John and Elizabeth moved their family to Wilcox County Alabama soon after the treaty of Fort Jackson, Alabama, August 9, 1814 which opened up the land formerly occupied by the Creek Indian Nation. The exact year could not be established but John and John Jr. died about 1823, nine years after the treaty. Since both died at the same time it appears a disease like malaria or yellow fever may have taken them. Who knows maybe Indians killed them or worse yet they may have killed each other.
ESTATE OF JOHN HARE SR.
ORPHANS COURT SECOND MONDAY IN APRIL 1823
(April 14, 1823)
Present the Hn.Edwin L. Harris, Esq. Judge County Court on application of Mark Morgan for Letters of Administration on the estate of John C. Hare Sr. deceased and it having made appear to the satisfaction of the court that the widow of the said John Hare Sr. deceased is unwilling to take upon herself the administration of the said estate and the said Morgan being one of the legal heirs (in right of his wife Euphrania Hare) of said estate, it is therefore ordered by the court that letters of administration on the said estate of John Hare Sr. be granted unto Mark Morgan.
It is ordered by the court that Mark Morgan give bond and security in the amount of two thousand dollars as administrator of said estate and that John A. Evans and Wm.H. Plummer be accepted for his security.
Ordered by the court that Wm.McLendon Esq., Frederick Autery, Joseph Morgan, Nathan Sheffield, John A. Evans or any three of them are and they are hereby appointed appraisers of the estate of John Hare Sr. deceased.
WRITER'S NOTE: Since this man is listed as John Hare Sr. and since he had a son John C. who was a junior, it is assumed that the senior John was John C. Hare Sr. and that his first son was John C. Hare Jr. For some reason, Mark Morgan (husband of Euphrania Hare) was removed as administrator of the estate and was replaced by Euphrania's brother Peter Hare, John Hare's son, four years after the proceedings began.
ESTATE OF JOHN HARE SR.
May 14, 1827
State of Alabama, Wilcox County:
Know all men by these presents that we, Peter Hare, Ephraim Pharr and Nathaniel A. Jameson are held and firmly bound unto James C. Irvin, Judge of the County Court of said county and his successors in office in the final sum of one thousand dollars which payment well and truly to be made and we bind ourselves our heirs executors and administrators firmly by these presents given under our hands and seals this 14th day of May A.D., 1827.
The condition of the above obligation is such that whereas the above bound Peter Hare has been duly appointed Administrator to the estate of John Hare deceased together with his last will and testament of the said John Hare deceased annexed hereunto. Now if the said Peter Hare shall well and truly perform all of the duties which are or may be by law required of him as such administrator then the above obligation to be null and void. Otherwise to remain in full force and virtue.
Signed, Peter Hare - E. Pharr
Signed and sealed in the presence of James C. Irvin
Judge of the Court of Wilcox County Alabama
Approved and ordered to be recorded and filed in office. James C. Irvin. Judge County Court Wilcox County Alabama. Page 150
WRITER'S NOTE: The following document was found in RECORD OF ESTATES 1820-1861, Moore County Alabama, Vol. B, Page 74.
ESTATE OF JOHN HARE SR.
August 13, 1827
PETER HARE ADM. OF ESTATE OF JOHN HARE SR.
August 13, 1823 The property of John Hare Snr. deceased, one judgment an John Sheffield Jr. for the sum of $30.15 due the 30th Oct. 1822. One judgment against Everett Sheffield Jr. and Medford Owens for the sum of $95.00. Judgment against Everett Sheffield, John Sheffield Jr. and Medford Owens for the sum of $92.00. One note against Everett Sheffield and Medford Owens for the sum of $23.00 due 4 Dec. 1822. One note on Mark Allen for the sum of $1.27 due June 6, 1823. One note in Everett Sheffield for the sum of $0.50 due June 6, 1823. One note on John Owens Sr. and Medford Owens for the sum of $1.00 due Sept. 1814. One note on James Williamson for the sum of $3.25 due May 13, 1823. Doubtful are proved accounts against the estate of Isom Sheffield decd. for the sum of $3.50 proven 15th Nov. 1822 Doubtful.
Signed, Peter Hare
ESTATE OF JOHN HARE SR.
Probate Minutes, Orphans Court, Wilcox County, Alabama. Mark Morgan Administrator of the estate of John Hare deceased appeared in open court and made application for a final settlement of the estate of the said John Hare deceased. It is therefore ordered by the court that the second Monday in November next be appointed as the time for making said settlement and it is further ordered that publication thereof be made by advertisement in a newspaper printed in Clairborn once a week for three weeks previous to said term and also by notice posted up at the door of the court house and two other public places in the county at least forty days before said time.
The inventory and appraisement of the estate of John Hare Sr. deceased was examined and approved and ordered to be recorded and filed.
James C. Irvin, Judge County Court Wilcox County Alabama.
ORPHANS COURT REGULAR TERM 14th APRIL 1828
The commissioner heretofore appointed to make distributions of the estate of John Hare Sr. deceased among the heirs and Legatees of said estate made the following distribution:
We whose names are hereunder written having been assigned by the judge of the county court commissioners to make appraisement and distribution of the estate of John Hare Sr. deceased among the heirs of said Hare have proceeded in the following manner, that is to say -
1. We allot and apportion to Elizabeth Hare- - - - --- $24.82
2. We allot and apportion to Mark Morgan- - - - - - - 11.48
3. We allot and apportion to Adam Autrey- - - - - - - -11.48
4. We allot and apportion to John Autrey- - - - - - - -11.48
5. We allot and apportion to Henry Hare- - - - - - - - -11.48
6. We allot and apportion to Mary Hare
Executor of John C. Hare Jr. estate- - - - - - - --- 11.48
7. We allot and apportion to the heirs of Owen Hare- - ---11.48
8. We allot and apportion to Mary Autrey- - - - - - - 11.48
9. We allot and apportion to Peter Hare- - - - - - - --11.48
10. We allot and apportion to Mark Morgan- - - - - -11.48
This 18th day of January 1828.
