The Children of Zilphia Cochran: Harriett and Dilsie

 I've spent the month of February, Black History month, exploring how my young African-American neighbor is related to me, and I came upon the conclusion that our connection lie between two men, Ben and Frank Davis, who are his ancestors, and were slaves, or descended from the slaves, of my ancestor, Job Davis. In studying Ben Davis, I discovered that at age 62, he had married a fascinating woman named Zilphia Cochran, who had been born in slavery to a woman named Aggie Cochran. Aggy and her children began as slaves of Abraham B. Cochran, who had moved from Montgomery County, NC, across the PeeDee River to the old town of Allenton, in Stanly County, NC. There he is buried and when his young widow, Mary Marshall Lilly Cochran, remarried to wealthy attorney, James Lowe Gaines of the Zion/ Pee Dee area of Montgomery County, she took with her two young daughters and the slaves her husband had left to her and their daughters, Mary and Martha Louisa Cochran.

When Zilphia breathed her first breathe as a free woman, it was in the community of Zion, an area filled with wealthy plantation owners, other Cochrans, Gaines, Brutons, Montgomery's, Lilly's, Deberry's, Brutons and Christians, among others. 

By then, she was already a mother, having birthed her oldest son, William Marshall Cochran, in 1859, at the age of 17, by Jacob Cochran, whom I believe was a slave of one of Abraham B. Cochran's siblings. William M. Cochran was born in Montgomery County. I featured him in this post:

I featured his mother's story, and of those surrounding her, in this post: 

But Zilphia had more children than William. She had 6, three sons and three daughters, and this is the story of her oldest two daughters.

1852 - William Marshall Cochran

1854 - Harriett Cochran

1859- Dilsie Cochran

1860- Steve Cochran Crump

1861- Calvin Cochran

1865- Martha Jane Cochran

Harriett was the second child of Zilphia Cochran. Like her mother, her first appearance in records was with her marriage, in 1875, to Daniel C. Crump, son of Dock Crump and Sarah Threadgill Crump. The Crumps, like the Davis's, lived in the Cottonville area in Tyson Township, no doubt coming off the vast plantations with their top quality cotton, that gave the area its name, of mogul Steven Crump and his family. 

No father is listed for Harriett. She may have shared Jacob Cochran, who was either deceased, or had moved to another state, by then, with her older brother, William. 

The year Dan Crump married Harriett, he had a plan in action. He put up all of their personal property, including hogs and other livestock, and crops of corn, wheat, cotton, fodder and 'suckoo', as a mortgage to purchase 100 acres of land on Coopers Creek in Tyson Township.   The mortgager was M. E. Blaylock, who had several during the same time frame. 

In 1911, Dan, in conjunction with William Colson, who was his son-in-law, purchases an additional 100 acres from W. A. Smith, a neighbor, in Book 42, Page 396.

A third person, Harriett's nephew, Charles W. Cochran, son of her brother, William M. Cochran, joined in the Co-op to help run the farm and recieved 1/4 interest in the property, In book 48, Page 124.

Dan and Harriett Crump would only have one child, or at least, just one child who lived to be an adult.

Dora is shown as a 4 year old in the 1880 census. Wiley Crump, 26, was listed under them as a hireling and George Crump and his wife Jane are living next door. I believe these two were Daniel's brothers.

I've not found the family in 1900, but in 1910, it states they are living on Winfield Road, which ran from the Aquadale area, past old Rehobeth Church and followed what is now Plank Road, and verred off and ran the length of what we now know as Old Davis Road, and crosses the river into Anson County. Only  portions of the Winfield Road still exists, which got its name from the Winfield Plantation of Edward Winfield, a brother of Job Davis's wife, Sarah, and prior to that, their father, Peter Winfiield. This allows an understanding of about exactly where they lived.

Charley Crump was not a stepson, he was a nephew, son of George and Adeline Jane Crump. 

