Many researchers believe George Brooks to be the father of Christopher William Brooks, b. 1781. A land grant was issued to George Brooks, Sgt by the state of NC for 1000 acres in Maury Co., TN for Revolutionary War Service. The land grant stated that the land was to be transferred to Christopher Brooks, “heir of George Brooks.” Because Christopher Brooks was still a minor, the land grant was then transferred to Henry Williams, whom I believe to be Christopher’s grandfather (assuming Christopher is son of Christopher Brooks Sr and Susannah Williams). After Henry Williams died, Elizabeth Williams, his wife and executrix of his estate, sold his interest in this land to Nathan Williams (probably son of Elizabeth and Henry Williams) in 1813.
Today, I searched for George Brooks in the records at the NC State Archives, 109 E. Jones Street, Raleigh, NC. My goal was to find some hint of relationship to other Brooks family members. Although I did not see mention of any family members, I did find the following records:
1. Caswell Co., NC List of Taxables for 1777, 1780, & 1784 , microfilm, Call No. 020.70001:
- 1777: Glouster District, George Brooks, 650 Acres, 7 wp, 0 bp – Where did this 650 acres come from? I did not see a land grant in Caswell, Orange, or Granville County, NC Land Grants.
- 1780: I only looked for Christopher Brooks. I don’t believe George Brooks was listed.
- To Do: Look up George Brooks in 1780 tax list
- 1784: No George Brooks
2. Caswell Co., NC Record of Wills, Volumes A, B, C, microfilm, Call No. 020.80001. These records were also abstracted by Katherine Kerr Kendall’s “Caswell County, NC Will Books, 1777 – 1814 & 1814 – 1843” which can be searched on ancestry.com
- I don’t think I looked specifically for George Brooks here; if so, it was a younger George Brooks who is the son of Charles & Sally (Williams) Brooks
- I did not find an older George Brooks in the Will Book abstracts using Ancestry.com’s search function either
3. Caswell Co., NC Loose Papers of Estate Files, Call No. 020.508.xxx
- Although I did not review the specific folder on this trip, I am fairly certain there were no BROOKS estate folders at the Archives (I inquired in June 2005)
4. Caswell Co., NC Land grants from the State of NC, card catalog:
- George Brooks, File no. 444, 300 acres, Entry no. 622 entered 11 Jan 1779; Grant no. 605, issued 13 Oct 1783; Book 53, p. 25; Located on the Middle fork of the South Fork of Country Line Creek
5. Caswell Co., NC Index to Real Estate Conveyances, Grantors and Grantees, microfilm
- These records need to be searched again. The Grantors index was indecipherable because the pages copied were too light. Kendall’s Deed Abstracts 1777-1817 (at the Olivia Raney History Library) were reviewed in lieu of the index. See below
6. Caswell Co., NC Deed Abstracts 1777 – 1817 (Kendall)
- Deed book A, page 144, 1779: State of NC – No. 57, to Elisha Parks, 300 acres on both sides of middle fork of south fork of Country Line Cr adjacent claims of Samuel Kelly, William Gooch, George Brooks, John Anthony, Elijah Mason. 3 May 1779. chain carriers John Anthony, Ransom Atkinson. (Abstracts, p. 9) This 300 acres of land was then sold by Elisha Parks to Thomas Johnston of Culpepper Co (see below). [Note: this was probably taken in March; The date of May was probably a mistake by the abstractor. Subsequent deed information continues to be dated in March.] Source: Caswell Co., NC Deed Books, 1777-1817, Abstracts, Katherine Kerr Kendall, p.9
- Deed book A, page 175, 1779: State of NC No. 66 to Henry Williams, 216 acres on branches Shaws, Toms and Stoney Creeks adj William Brown, claims of Arthur Lovings, John Brothers. 3 Mar 1779. chain carriers Wm. Brown and Geo Brooks Jun. (Abstracts, p. 11)
- Deed book A, page 296, 1779: Elisha Parks of Caswell Co., NC to Thomas Johnston of Culpepper Co., VA for 1000 lbs, 300 acres on middle fork of Country line Creek adj claims of Samuel Kelly and William Gooch, John Anthony, George Brooks, claim of Elijah Mason, said land granted by NC to Parks 3 Mar 1779 adknowledged. (Abstracts, p. 18 )
Related posts: Two George Brooks Men of Caswell Co., NC
Filed under: Brooks, Caswell Co., NC, Gloucester Co., VA, Virginia | Tagged: Brooks, CaswellCoNC, GeorgeBrooks, Virginia, Williams |
Brooks and Williams Families of North Carolina 
As you know, I also believe that George Brooks was the uncle of Christopher Williams Brooks, not his father.
Here are some further ideas for you. I believe Henry Williams was not only CWB’s grandfather but he was the administrator of the estate of Christopher Brooks’ estate and may very well have been Christopher Williams Brooks’ guardian, which would explain why Henry Williams was in receipt of the land grant [as guardian for a minor]:
From the Court Minutes of Caswell County: p.7, Dec 1781: Susannah Brooks resigned as administrator of estate of Christopher Brooks and gave authority to Henry Williams.
Copies from received from NC Archives: Adminstrators Bond in the amount of 500 pounds, dated 4 Dec 1781 signed by Henry Williams and Nath’l. Williams in presence of A. Murphey to bind Henry Williams as Administrator of Christopher Brooks, Deceased. Caswell County March Court 1782 – Inventory of estate of Christopher Brooks returned by Henry Williams, Administrator, and ordered to be recorded. Sold by David Shelton, Sheriff 24 Jan 1782. Buyers included Susannah Brookes, Henry Williams, William Holderness, Nath’l Williams, John Pane, Thos. Brookes.
Now there is one more thing at play here. Primogeniture was still in effect in NC until 1784 – AFTER the deaths of both Christopher and George Brooks. See here: http://sc_tories.tripod.com/law_of_primogeniture_in_the_south.htm
and the rules of succession would be the following. If George Brooks died without issue, his estate would fall to his eldest brother – likely Christopher who was also deceased with the administrator being Henry Williams. If the eldest brother is dead, the estate then goes to the eldest son of the eldest brother if there is one. And in this case, that would be Christopher Williams Brooks. See Principle 4. on this page: http://www.genfiles.com/legal/primogeniture.htm
I have run across very identical situations in the past. But this really does explain the grant in a reasonable manner according to the laws at that time.