The Family of Mr. & Mrs.Littleton Thomas Brookins
(Great Grandparents)
Littleton Thomas Brookins |
Ells S.
Walker |
My Great Grandfather Littleton Thomas Brookins was born in September of 1858. As to 
where he was born, there seems to be some confusion. Much of this confusion is probably due to erroneous census information. Four censuses list his birthplace as Florida, and three list his birthplace as Georgia. His death certificate lists his birthplace as Florida. His youngest son Archie (my great uncle) believed that his father’s birthplace was Thomasville, Georgia. An examination of Land Platt records in Jefferson County reveal that the State of Georgia owned much of the land in the northern portion of Jefferson County, Florida around the time of Littleton's birth. This may account for the confusion as to the place of his birth. Thomasville is sixteen miles North of Jefferson County and the Florida state line.
On 16 April 1884, Littleton married Ella Walker, also of Jefferson County. The Walker family was a well-established family in Jefferson County, settling there years before Florida became a state.
Littleton and Ella moved their home from Jefferson County to Suwannee County around the year of 1903. They purchased land in the community of Marybell and began farming cotton. For the next few years, the family was well respected in the community. Then suddenly Ella, at the age of forty-three, was taken sick and passed away. In 1911, Littleton, now left with six children at home, married Cora Wilson. Cora soon bore Littleton two additional children. Then, seven years later, Cora (at the age of thirty-four), died.
After the death of Cora, Littleton now at the age fifty-nine, was left with four children ages five through fourteen at home to care for. Evidently, this was much more than he could manage by himself. Eleven months later, he married Corine Wade of Lafayette County. Corine was at the time, eleven years old. However good his intentions were at the time, Littleton and Corine were divorced two years later, Littleton filed divorce papers claiming adultery.
Grandfather Littleton lived to be sixty-nine years old. He and Grandmother Ella are buried side-by- side in the Marybell cemetery in Suwannee County.
My Great Grandmother Ella Walker (Dad’s maternal grandmother) was bo
rn in April of 1867, in Aucilla, Jefferson County, Florida to Jessie and Mary Hamrick Walker. Great Grandmother’s ancestors were one of the original pioneering families to settle in Jefferson County, about 20 years before the Territory of Florida became a state in 1845.
Great grandmother Ella, at the age of 24, married Littleton Thomas Brookins, son of Robert Edward and Ellen Thompson Brooking in April of 1884. They were married in Monticello, Jefferson County, Florida.
As with many other pioneering women, very little is recorded about great grandmother’s early life. Like most of the families that settled in this part of Florida, the Walkers owned a farm with cotton being the money crop. From census records, we know that she birthed and raised ten children in her forty-three years on this earth.
In 1910, at the age of 43, Great Grandmother Ella passed away. A copy of her obituary was found in the Branford Public Library. The obituary tells us that Ella was a loving mother, loved by family and friends alike. The names of Ella's children can be found
Great Grandmother Ella’s Obituary...
The Suwannee County Democrat - Live Oak Florida - November 4, 1910 Page 10, Part 2
Death of Mrs. T. L. Brookins.
"Tuesday morning, Nov. 1, 1910 about ten o'clock, the home of Mr. T. L. Brookins was saddened by the death of his wife. During her illness of about four weeks, all was done that loving hands could do, but God called her away. Mrs. Brookins leaves a devoted husband, eight children, and a host of friends to mourn her death, and in her home, she leaves a vacant place that can never be filled. The body was tenderly laid away in Mary Bell cemetery to await the resurrection morn. Mr. Brookins and children have the sympathy of a host of friends who wish for them a sweet reunion with their wife and mother in her heavenly home."
A Friend
The Family of Littleton and Ella
Name: Littleton Thomas Brookins
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Birth: Sep 1858 Georgia
Death: 22 Jun 1928 Suwannee County, Florida
Burial: Marybell Cemetery, Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
Father: Robert Edward Brooking (~1820-~1870)
Mother: Ellen E. Thompson (~1832->1885)
Other spouses: Cora Wilson
Corine Wade
Marriage: 16 Apr 1884 Monticello, Jefferson County, Florida
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Spouse: Ella S. Walker
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Birth: Apr 1867 Aucilla, Jefferson County, Florida
Death: 1 Nov 1910 Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
Burial: Marybell Cemetery, Live Oak, Suwannee County, FL
Father: Jesse A. Walker (1837-1931)
Mother: Mary Jane Hamrick (1840-1877)
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Children
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1 F: Kattie Brookins
Birth: Feb 1885 Aucilla, Florida
Death: [Date Unknown] Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
Spouse: Abe Wilson
Marriage: 6 Aug 1903 Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
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2 F: Nettie Florine Brookins
Birth: 13 Jan 1887 Aucilla, Jefferson County, Florida
Death: 26 Dec 1927 Clearwater, Florida
Spouse: Calvin Jessie Chancey
Marriage: 5 Dec 1906 Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
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3 M: Perry Albert Brookins
Birth: 13 Jan 1887 Jefferson County, Florida
Death: 13 Nov 1967 Suwannee County, Florida
Spouse: Queen Victoria Chauncey
Marriage: 26 Jul 1903 Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
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4 M: Jessie Brookins
Birth: Feb 1889 Jefferson County, FL
Death: 1906 Live Oak, FL
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5 F: Mary J Brookins
Birth: 6 May 1893 Jefferson County, Florida
Death: Oct 1985 Live Oak, Suwannee County, Florida
Spouse: Oscar L. Wadsworth
Marriage: abt 1913 [Location Unknown]
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6 F: Ethel Brookins
Birth: 3 May 1894 Jefferson County, FL
Death: 1966 Live Oak, Florida
Spouse: Jim Bracken
Marriage: abt 1925 Jefferson County, Florida
Spouse: Ed Renew
Marriage: bef 1930
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7 M: Robert E. Brookins
Birth: 23 Mar 1900 Jefferson County, Florida
Death: 6 Dec 1936 Trilby, Florida
Spouse: Effie Lund
Marriage: [Date Unknown] [Location Unknown]
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8 M: James W. Brookins
Birth: abt 1903 Jefferson County, FL
Death: 25 Dec 1937 Trilby, Florida
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9 M: Archie Brookins
Birth: 18 Mar 1905 Suwannee County, Florida
Death: 25 Jan 1993 Suwannee County, Florida
Spouse: Margaret Munroe
Marriage: 3 Mar 1949 Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida
Spouse: Maude
Marriage: [Date Unknown] [Location Unknown]
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10 F: Allie Mae Brookins
Birth: abt 1907 [Location Unknown]
Death: 1938 Florida
Spouse: Lonnie Bottoms
Marriage: [Date Unknown] [Location Unknown]