To note, both Harriett and her daughter, Dora, are shown as mulatto's in 1880 and 1910. This leads me to believe Harriett's unknown father may have been white, as she was of mixed race and her brother, William was not. The 1910 census also informs that she was the mother of only one child, with one born, so it appears she did not have any to die. Dora was a single.

Daniel C. Crump died in 1916 at the age of 70. The cause was given as Senility with heart disease as a contributing factor.

Harriett lived on until 1927, dying of heart trouble at the age of 73. Husband and wife were both buried at the Cottonville AME Zion Church in Cottonville, NC. They had one daughter, Dora. Although they had only one child, Dora and her husband made up for it by having 11 and leaving many descendants of Dan and Harriett. 

The children of William and Harriett Crump Colston were: beginning in 1898, Thomas, Robert Virgil "R. V.", Crump, Leona,  twins Carley and Calvin, William, Johan Henry, Baxter, Vivins, and an infant daughter who was born and died in 1918.

A suit had settled a dsiput after the death of Dan Crump dividing his property between Charley Cochran (26 acres), Harriett Cochran Crump (26 acres) and upon her death, her share going to Dora Crump Colston and to William Colston (56 acres). The property remained in the Colston family.

Dilsie (or Delsie), was the third child of Zilphia Cochran. Born in 1859, she was the daughter of  Harry Randle, who lived in Stanly County near Cottonville. Harry Randle was sort of a legend in old Cottonville lore, and he was a married man, much older than Zilphia. Did this mean Zilphia lived in Cottonville by 1859, or did Harry cross the river?

Dilsie was probably born several years before 1859, is actuality, the year given in census records, because her first legal document was that of her marriage to Peter P. Brooks, son of  Woodson and Fanny Brooks, on December 18, 1868. This would have placed her at 9 years old, and she was probably pretty young, but not that young, I don't believe. 

Neither Dilsie or Peter show up in census records before 1900, and they did move around a bit, as can be determined by the birth places of their children. Married in Stanly County, they appear to have moved around from Stanly to Anson, to Union and back into Stanly, before settling into the Bethel Church area of Cabarrus County. Peter was called a Farmer, their younger daughters, Odessa, Isabella, Leah, Mary and Martha. Josie was the teenaged wife of their son, Preston, whom he had married in Union County in 1898, which borders Cabarrus and the unnamed infant was their firstborn, Sherman C. Brooks.

In 1910,  Dilsie was doing washing for a Private family and Peter was doing odd jobs and manuel labor to get by. Only daughter Mary was living with them, and a grandson, J V Brooks, whom I believe may have been the 7 year old living with them in 1900 and could have possibly been Ulysses Jefferson Brooks, son of their son Henry Thomas Brooks. The census tells us Dilsie was the mother of 13 children, with 9 living. In 1900, she had informed the census taker that she was the mother of 13 children with 12 living, so she's lost 3 in that decade alone. Unfortunately, I only know the names of 10 of them. 

1920 is the last census for Dilsey and the age she gives is probably a little older than she is, because it makes her mother only 13 at her birth. They've moved back to Stanly County, and are living on Washington Street, if you look at the actual document, next to Mayo Street. These streets are in Badin, although counted at the time in Albemarle, and located in the section of Badin known as West Badin, which was built by the Aluminum Company for their non-white employees and their families. A granddaughter, Lurelda Brooks, is living with them, and I've been unable to determine whose child she was, or what became of her.

CLIPPED FROM The Concord Daily Tribune Concord, North Carolina 27 Aug 1907, Tue  •  Page 1

CLIPPED FROM The Concord Times Concord, North Carolina 30 Aug 1907, Fri  •  Page 3

In 1907, Dilsey and Peter lost their home, in a fire that burned down 3 houses altogether. Their landlord was Adam Faggart, who I am familiear with, as he married Lydia Adleine Murray, the niece of my second Great Grand mother, Priscilla Murray Aldridge, just one branch of my family where the colorlines became blurred.

