FREEMAN CEMETERY
WEAKLEY COUNTY, TENNESSEE
BROOKS FAMILY
William Calvin & Elizabeth Tabor Ivie Brooks
W. C. (CALVIN) BROOKS and his wife ELIZABETH TABOR IVIE BROOKS are the earliest Brooks family members in Freeman Cemetery. Calvin was the son of Culpepper and Ann Lawrence Brooks and the grandson of John and Mary Polly Polk Brooks and the great-grandson of Captain Charles and Mary Clark Polk. Captain Charles Polk was from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, and served during the Revolutionary War. Family stories have also always told that Calvin Brooks was directly related to President James K. Polk, and, indeed, research shows that President James K. Polk's grandfather, Ezekiel Polk, was a brother of Captain Charles Polk. There is currently no information concerning the maternal side of Calvin Brooks' family, except that Tabor's father was named Lewis Ivie.
For most of their married lives, William Calvin and Tabor owned property adjacent to Freeman Cemetery, and at one time actually owned a section of land that contained the cemetery.
According to family stories, when the Civil War broke out, William Calvin and Tabor were a young married couple with several small children, and they opposed the war. Calvin decided not to become involved in the war but to stay home on the farm that he and Tabor had purchased. Soon after the war began, soldiers were often coming by the farm, and he felt he had to hide in order not to be recruited. The hiding interfered with his farming chores, so he and Tabor developed a plan that would let him continue with his chores in the field and keep him safe. Since Calvin was a small man of only 5 feet 4 inches height, he dressed in Tabor's clothes when working in the fields. The soldiers thought he was a woman so didn't bother him. As the war progressed, however, he felt guilty for hiding and enlisted in the 6th Regiment of the Tennessee Cavalry Volunteers. He served the Confederacy from February 1864 until July 1865.
The 1860 census reports William Calvin Brooks and his wife, Tabor, and their three children: Susan Eliza Mary Clark Brooks, William Brooks, and John Brooks. In 1861, Mattie was born, and Jennie was born in 1863, meaning that Tabor was left on the farm during the war with five children ranging in age from eleven years to a few months old. A woman named Susan Daugherty is listed as living with them on the census, and she is referred to as "Aunt Susan" in a letter Calvin wrote to Tabor.
Sometime after Calvin returned from the war, Tabor lost her eyesight. They continued to live on the farm, and their family increased with the births of six more children. Stories have been told of how Tabor ran wires from her cabin door to the smokehouse, the chicken house, and other out-buildings, so she could find her way to gather eggs and other supplies to cook and do the chores necessary to provide for her family. Calvin and Tabor lived in a small log cabin that still exists today, incorporated into the home of their great-great-grandson Derek Williamson.
Letter from W. C. Brooks to his wife Tabor
Dear Wife,
I seat myself to write you a few lines to let you know that I am well at this time hoping when these few lines come to hand they may find you and the family well and doing well.
Lou and the rest of the boys are well. We are doing very well at this time.
Tabor, I haven't received no letters from you since I have been here. I have wrote several times since I have come here. You can't tell how glad I would be to see you. I have no news to write you.
It is very cold here and has been for some time. I think of you every day. You must take good care of yourself. There is a great deal of talk of peace here. I think I will get home by spring but I can't tell. If you haven't hired anybody you had better not try to plant any crop for you can't tend it. Try to live the best that you can until I come home. I will come as soon as I can.
Aunt Susan, you can't tell how glad I would be to see you.
Dear little children, you must be smart children till I come home mind your mother and be kind to her. Nothing more at present only I remain your husband until death.
Signed: W. C. Brooks to E. T. Brooks
February 1, 1865
WILLIAM CALVIN BROOKS
December 19, 1834-May 8, 1915
and wife
ELIZABETH TABOR IVIE BROOKS
March 1, 1835-February 14, 1920
Married November 27, 1853
Eleven children, ten of whom are buried in Freeman Cemetery:
SUSAN ELIZA MARY CLARK (SIS) BROOKS STAULCUP (1853-1934)
WILLIAM THOMAS BROOKS (1856-1930)
JOHN WILLIS BROOKS (1858-1902)
SALLIE MATILDA (MATTIE) BROOKS PEERY (1861-1926)
Jennie Brooks Cook (1863-??)
