Joab Brooks, Sr., m. Catherine Dimmaux
had issue

1. Margaret Brooks, probably went to Tennessee.
2. Larkin Tippett Brooks, b. about 1772, went to Tenn., but returned to Chatham County, where he married about 1790, Catherine, daughter of Thomas Brooks, Jr., and wife, Martha Temple. Larkin Brooks, d. 1837.
3. Sarah Brooks, m. and went to Tennessee.
4. Joab Brooks, Jr., b. 1-29-1770, d. 3-26-1844, m. his first cousin, Ruth Terrell Brooks, daughter of Isaac and Ruth (Terrell) Brooks, of Chatham County, N. C. Ruth Terrell Brooks, b.9-17-1774, d. 11-1-1884. They lived on the old Joab Brooks, Sr., plantation and they are buried there in the family burial ground by the road their fathers sponsored in the State legislature and helped to build.
5. Isaac Brooks, b. about 1774, m. in Chatham County, N. C., Ruth Evans, b. 1775, daughter of Ruth Evans of same county whose Will dated 11-24-1802 and probated 1803. She named the following children, Owen, John, Thomas and Aaron Evans; Sarah Emerson, Abigail Pyle, Ruth Brooks, Rebeccah Evans and mother, Mary McPherson. Of these children, Sarah married James Emerson and went to Tenn., and Ruth married Isaac Brooks and went to Tenn. Isaac Brooks and wife, Ruth Evans, seem to have gone to Tenn. between 1800 and 1810, as shown by census records. They were in Chatham County, N. C. in 1800 but do not show in the later census records. They stopped first in Maury County, Tenn., where on 7-23-1810 he is listed as Capt. Isaac Brooks of 27th Regiment of Maury County.
The 1850 census shows both Isaac and Ruth Brooks in Cannon County, Tenn., and listed with them is Isaac Brooks, Jr., b. 1815 in Tenn., m. Elizabeth E. b. 1816 in Tenn., and their children:
(1) Larkin Brooks, b. 1839
(2) Owen Brooks, b. 1841
(3) Catharine Brooks, b. 1843
(4) Nancy Brooks, b. 1850, all born in Tennessee.

6. John Dimmaux Brooks, b. 1775. John Dimmaux Brooks (sixth child of Joab Brooks, Sr., and Catherine Dimmaux) was born the same year his father died, 1775.
Court records show that two of his brothers, Larkin Tippett and Isaac had his sister Margaret Brooks appointed as their guardian in May, 1776.
Larkin was three years older than John and Isaac was one year older.
On the second Monday in May, 1778, the Court ordered that Thomas Brooks be appointed Guardian to Sarah, Joab, and John Brooks, orphans of Joab Brooks, dec.

John Dimmaux Brooks, b. 1775, went to Tenn. m. 1793 Rebecca Boyd McKaughan, b. 1775 in Pa., daughter of Archibald McKaughan, Jr., and wife Jane Mercer, from Pa. to Tenn., and granddaughter of Archibald McKaughan, Sr., m. near Belfast, Ireland, Rebecca Boyd, daughter of Alexander Boyd of Belfast, Ireland.
The latter came to New York and then to Pa. and then to Tenn.
Rebecca (Boyd) McKaughan d. 11-8-1812 in Jackson County, Tenn., age about 100 years.
After his marriage, John D. Brooks came back to Chatham Co. N. C. for only a few years, but records show him buying and selling, and he also shows up in the census.