In 1900, Peter and Dilsie had lived in bethel, which is now the Midland area, or Number 10 Township and Adam Faggart lived in Smiths, which was No. 9, and now the Georgetown District near the Reeds Gold Mine area. As the fire was said to have been on 'Chapmans Row' near 'Old Smith Grove', it seems Peter and Dilsie had moved from the Midland area to the Georgetown area between 1900 and 1907. The fire caused another move to the City of Concord, Ward 4, by 1910 and to Stanly County by 1920 to West Badin, near the aluminum plant.

CLIPPED FROM The Concord Times Concord, North Carolina 07 Aug 1913, Thu  •  Page 5

It appears while living in Concord, Peter Brooks had a Civil Suit against Cannon Mills, one ofthe many Cotton Mills that dominated the town. This may have precipated their move to Stanly County.

By US Census, Ruhrfisch - taken from US Census website [1] and modified by User:Ruhrfisch, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2251917

The Brooks family had lived in Concord until at least 1918, when Dilsie had contracted Smallpox from family friends, the Hastings, who had returned from Columbia, Sother Carolina with the malady. She survived.

CLIPPED FROM The Concord Daily Tribune Concord, North Carolina 05 Jul 1918, Fri  •  Page 5

At the time of her illness, the couple lived on Tournanment STreet,  which lies west of Union Street in Concord, just south of Downtown.

Dilsey died August 14, 1921 of  "eshaustion of Senile Dementia". She was said to be 60 years old, but was probably a few years older in truth. She had been admitted to the State Hospital in Goldsboro, Wayne County, NC.

She was buried there in the Cherry Hospital cemetery.

Peter Brooks outlived his wife of 67 years by 4 years. He passed away on March 19, 1925 of pulminary endema, in the town of  Ansonville in Anson County, NC. He had probably gone there to live his last days out with his son, Samuel, who lived in Anson. According to his death certificate, he was buried at Pleasant Hill Cemetery. 

Peter and Dilsie had 13 children. Below is a list of those that are known.

  Samuel was born in Stanly County, lived for awhile in Cabarrus County, before settling permaently in Ansoville, in Anson County, NC. 

 He married Celia Easley on September 7, 1889. Celia was the daughter of William Easley and Mary Snuggs Easly. William Easley was the son of Harry Randle and Celia Easley. So Celia, the younger , was named for her grandmother and Samuel and she were cousins. Harry Randle was also the father of Dilsie Cochran Brooks,  making William and Dilsie half-siblings. 

Samuel married Hattie Richardson on Dec 21, 1892 in Anson County. There were 4 known children to this marriage: Baxter, Beulah, Callie, Rosemary.

Samuel married Zetta Clark on March 10, 1904, There were 6 known children born to this marriage: Bertha Marie, Odessa, "Bush", Andrew Samuel, Sidney W. and Jeanie L.

They lived along the Polkton-Ansonville Road  in Anosonville, NC. Samuel lived to be 79 and died of Stomach Cancer.  He was buried at Plasant Hill Baptist Church Cemetery, were he buried his father.

Mallard Brooks was born in Anson County and died in Cabarrus County, where he spent most of his life. This suggests Peter and Dilsie moved from Stanly to Anson between 1868 and 1872. While older brother Sam seemed to have a stable, secure life, despite being widowed twice, Malley was just the opposite. Malley seemed to live the life of the grifter and town drunk. He worked when he needed to as a laborer or at odd jobs, and was known to be into drinking, gamblling, fighting and women. He married twice, first  to  Annie Lee in Anson County in 1896 and second to Sallie Hardison in 1902 in Cabarrus County. There may have been a third wife, a Black, sister of a  Bob Black, but I haven't found her. Sallie Hardison could have been the sister of Bob Black referred to in the below article, I do not know.

CLIPPED FROM The Concord Times Concord, North Carolina 19 Jun 1908, Fri  •  Page 2

Mallard Brooks did not die from being shot by his brother-in-law, he died, instead, of the Spanish flu in 1920 at tyhe age of 48. His mother, Dilsey signed his death certificate. He was buried at the Campground cemetery near Concord.