LOUIS VINCENT (LUVIE) BROOKS (1866-1918)
DONNIE INEZ BROOKS (1868-1870)
CHARLES PINKNEY (PINK) BROOKS (1871-1962)
JAMES COLUMBUS BROOKS (1874-1926)
GEORGE DILLARD BROOKS (1877-1966)
HOMER H. BROOKS (1881-1886)
SUSAN ELIZA MARY CLARK (SIS) BROOKS (1854-1934) was obviously named for her great-grandmothers. She married JOHN WILLIAMSON STAULCUP (1851-1924). They had one son, JOHN ALLEN STAULCUP (1898-1967), who married JETTIE LEE STAULCUP (1905-1963). Allen and Jettie Staulcup's daughter GEORGIE LUZINE STAULCUP ALLEN (1924-1993) married LEBERN ALLEN (1920-1966). Three of the Allens' sons are buried in Freeman Cemetery: J. C. ALLEN (1940-1982), VIRGIL RAY ALLEN (1943-2018), and ROBERT LEE ALLEN (1965-1965).
The Allen children who continue to make their homes in Weakley County are: Howard Allen, Charles Richard Allen, Kay Allen Connell, and Joyce Allen Brazier. The youngest child, Donna Sue Allen Siglow, lives in Chicago.
WILLIAM THOMAS BROOKS (1856-1930) married MARY ANN GARDNER BROOKS (1860-1943). Both are buried in Freeman Cemetery, along with an INFANT CHILD (1877-1878) and one adult daughter, BERTHA BROOKS BELL (1884-1909), and Bertha's INFANT SON BELL (1904-1904).
William Thomas and Mary Brooks had six other children who are buried elsewhere: Luther, John, Jessie, Louis, Lois, and Verne.
Their daughter Lois's husband, WILLIAM H. STEWART (1883-1946) is buried in Freeman Cemetery.
Luther Brooks married Jesse Crawford, and they were parents of : Crawford Brooks, who married Bonnie Atkins; Helen Brooks, who married Harry Beale; and Mary Porter Brooks, who married Larry Kennedy. They are all buried in East Side Cemetery in Martin.
The children of Crawford, Helen, and Mary are: Billy Brooks, Bobby Brooks, Patty Brooks Reese Fuller, Hobart Beale, Ivan Beale, Joe Beale, Brooks Kennedy, and LaRee Kennedy Brewer. Patty Fuller, Hobart Beale, and LaRee Brewer currently live close by in Martin, Tennessee.
JOHN WILLIS BROOKS (1858-1902) married IDA SHAFFER BROOKS ELLIS (1868-1920). She is buried in Freeman Cemetery with John under her second married name. John and Ida Brooks had one son, John Homer Brooks (1892-1937). He married Stennis Griffin Brooks Umbach (1894-1972), and they had one daughter, Helen Louise Brooks (1920-1995). They are buried in McComb, Mississippi.
After John's death, Ida married J. C. Ellis in 1905. The best we can piece together from existing records so far, J. C. was Joseph C. Ellis (1869-????), who had previously been married to Katie B. Warren Ellis (1877-????). Joseph and Katie had two daughters, Imogene B. (Ima) Ellis Jackson (1894-1914), and Dulcie Ellis (1897/98-1917). Both these young women died of tuberculosis, and, although there are no tombstones for them in Freeman Cemetery, their death certificates indicate burial there. They might be buried in another cemetery with the same name, or they might have been buried without markers, raising the question of whether their mother and father might also be buried in Freeman Cemetery in unmarked graves.
J. C. Ellis was apparently deceased (or absconded) by 1910, when Ida Shaffer Brooks Ellis appears in the census living with her mother, brother, sister, nephew, and son (Homer Brooks).
In addition, buried in Freeman Cemetery are RUFUS ELLIS (1828-1890) and J. F. ELLIS (1859-1881), "son of R. & J. A. Ellis." Since Rufus was married in 1858 to Julia Brewer Ellis, it seems likely that J. F. is the son of Rufus and the brother of J. C.
