His death certificate records John E. Brooks, age 77 years 9 months 17 days, born 30 June 1912 in Va, died 30 June 1912 in Hazel Green, Wolfe Co., Ky, farmer, widowed, father James Brooks, birthplace blank, mother’s maiden name Polly Asbury, born in Va, cause of death suicidal gun shot wound in head, informant J. R. Brooks, Hazel Green, Ky.

The date of death has been mistakenly entered into the birthdate field. The age at death, if correct, would imply a birthdate of 13 Sep 1834.

In life, her given name was most often spelled Darcus or Darkus, but her gravestone spells it as Dorcas, and that is the “mother’s name” given by most of her children.

Reports of her parents and maiden name also differ. Most show her mother as Julia Ann French and her father as George Asberry/Asbury (the same one who married Nancy Brooks, Mellisant Wells and Rebecca Jane Shoup.) A few show her father as William Allison. Her maiden name is variously given as French, Asbury and Allison.

The earliest documented records I can find, the 1850 census where she appears as age 11 with her mother and presumed maternal grandparents, and the 1861 birth record of her son George, both show her maiden name as French. The documents with the maiden name Asbury or Asberry are greater in number, but they are all death certificates for her children, mostly with the informants being her grandchildren, or sons and daughters in law. So my conclusion is that she was raised as Dorcas/Darcus French, but her father was acknowledged to be George Asbury/Asberry, so her adult children and grandchildren thought of that as her maiden name.

An article in the Hazel Green Herald reported “Serious Illness of Mrs. Brooks. Mrs. Erastus Brooks, near town, is critically ill with typhoid fever and dysinterry, and owing to her extreme age and enfeebled condition there is but little chance of her recovery. She is a patient of Dr. Taylor Center, and he said a few days since that while he hoped he would be able to restore her to a normal condition he was doubtful of the result as she is 69 years of age and feeble from incidental infirmities. Her husband and children have the sympathy of all who know them, and the hope is generously expressed that the wife and mother may be restored to them. Mrs. Brooks is a good old woman, has raised a large family of children and has always been a charitable, good neighbor.”

Her gravestone says Dorcas A. Brooks, Born Jan 11, 1836, Died Nov 13, 1907. The inscribed birthdate is in conflict with all census records and with the article quoted above.

I have no relationship to these Brooks or Spencer families. I am entering them in order to show the relationships between Dora Brooks who mothered Catherine Reed by Jack Reed, Mattie Lee Brooks who married Jack’s son Joe Reed (Dora and Mattie were both out-of-wedlock daughters of William Leander Brooks and Martha Banks), Malissa Spencer who was Leander Brooks’ wife, and John Ponder Spencer and his wife Amanda Tennie Brooks, with whom Mattie Lee Brooks was living in the 1900 census.

My only connection to the family is that Joe Reed’s full sister Almeda Reed married my third cousin twice removed Floyd Hall. But many people find families on my web sites by googling on the name of a relative. So when the relationships are complex, I like to show them all in order to help out.

The above accounts for my interest in Leander and Tennie. The other children of John and Dorcas are entered mostly in order to show the documentation for Dorcas’s maiden name, which is in the birth and death records for other children (particularly George, James and Ella.)

1860 census of Morgan Co., Ky, district 2, West Liberty P.O., enumerated 11 July, lists on p. 40 as family #255:
J. E. Brooks, 25, farmer; Darcus, 20; William, 4. All born in Virginia.

1870 census of Wolfe Co., Ky, precinct 2, Hazle Green P.O., enumerated 4 July, lists on p. 3 as family #18:
Brooks, John E., 35, farmer, b. Va; Darcus A., 31, b. Va; William L., 14, b. Va; George A., 8, b. Ky; Ella, 6, b. Ky; John H., 4, b. Va; Arberry F., 2, b. Ky.

1880 census of Wolfe Co., Ky, precinct 2, enumerated 15 June, lists on p. 25 as family #198:
Brooks, John E., 45, b. Va Va Va, farmer; Darkus, 41, wife, b. Va Va Va; George, 18, son; Ella, 16, dau; John, 14, son; Asberry, 12, son; Tennie, 10, dau; Robert, 7, son; Franklin, 3, son; Enmda, 1/12, b. May, dau. All children born Ky Va Va.

1900 census of Wolfe Co., Ky, Hazel Green precinct, enumerated 18 June, lists on p. 9A as family #151/152:
Brooks, John E., 65, b. Sep 1834, Va Va Va, farmer; Dark A., wife, 61, b. Jan 1839, Va Va Va; Arberry, son, 32, b. May 1868, Ky Va Va; Robt Jas, son, 26, Ky Va Va, b. Nov 1873; Emanda, cousin, 47, b. Nov 1852, Va Va Va, single.