Francis Brooks Papers, 1741-1914

(Manuscript Collection #370)

Title:	Francis Brooks Papers
Creator:	Brooks, Francis
Repository:	ECU Manuscript Collection
Languages:	English
Abstract:	Papers (1741-1914, undated) including correspondence, legal records, land records, slave records, financial records, receipts, ledger account book, recipes, cures, disease, etc.
Extent:	0.43 Cubic feet, 240 items, 1 volume, consisting of correspondence, legal records, land records, slave records, financial records, receipts, ledger account book, and miscellaneous.

Accessions Information

October 12, 1978, ca. 200 items; Papers (1741-1914) of Pitt County, N.C., family containing correspondence, deeds, guardianship accounts, slave records, sheriff's accounts, receipts, and miscellaneous. Deposited by Mr. Ralph Sullivan, Jr., Garner, N.C.

Access Restrictions

No restrictions

Copyright Notice

Literary rights to specific documents are retained by the authors or their descendants in accordance with U.S. copyright law.

Preferred Citation

Francis Brooks Papers (#370), East Carolina Manuscript Collection, J. Y. Joyner Library, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina, USA.

Acquisition Information

• Gift of Mr. Ralph Sullivan, Jr.

Processing Information

• Processed by D. Lawson, June 1979

• Encoded by Apex Data Services

Francis Brooks, a descendant of John Brooks, was a Pitt County, N.C., planter. During the period 1829-1830, he became guardian for Abraham Hardee, probably a maternal relative. Samuel Isaac Dudley, also a member of this family, served as sheriff of Pitt County (1910-1914). The family remained active in local affairs and intermarried with such prominent families as the Tuckers, Dudleys, and Sullivans.

Correspondence of interest consists of a letter (Nov., 1848) from "Philipes County," Arkansas that discusses acquaintances in the surrounding area, corn and cotton crops and prices, rising land value, opportunity for success, and Moye relatives.

Estate records (1829-1836) consist of receipts for accounts, returns of sale, and accounts summaries for Abraham C. Hardee, for whom Brooks served as guardian. Slave records (1808-1856) consist of twelve bills of sale (1808-1850), a promise to pay a slave (1827), slave hiring stipulations for the years 1830-1833 and 1835, and a solicitous note (Sept. 15, 1856) informing an owner that a leased slave unwilling to work for the leasee was being returned.

Land records (1741-1904) consist of a copy of a Beaufort County land grant (May 21, 1741) to Simon Burney; a copy of a Pitt County deed (1764); and land rental and leasing agreements (1836, 1874, 1903). Legal records (1819-1822) consist of loan notes (1819-1826) and an Oath of Allegiance (Sept., 1865).

A sheriff's accounts consist of state tax, pension vouchers, guardianship, and deposit receipts for Pitt County Sheriff S. I. Dudley (1912-1914). Similarly a ledger book (1910-1914) lists receipts of funds including state and local taxes, general county fund, bridge, road, school, courthouse and jail bonds, and bond salary entries (1911-1914). Other entries (1910, 1913) record financial transactions of Dudley as an administrator and guardian.

Miscellaneous papers include recipes and cures (1834, undated) for fever and unnamed diseases, and a lineage of the descendants of John Brooks (undated).