Thomas Henry Brooks was the third child of Peter and Dilsey Cochran Brooks. he was born on January 11, 1876 in Anson County, NC and died inSeptember 28, 1939 in Badin, Stanly County, NC. He had spent most of his life in Stanly County. Henry worked at the Aluminum Plant in Badin and proved a good living and a step up to his family. He was married twice.

His first marraige was to Wincy Easley, daughter of William Easley and wife, Mary Snuggs Easley, another cousin marriage. They had 4 children together:

A) Ulysses Jefferson Brooks 1889-1957

B)  Herman Harvey Brooks 1891-1963

C) Estella B. 'Stella' Brooks 1894-1990

D) Lilly Brooks Young 1896- 1964

CLIPPED FROM The High Point Enterprise High Point, North Carolina 06 May 1964, Wed  •

The Obituary of  Lillie Brooks Young shows how the family became scattered far and widw, New York , New Jersey, and Washington , DC.

Henry married for the second time to Mary Elizabeth Colston, seen in the 1930 census as "Mamie".  They had 3 boys in quick succession, Craven in 1899, Van in 1900 and Lee Roy in 1902. There's a significant gap before the last chlid, Valeria Mabel was born, of a dozen years. She arrived in 1914. I'm not certain if  there were infants in between who did not make it, or if Valeria was jusrt  a surpirse late baby.

Henry's choice to work in the aluminum plant, which paid well for the times, offered his family a step up in life, over that of other African- American families of the day.  Oldest sons, U. J. and Herman remained in Stanly County as  brickmasons, in Albemarle and Badin. Stella and Lilly raised their own families in Greensboro, Craven died as a young man and remained in Badin. Van and Leroy ended up in Washington, DC and Valerie settled in New York City.

Born in Marshville, Union County, Agnes married in Union County to Wilson Hasty in 1898 at the age of 21. By 1900, the young family was living in Cabarrus County, where her husband, Wilson, supported the family by working in the Coal Yards. He worked there for over 30 years. The Hasty's had 9 children: Rommy, Charles, Jesse, Willette, Priscilla, Equilla, James Henry, Mary Lillian, and Hurley, between 1900 and 1922.

Charles moved from Cabarrus County, where he lived in Mount Pleasant for awhile, before moving to Winston-Salem . He had one son, Jerry, with a lady named Amanda Miller.

Born in  Cabarrus County, Odessa married  at age 17 to William Cochran in Mecklenberg County. So William had the same last name as her mother. Was this a cousin marriage? I don't believe so. Willaim came from a Cabarraus family of Cochrans. He was the son of John Cochran and Ollie Pharr of Cabarrus. John was the son of Benjamin Cochran and  and Jane Black of Cabarrus County. 

Odessa and William had 3 children, Elva, Monroe and Mamie and she died in 1913 at the age of 25, cause unknown.

Odessa was just the oldest of a string of the Brooks daughters that died young. Nephritis, the Spanish Flu and complications of childbirth were just a few of the causes. 

Isabella married at  age 20 to Thomas Lockhart of Cabarrus County.  She Died at age 28. They also had 3 children;  Rosa, Fanny and Johnny. Johnny Died as an infant, just beofre his mother. 

Died of smallpox as a child.

Martha lived a little bit longer than Leah. She married at age 21 to Robert Lee Roan. Her records also state she was born in Mecklenburg Coutny. Robert and Martha had two daughters; Annie Louisa and Sarah. Annie died in 1919 just before her  7 th birthday of TB. Sarah grew up to marry a Smith. 

Martha died at aage 22 of pellagra while her girls were still babies. Her husband remarried. It was a horrible disease based on a bad diet. 

Mary Brooks, the youngest of the Brooks daughters, shared a very similar fate with her sisters. She married at age 20 to Fulton Hasty. 

They had two children, Billie Arwilder and Anderson Wesley. 

Mary died at age 25 of TB. All of the girls were buried at the Old Campground Cemetery in Concord.

