Frances Brooks

1863 - 1899  (35 years)

• Name	Frances Brooks
  Born	12 Dec 1863	Blountstown, Blount, Alabama
  Gender	Female
  Died	22 Jun 1899	Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma
  Buried	Checotah Indian Territory Cemetery, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma
  		Baker, Fannie Brooks
  Person ID	I8503	Dickinson
  Last Modified	23 Feb 2012

  
  

  Father	Willis Francis Brooks,   b. 1806, Shelbyville, Shelby, Kentucky ,   d. 1863, Lawrence County, Alabama  (Age 57 years)
  Mother	Louisa Elisabeth Jane Bates,   b. 22 Jan 1826, Shelbyville, Shelby, Kentucky ,   d. 29 Mar 1924, Lawrence County, Alabama  (Age 98 years)
  Married	16 Jun 1841	Tuscaloosa County, Alabama   [2]
  	Upon the outbreak of hostilities, Willis Brooks sided with the Confederate cause, a move which placed him at odds with the majority of his neighbors. As a result, he was gunned down by seven or eight local "Tories" who were avenging Willis' murder of a man who had insulted his wife, Jenny. (Other accounts reverse the roles of the actors, claiming that the men were members of the Confederate home guard who were attempting to arrest Willis' son, John, who was also killed.) Regardless of the particulars, the events began nearly sixty years of violence in Alabama, Texas and Oklahoma. Jenny Brooks swore her surviving sons to avenge the death of their father and brother and by 1883 seven of the murderers had been dispatched to their eternal reward. Tiring of the violence, Lawrence County Sheriff Alex Heflin decided to round up the Brooks boys in April 1884. The ensuing gun battle left Gaines Brooks dead and Henry Brooks seriously wounded (he lost his leg). Willis, Jr., Henry, and their brother-in-law Sam Baker lit out for Texas. Willis and his son Clifton were killed in a gunfight on the streets of Spokogee, Oklahoma in 1902. Sam was shot in the back in Checotah in 1911. The feuding ended on Sunday morning, January 11, 1920, when a Winston County, Alabama posse killed Henry "Peg-leg" Brooks at his moonshine still. Of her sons Jane Brooks said, "They died like men, with their boots on." [1]
  Family ID	F2302	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Columbus Winfield Baker,   b. 24 Jan 1859, Winston County, Alabama ,   d. 07 Oct 1911, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma  (Age 52 years)
  Married	1879	Alabama   [3]
  Children	1. Christopher Columbus Baker,   b. Oct 1881, Texas   2. Charles William Baker,   b. 21 Feb 1882, Lawrence County, Alabama ,   d. 19 Feb 1945, Taft, Kern, California  (Age 62 years)   3. William Myte Baker,   b. 25 Nov 1886, Waco, McLennan, Texas ,   d. Sep 1962, Louisiana  (Age 75 years)   4. Ella Mae Baker,   b. 14 Jan 1888, Waco, McLennan, Texas ,   d. 04 Aug 1914, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma  (Age 26 years) + 5. Dona Baker,   b. 02 Feb 1890, Creek Nation, Indian Territory (Oklahoma) ,   d. 15 Aug 1970, Taft, Kern, California  (Age 80 years)   6. Agnes Baker,   b. 13 Oct 1893, Collinsville, Rogers, Oklahoma ,   d. 21 Nov 1981, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma  (Age 88 years)   7. Hattie Angeline Baker,   b. 22 Mar 1896, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma ,   d. 18 Jul 1899, Checotah, McIntosh, Oklahoma  (Age 3 years)
  Last Modified	24 Feb 2012
  Family ID	F2301	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos		Baker, Columbus Winfield "Sam" and Frances Brooks
  		Baker, Frances Brooks

  
  

• Sources

  [S336406] Oklahoma Renegades: Their Deeds and Misdeeds, Ken Butler, (Gretna, Louisiana: Pellican Publishing, 1997). [S038634] Alabama Marriage Collection, 1800-1969, Ancestry.com, (Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2006. Original data: Alabama Center for Health Statistics; Alabama Marriage Index, 1936-1969; Alabama Center for Health Statistics, Montgomery, Alabama; Dodd, Jordan R., et. al. Early American Marriages: Alabama to 1825, Bountiful, UT: Precision Indexing Publishers, 19xx; Hunting For Bears, comp. Alabama marriage information taken from county courthouse records. Many of these records were extracted from copies of the original records in microfilm, microfiche, or book format, located at the Family History Library; Dodd, Jordan R., comp. Early American Marriages: Alabama, 1800 to 1920.). [S336406] Oklahoma Renegades: Their Deeds and Misdeeds, Ken Butler, (Gretna, Louisiana: Pellican Publishing, 1997), 31.