Obadiah Dumas, John Alenn Evans, John Watkins
WRITER'S NOTE: These documents are offered here merely to establish the genealogical information on our ancestors.
HISTORY OF WILCOX COUNTY ALABAMA
An excerpt from Thomas D. Owens' History of Alabama.
There may have been some settlers in Wilcox County in 1815, but there were a considerable number who made their advent in 1816 and squatted on the land which they cleared and farmed.
Isaac and Isham Sheffield, originally from North Carolina, were settlers in Clarke County, whence they moved and were among the first, if not the first, settlers in the Bethel precinct in Wilcox County, perhaps in 1816. Isham Sheffield soon erected a grist mill on Beaver Creek, which perhaps was the first grist mill erected in the county. It was the first voting place in that precinct for several years. Isaac Sheffield settled near Yellow Bluff. John Alexander Evans, from North Carolina, was another early settler on Beaver Creek, settling near the site of Sunny South, Alabama.
George and Joseph Morgan, brothers, were early settlers in 1816. George settled on Goose Creek, four miles west of Clifton, then known as Upper Peach Tree, and Joseph settled on Beaver Creek near John Alexander Evans. Peter Thornhill came with George Morgan and lived with him the first year. He was the first man to make a road through Flatwoods. This was done to enable him to find his way to and fro in his hunting expeditions and in his prospecting for a suitable location to settle permanently. All the settlers were in reality squatters and waiting for the lands to be surveyed and then put up for sale by the government. Thornhill at the land sale bought the tract of land on Walnut Creek east of Arlington, on which he was then living.
In April 1816, L.W. Mason settled on the west side of the Alabama River, opposite Wilcox's Island, which is near the mouth of Bussley's Creek. On the east side of the Alabama River, Joseph Morgan Jr., son of George Morgan, cleared several acres opposite Clifton and made a crop of corn that year which he sold to some flatboats going down to mobile. Thomas Rhodes settled near Pine Island on the road leading from Camden and Clifton. Rhodes' Creek in the vicinity perpetuates his name.
The first voting places were established at Prairie Bluff, Canton, and William Black's in 1819. A year later, John Smith's near the Lower Standing Peach Tree, and Allen and Saltmarch's at the Upper Standing Peach Tree were added. In 1822 others were established at Obadiah Dumas' and John McCondichie's.
Aboriginal History: There is the best presumptive evidence that the aboriginal inhabitants of Wilcox County were Maubila Indians, later known as Mobiliens, who were Choctaw speaking people. Mobile was named for the Mobiliens.
There are three place names laid down on DeCrenay's map on the east side of the Alabama River in Wilcox County that may be safely considered memorials of Maubila or Mobilien occupancy; Chacteata, in correct orthography, "Sakti Hata" meaning White Bluff, to be sought some few miles below the mouth of Pine Barren Creek; Talle quile', correctly spelled "Tali Hieli," Standing Rocks, apparently a mile, more or less, above Bridgeport; and Bacheli, "Bach illi," Dead Bluff, perhaps the present named Gullette's or Black's Bluff.
It seems that there were no Indian settlements in Wilcox County during the French and Indian times. There were certainly two, doubtless both Creek, in the later American times, for in the first explorations up the Alabama River during the Creek War of 1813, at two places on its West side in Wilcox County, abandoned Indian Villages were found. Peach trees were growing in both places. Discoverers called the first, the Lower Peach Tree and the second, the Upper Peach Tree. The site of the Lower Peach Tree is perpetuated by a village carrying that name. The Upper Peach Tree retained its name until about 1835, when the landing was purchased by George F. Watson, Leon Ratcliffee, and H.J. Savage who changed the name to Clifton, which it still retains. Wilcox County was in the Creek Indian Domain and became a possession of the United States by the treaty of Fort Jackson August 9, 1814. Burial mounds near Webb's Landing, near Buford's Landing, on Buford Plantation, half a mile below Holly Ferry, and several near Mathew's landing have been investigated and some interesting finds made along the Alabama River. Artificial head flattening and urn burial was noted by Dr. Moore who did considerable work along the river in 1899. Town sites, in most instances, accompany the mounds.
Children of John Hare and Elizabeth Owen are:
| i. | John C. Jr. Hare, born Abt. 1785. | |||
| 24 | ii. | Henry Bryan Sr. Hare, born Abt. 1787 in Moore County North Carolina; died Bet. 1839 - 1844 in Marengo County Alabama; married Lucy Ann White April 22, 1823 in Demopolis, Marengo County, Alabama. | ||
| iii. | Elizabeth Hare, born Abt. 1789. | |||
| iv. | Owen Hare, born Abt. 1791. | |||
| v. | Terricy Lydia Hare, born Abt. 1792. | |||
| vi. | Mary Catherine Hare, born Abt. 1793. | |||
| vii. | Peter Sr. Hare, born 1794. | |||
| viii. | Euphrania Frances Hare, born Abt. 1807. |