And last, but definitely not least, we have youngest son , Preston Brooks. Unlike his older sisters, Preston lived a long life and had an enormous family. But like his sisters, Mary and Agnes, he married a Hasty. 

Preston and Josephine, aka 'Josie' were married in Union County, NC.

By 1910, he is farming and he and Josie already have 5 children.

Preston and Josie would raise thier family in Cabarrus county through 1930, when Preston is found working as a Driver at the Coal Yard. 

By 1935, however, they packed up and moved with nearly all of their family to Pittsburgh, P.A. and there they stayed. The 1940 census finds them on Webster Avenue.  Preston, at 67, was a laborer in a stell mill,while Josie worked as a maid in a Private home. General Bishop Brooks had found work as a Porter at a 5 & 10 cent store. Edmond Brooks was a Truck Driver for a retail coal distributor, and son-in-law, Nathan Hodge, form Alabama was a laborer at  a Retail Electrical Store.

CLIPPED FROM Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 19 Mar 1954, Fri  •  Page 25

Josie was the first to pass on. She died on March 17, 1954 at the age of  64 and buried in th e

allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, PA. Preston followed her to the grave a year later,. Born on Christmas Day in 1893, he passed away the day after Chirstmans in 1955 at 62 and buried alongside his wife. 

The children of Preston and Josephine Brooks are an inexact number. Below are a listing of children and possible children. Definites will be preceded by  large letters and indefinite ones with small letters.

A ) May 29, 1900 Sherman C. Borroks. Married Pearl Wolfe in Charlotte, NC and followed family to P.A.

B)  1900-1920  Lola Brooks. Died of TB at 16.

C) 1905-1982 General Bishop Brooks.  Married Johnsie Alexander and died in Pittsburgh.

D) 1909 Sarah Brooks, married Arthur Phifer, 2nd, married Nathan Hodge. Followed family to PA. 

e)  1909 John Brooks

f)   1910 Shannon Brooks    Note: Both John and Shannon appear in the 1930 census with Preston and Josie and family in Cabarrus County and are named as sons. They do not appear in the prior censuses in 1920 or 1910, as they should, nor do they appear anytime later. My theory is that this may have been General Brooks and his wife Johnsie, who are not to be found in 1930, but were married in 1926, and was just a major transcription or census taker error. 

G)  1910 -1964 Bessie Odessa Edwards (Brooks). If you read the family obituaries I have included, you will notice the mention of Bessie Smith, even in the one for Josie Brooks. However, Bessie is not included in any of the census records, nor did she follow the rest of the family to Pittsburgh. Bessie is proof things were not always perfect in the Preston Brooks household. 

Bessie was the daughter of Preston Brooks with a woman named Belle Edwards, born out of an affair. She married Caldwell Smith and remained in Cabarrus County for her life. Her inclusion in the Obituaries, even that of Josie , shows she was accepted as full memeber of the family, however.

H) James Henry Brooks 1910-2003   James Brooks was born one year after Sarah Brooks and the same year as Bessie Edwards, by a different mother. 1909 and 1910 were very busy years for Preston Brooks, but I don't think busy enough to include "John and Shannon". That is another reason why I believe those two names were in error and were actually General and his wife, Johnsie.

James migrated to Pittsburgh with the rest of his family, and married Amy McKeever. His obituary is above.

I) Edmund Brooks 1912-1997, Lived in Pittsburgh, PA. Never married that I can determine.

J) Viola Brooks 1915-1992 Married 1st Tindall, married 2nd Royster.

K) Dennis O. Brooks 1917 -2008. Married Johnnie L. Scott

L) Rebecca Brooks 1920 -2004. Married a Boose. Rebecca was the youngest child of Preston and Josie Hasty Brooks who lived to adulthood.

M) Baby Girl Brooks. 1922 - 1923. The death certificates of Cabarrus County, NC hold one for a little girl born to Preston and Josie who only lived 5 months, and another who was stillborn. There were possibly others.