Molly (Marry Elizabeth) Brooks Dennis, aka Mrs. J. F. Dennis, wrote this enjoyable autobiography much later in her life. But it does give a glimpse of what those people faced.
For time-line information, the Brooks parents, Mary Cobb Brooks and James B. Brooks had married in 1858 in Chatahoochee County GA. Their first son, William, was born in 1859 in Atlanta, Fulton County GA, and Molly (Mary Eizabeth) our author, was born a year later in 1862, in Brooklin, Covington County AL.
In 1863 the Brooks next son, James Nathaniel (Nat) Brooks, was born in OK, and the next child in 1864, Ela Ladusky Brooks, was born back in Covington County AL. As that was during the Civil War, it's possible that mother Mary Lou Cobb Brooks had gone to be with family members for the 1863 and 1864 births. But I honestly don't see her traveling all the way to OK with her children from southern AL. Maybe Nat was adopted...or someone has his birthplace changed.
Father James B. Brooks was in the Confederate army, the 2nd Battalion of the Alabama Light Artillery. Company C. He was a Corporal when he joined, and Sergeant when discharged. More about him is part of the story below.
The last son, Bert (Berton), wasn't born for another 11 years...in 1875 in Desdamona, Eastland, TX.
Here're photos of Molly Brooks Dennis and her family (more were displayed in yesterday's post.)
Not sure which one is Molly, and who the other woman might be...
Molly Brooks Dennis' death certificate when she was 80. I include it here because she died on Aug. 2, 1942, just 21 days before I was born.
James died in 1944.
Sharing this with Sepia Saturday. I'm pretty sure these two British boys didn't think once about the people in Texas, no more than these Texans would have thought of two Brit boys!
Hope you have a great weekend! Spring is just around the corner!
