Our Texas Family

BROCK

of Virginia, Kentucky & West Virginia

Paternal Ancestry of My Children

Descendants of Chief Red Bird (Aaron Brock)

Doris Ross Brock Johnston

 ROSS Family |  WILKS Family

     
 

 
 

 My In-laws: Charles Golden Brock (1900-1993) & Carlie Jane Brown (1907-1991) of Lincoln & Cabell Cos., WV

 Danny, Doris, Becky, Glen, & Steve Brock 25 Dec 1972, with Raymond H. Brock (1932-2008), Retiree from River Terminal RR, Cleveland, OH

 Plaque on Grounds of Harlan Co. Court House - note ancestors Jesse Brock, Ephraim Osborne, and gr-gr-gr-gr-uncle Samuel Howard

  

Descendants of Aaron Brock, Chief Red Bird "Totsu'hwa" (ca 1726-1797); through his Son Jesse Brock (1751-1843), Revolutionary soldier and Pension applicant (born Cumberland Co., VA; served in NC and SC; land grantee in the portion of Lee Co., VA, which became Knox and then Harlan Co., KY, where he lived out his life; the earliest settler in Wallins Creek, Harlan Co.,

and through Jesse's sister Mary "Polly" Brock (1757-1855) who married to Ephraim Washington Osborn, Jr. (1752-1852), a Revolutionary soldier and Pensioner who settled in Harlan Co., KY.

Their other Revolutionary ancestors were George Burkhart/Buckhart/Burghart (1742-1856) a Revolutionary Pensioner, born Bedford Co., PA, died in Harlan Co., KY. His parents George Jacob Burkhart (1706-1814) and wife Sophia immigrated from Berne, Switzerland, in 1742 to Philadelphia, PA, on ship Friendship via Rotterdam. Charles Golden Brock's grandmother, Polly Ann Jackson (1854-1936), was the great-gr-gr-granddaughter of George Burkhart. He came to Harlan Co. in 1806.

Jesse Brock's wife Rebecca Howard (1756-1841), born Cumberland Co., VA, was the sister of Samuel Howard, Jr. (1762-1840), born Buckingham Co., VA, served seven years as a Revolutionary soldier. Samuel married Chloe Osborn (1765-1843). Their Howards were a distinguished English family traced back to Sir Philip Howard, Earl of Arundel (1557-1595), born in London, died in the Tower of London and interred in Tower Chapel.

 "The first white settlers of [what became] Harlan Co. were the family of Samuel Howard (then spelled Hoard). When they first set foot on Harlan soil, in 1796, they found an almost impenetrable forest, interspersed so thickly with cane breaks that in many places they had to cut their way through. This adventuresome and aggressive family migrated from a well developed section of Virginia, to establish a settlement in an unknown land, filled with hardships and dangers. What brought this family at this time to this wild region now known as Harlan and what attractions there were to induce them to settle amidst such adversities, is yet a matter of conjecture. At that time the fame of the Blue Grass Region of Kentucky, its fertile soils, the accessibility of its lands, and its beauty, had already spread throughout Virginia. There at other attractive farming regions the Indians, with their treacherous dangers, had already been driven out, while in the densely forested section of Harlan, roving Indians still lurked, passing North and South through the Appalachian Mountains, reluctant to relinquish their last claim upon the 'dark and bloody hunting ground'. Upon several occasions the members of this first family of Harlan County had narrow escapes from straggling Indians. One morning when Hannah Howard had almost reached the milk gap, near the present site of Ivy Street, in Harlan, two of the cows started fighting. As they fought they knocked down the rail fence, and a large Indian who had been hiding in the fence corner, with tomahawk in readiness for the much coveted scalp, jumped up to avoid being trampled upon, and fled into the forest. Hannah Howard said the cows saved her life.

"This first family pitched camp for a temporary home under a cliff near the railroad 'Y,' now in the City of Harlan. There, under the cliff, the first white child was born in Harlan County, Wix Howard, who was the grandfather of our present (1932) County Judge, Hamp H. Howard. Six sons and four daughters were born to Samuel Howard, of whom John N. Howard moved to Missouri, Dred Howard settled in Breathitt County, and Samuel, Adrian, Wix and Andrew established homes in Harlan County. Two of the girls married Hensleys and the other two married Napiers.

"Life was hard for them at first. During the first two summers the frost killed out the corn and prevented it from ripening. The cane and undergrowth was so thick along the bottoms, upon which the City of Harlan was built later, it was a trying task to clear fields for cultivation. Before the first winter was over their supplies were exhausted, and they were compelled to live through most of the winter on practically nothing except wild meats. But fortunately for them, game was plentiful and easily taken. One morning Samuel Howard went bear hunting on Beech Fork Creek, and, before breakfast, killed seven large fat bears, using only seven shots from his hog rifle . . . The Howards, Turners and Middletons were among the first five families to settle in Harlan County. Other early families were the Hensleys, Napiers, Smiths, Cawoods, Kellys, Sargents, Brittains, Cornetts, Creeches, Gilberts, Joneses, Wynns, and Saylors. These and a few other families who settled here before 1850 intermarried so that about all of the natives can trace their ancestors back to Revolutionary War soldiers."

The next year Samuel Howard went back and brought his sister Rebecca Howard and her husband Jesse Brock to live nearby, per descendant Sherry Asher Black, Feb 2002.

 Harlan County, Kentucky, by Elmon Middleton, 1934 (published by James Taylor Adams & James Taylor Adams II (Big Laurel, VA), pp. 11-15.

 Map of Tennessee and Kentucky, 1796; a reproduction of a map from the American Universal Geography by Jedidiah Morse, courtesy of and available from ReevesMaps.com

 

Aaron Brock, Sr., Chief Red Bird

BROCK Reunions

~ 2001 Brock Reunion in WV ~

Descendants of Red Bird Reunion at KY Pow Wow, 2005, 2006

~ Brock Reunions in KY ~

After the Negro Creek Decoration the 1st Sunday in June in Rockcastle County, the Brock, Blanton, and anyone else who would like to attend have been going to the Red Barn at Renfro Valley around 1 p.m. to eat and have fellowship...

In mid-July, a Brock, Helton, Farmer etc. Reunion at Pine Mountain State Resort Park at Pineville Lodge, Bell Co., has been held for years. It begins around 11 a.m. at Laurel Cove; "Brock Reunion" signs at Park entrance direct you to Laurel Cove.

 Following pages used by permission of

Kenneth B. Tankersley, Ph.D., Professor of Anthropology, University of Cincinnati; Natural History Unit, BBC:

Chief Red Bird and other Cherokee history

BROCK p. 2

EARLIEST BROCKS IN VA

Doris's genealogy site Home, OurTexasFamily.com

SEE More Extensive Pedigree of Charles Golden Brock

 See Brock DNA Project & Results

See Cherokee of N.W. Arkansas

Updated 26 Jun 2011