JOHN BROOKS, SR., ESQUIRE

This record is concerned with the family of John Brooks, Esq., Sr. Tradition says he brought his wife, Susan, and six sons to Virginia, lived there a short while, then came to North Carolina, about 1735. An old genealogy of the family written by Joseph Headen in 1869 says, "The first Brooks that ever lived in Chatham County came from Fayetteville, N. C., having owned that land where the town now stands." Again it says, "He first stopped in the West Indies with his five other brothers, then they came to Virginia and stopped awhile, there the brothers separated, three of them went North, the other three came South." Joseph Headen married a great granddaughter of John Brooks, Sr., and he was born during the life of some of the sons of John Brooks, Sr. Those six brothers could not have been the sons of John Brooks, Sr., as they were too young to have been pioneering.
The first record found of John Brooks, Sr., in North Carolina was in 1735 when he was granted land in Bladen County, later included in Cumberland County. Bible records show that he came from near the mouth of the James River in Virginia. Another Bible record says "John Brooks and consort, Susan, from England, thought about 1700." Through succeeding generations there has been handed down a chest known as the "Sea-Chest" and said to have been brought from England by Susan Brooks, wife of John Brooks, Sr. On the side of the chest in original lettering is "S.B. - 1735." So with all this evidence left behind, we accept the tradition that John Brooks, Sr., brought his family of six young sons and his wife, Susan, from England to America in the early part of the seventeen hundreds.
Colonial Records of North Carolina gives us interesting items on the life of John Brooks, Sr., in Bladen County, N. C. Soon after settling there John Brooks, Esq., appeared before the council appealing to the Court to settle a land question. After he had been granted land he built a mill on what he supposed was his own land. Later the adjoining land was granted and it was found that the mill was on his neighbor's grant. The Court adjusted the trouble by granting John Brooks, Esq., the land on which he had built his mill, and adding more land to the other grant. In 1743-49-50 and 51, John Brooks, Esq., was appointed as Justice of the Peace for Bladen County, N. C. It must be remembered that at this time county courts were composed of Justices and they were called the Commission of Peace. In 1754 an Act was passed by North Carolina Legislature to erect a county from the upper part of Bladen County and St. David's Parish was established. John Brooks, Esq., was appointed vestryman for this parish. The new county is now Cumberland County, N. C. On 3-18-1756 the name of John Brooks was dropped as Justice of the Peace for Cumberland County. It was at this time that John and his family moved to Orange County, N. C., now Chatham County.
Cumberland County records show that on 10-1-1756 John Brooks, Esq., of Cumberland County sold Edward Dunsfield land that had been patented to him 9-10-1735, it about ten miles above Rock Fish Creek." He sold it "in consideration of the sum of eight pistols, to him in hand paid by the said Edward Dunsfield." Then in 1757 John Brooks, Esq., of Orange County sold Edward Dunsfield 100 acres in Cumberland County and joining the tract of 400 acres which he sold him in 1756. This definitely establishes the date of his removal to Orange County, N. C.
On 5-9-1755 John Brooks was granted 640 acres in Orange County, N. C., by the agent of Lord Granville. All of his grants in Orange County total about 1,500 acres. His home was included in Chatham County when it was formed in 1770. John Brooks, Sr., settled on the South side of Tick Creek, about three miles east of Ore Hill, N. C. His son, Thomas Brooks, settled on the South side of Rocky river near the Hugh Dixon Mill, now called Thomas' Mill, originally built by John Harris. His sons, Joab and Mark Brooks, settled on the 'head waters of Ephraim's Creek, about two miles northwest of Ore Hill. At or before the death of John Brooks, Sr., the homeplace fell to his youngest son, Isaac Brooks. Tradition says that John Brooks, Sr., and his sons, traveled from Cross Creek in Cumberland County, NC, to Orange County (now Chatham) in canoes up the waters of the Cape Fear River and Deep River, leaving their canoes about where the town of Gulf now stands. They went North on foot for about fifteen miles, and after locating the place for their future home, they returned to their canoes and went back to Cross Creek for their family.
Records show us that John Brooks, Sr., was a man of influence. The family in England had been outstanding before they came to America. Named among the incorporators of the Virginia Company, 1609, was Sir John Brooks, listed "in Virginia Commission 1631." So it is easy to understand why John Brooks, Esq., came to America and was immediately identified as a member of the Courts in his adopted land. He also seems to have been a man of wealth. He built what was then considered a costly home. The house was a two story building, framed, weatherboarded ceiled, and had glass windows and paneled doors. A good building that stood until about 1940.
John Brooks, Esq., deeded his lands to his children and the deeds were presented to the Courts in November, 1767, proved by the oath of Thomas Brooks, and ordered to be recorded. An estate sale in Orange County N. C., in 1762 refers to him as "Old Brooks." It is evident that he was born about 1690 and died about 1766 or 67. Records indicate that he might have had a daughter, Martha Goodman. When John Brooks deeded gifts of land to his sons, he also deeded land to Martha Goodman. She was the wife of Samuel Goodman and they lived in Cumberland County. Records show they sold several large tracts of land there. On 4-28-1768 they sold Arthur Mabson of New Hanover County, N. C., land in Cumberland County, joining the Rutherford plantation. In 1764 he sold the Hannah Goodman plantation in Cumberland County. Their daughter, Hannah Goodman, married Micajah Terrell, a brother of Ruth (Terrell) Brooks. In 1768 Joab Brooks presented a land dispute to the Courts against Samuel Goodman and the Courts settled the case in favor of Joab Brooks. It is interesting to note that we find them in the same section of South Carolina with members of the Brooks family. On 2-19-1788 John Williams of Laurens County, S. C., sold Samuel Goodman his original grant of 1765.

John Brooks, Esq., an English gentleman, married Susan came to America and died in Chatham County, N. C., about 1766.

JOHN BROOKS, ESQ.
b.1690(ENG) d.1766(NC) SUSAN.........
B. (ENG) D. (NC)

HAD ISSUE 1. Thomas Brooks ....b. 1710(ENG) d.1796m. Mary Harris.... b..?.. d.(NC) 2. JOAB BROOKS.... b. 1712(ENG) d.1775(NC)
m. CATHRINE DIMMAUX.. b..d.(NC) 3. John Brooks,Jr b. 1715(ENG) d. 1790(NC)m. Jane May b....d....(NC) 4. Mark Brooks b.1720(ENG) d. 1819(NC)m. Fannie Harris b....d....(NC)5. James Brooks B. 1725(ENG) d.1812(NC)m. Elizabeth Smith B....d....(NC) 6. Isaac Brooks b.1727(ENG) d.1825(TN) m. Ruth Terrell b....d....(TN)

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