Biographical/historical information

The Brake family come from Edgecombe County. The first Brake was Jesse Brake, who was born in 1772. Jesse was maried to Patience Price (1775-1854). The two owned a farm and had 7 children that made it to adulthood. The family cemetery is located in Rocky Mount, NC and has 120 graves.

Scope and arrangement

The bulk of this collection is genealogy records relating to the Brake family in Rocky Mount, NC, and the surrounding area. Records include birth certificates, bible records, death certificates, photographs, new clippings and other legal documents. Also included in this collection are tobacco sale bills and information about the Edgecombe Fire Department.

Administrative information

Custodial History

May 17, 2019, 0.29 cubic feet; Included are a Brake Family History; a survey (1984) and history of the Brake Family Cemetery located near the corner of Cokey Road and Calhoun Road in Rocky Mount, North Carolina; a deed and a marriage license; documents (1957-1980) related to the West Edgecombe Volunteer Fire Department which included volunteer firefighter Robert Earl Brake; tobacco sale bills (1926-1933, undated) from several warehouses in Rocky Mount; and a 1931-1932 Faculty and Student Directory for N.C. State. Gift of Margaret Frances Brake.

August 27, 2019 (addition 1), 0.29 cubic feet; This addition includes photographs of Margaret Frances Brake, a photograph of Robert Earl Brake and wife Margaret Burges Brake and their five children, and a picture of the farmhouse (now gone) they lived in on NC Highway 43 near Rocky Mount, North Carolina. Gift of Betty Brake.

January 29, 2020 (addition 2), 0.05 cubic feet; Addition includes 12 photographs (with identifying information) of members of the Brake and Burges families of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, the West Edgecombe Volunteer Fire Department building and fire engines, and a tobacco barn and hanging tobacco to cure. Gift of Betty Brake.

July 21, 2023 ( addition 3), 0.45 cubic feet; Addition (ca. 1935-2017, undated) includes photographs (with some identifying information) of members of the Brake and Fly families of Edgecombe County, North Carolina, and of class pictures for schools in the Greensboro area of North Carolina where Frances Brake taught, obituaries for Brake and Burges family members, clippings, genealogy information, invitations to commencement exercises, and 4-H Club certificates and ribbons (1960s). Gift of Margaret Frances Brake via Alston Cobourn.

Source of acquisition

Gift of Margaret Frances Brake

Gift of Betty Brake

Processing information

Processed by Ashlyn Racine, December 2023

Copyright notice

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

Metadata Rights Declaration

Key terms

Family Names

Brake family

Corporate Names

North Carolina State University--Directories
West Edgecombe Volunteer Fire Department (Rocky Mount, N.C.)

Topical

Cemeteries--North Carolina--Rocky Mount

Container list