SALLIE MATILDA (MATTIE) BROOKS PEERY married ADOLPHIA L. (aka ADOLPHUS) PEERY (1861-1937), and they are buried together in Freeman Cemetery. They had seven known children, two of whom are buried in Freeman Cemetery as well:
MINNIE PEERY RHOADES (1883-1935)
her husband, JOHN RHOADES (1881-1956)
LENA F. PEERY (1886-1888)
Benjanmin Franklin Peery (1888-1972)
George Lee Peery (1891-1971)
Gertrude O. Peery Harding (1895-1990)
Lorene Erin Peery Harding (1899-2002)
Walter Calvin Peery (1904-1989)
The remaining children of Adolphia and Mattie Peery are buried in Cate Cemetery.
Their grandchildren are: Wayne Peery, Colleen Peery Suiter, Corleda Peery Brooks, Gaynell Peery Merritt, Alton Peery, Monema Harding Hawks, Deladean Harding Fisher, Leroy "Jack" Harding, Artell Harding, and Dolores Peery Mansfield. Most of them are deceased and also buried at Cate Cemetery. Monema Hawks and Dolores Mansfield are currently living in Weakley County.
In 1927, after the death of Mattie, Adolphus married ANNIE ELIZA (POLLY) IVIE PEERY (1861-1954). She appears to have been the sister of Elizabeth Tabor Ivie Brooks.
Along with these members of the Peery and Rhoades families, there is the tombstone of FANNIE RHOADES (1878-1908). Although there are numerous inconsistencies in the records, she appears to be one of two sisters of John Rhoades who appear on the 1900 census, living with him and wife Minnie.
Jennie V. Brooks (1863/1864-??) married J. W. Cook, and they had one son, Joe Cook. All information about this daughter and her family is lost.
LUVIE VINCENT BROOKS (1866-1918) had three wives, and all of them are buried in Freeman Cemetery, along with his children. His first wife, VIRGINIA (JENNIE) CRUTCHFIELD BROOKS (1866-1906), was the mother of his children. After she died, he married RUTH TIDWELL BROOKS (1891-1915), who passed away in childbirth. His first two wives and the stillborn child, RUTH LEE BROOKS (1915-1915), are buried on either side of Luvie. (It is believed that the infant is buried with her mother, as there is no separate stone for her.) His third wife, DAISEY TIDWELL BROOKS FREEMAN (1890-1938), was Ruth's sister, and after Luvie passed away, she became the second wife of PRESS FREEMAN and is buried next to him in another part of the cemetery
Luvie and Jennie had two sons, who are buried in Freeman Cemetery. ARDEN BROOKS (1886-1958) owned a grocery store in Dresden and served as Weakley County trustee from 1936-1940. He married ELLIE HEMPHILL BROOKS (1890-1932), and they are buried, along with their son GEORGE C. BROOKS (1916-1966) in Freeman Cemetery. Arden and Ellie had six other children who are buried elsewhere: Zantha Brooks Roberts, Howard Brooks, Lewis Brooks, Joe Brooks, Nell Brooks Hilliard, and Emma Ruth Brooks Schmidt. Lewis's son Donald and his wife, Wanda, live in Crossville, Tennessee.
Luvie and Jennie's younger son, SAM BROOKS (1888-1910), died as a young man at the age of 22.
DONNIE INEZ BROOKS (1868-1870) died as a two-year-old child. Her tombstone is found in the family row in Freeman Cemetery near her parents.
JAMES COLUMBUS (JIM OR J. C.) BROOKS (1874-1926) married Imogine Maxwell. He is buried in Freeman Cemetery, but the burial place of Imogine Maxwell Brooks is unknown. The last known record of her, after J. C.'s death, she was living in 1930 with her sister's family in Missouri. J. C. and Ima had two sons, Ollie Brooks (1900-1957), who also moved to Missouri, and Alston Brooks (1909-1948), who died in Michigan.
HOMER BROOKS (1881-1886) died at age five and is buried in Freeman Cemetery.
