Frances Brock

GEDCOM Note

From an online biography of Frances' second husband, available and accessed May 28, 2010 at http://kykinfolk.com/pulaski/fams/JohnT_2.html. Compiled by James G. Faulconer, 5200 Oakbrooke Drive, Kettering, OH 45440.

On December 24, 1798, John T. Brock and Frances “Franky” Shackleford, “widow,” were married in Pittsylvania County, Virginia. The marriage bond indicates that Rev. William Wright officiated, and Henry T. Wright signed the surety bond. Frances signed her own consent, since she was of age. This was the second marriage for Frances, for on December 9, 1795, the Pittsylvania court records show that Frances Wright and Abner Shackleford married. John Bennett signed the surety bond. This information is fairly consistent with what is included in John Brock’s obituary.
On December 16, 1799, John Brock and Philip Cox were executors for the will of George Thomas of Pittsylvania County. The obituary of John indicates that he came to Clark County, Kentucky, in 1802, but this is probably when he came to Pulaski County from Virginia. The son, William Brock, was born in Virginia in February 1802, and John T. Brock, Jr., was born in Pulaski County in 1804. John Sr. is first listed in the tax records of Pulaski County in 1807, on 100 acres, and continues there through 1815. In 1813 John and Frances bought 200 acres from Isaac Muse for $400. Then, in 1821, they sold their land in Pulaski County to Reuben Gossett, a brother-in-law, and to Meshack Brock, a brother.

Clark County, Kentucky, must have held an attraction for John and Frances Brock for some time before their move there. Frances’ grandfather, Joseph Wright, had received a land patent from the Commonwealth of Virginia for 562 1/2 acres on Four Mile Creek in 1783. Frances was named for her grandmother, Frances Wright. As seen above, her parents, William and Susanna Threlkeld Wright, had moved to Clark County in 1805. Visits to Clark County must have been fairly common. When Joseph Wright died in 1804, an estate sale was held on October 15, and one of the purchasers of items was John Brock. (Will Book 2, page 21) When another sale was held on September 26, 1806, again John Brock bought some items. (Will Book 2, page 219) The move to Clark County probably took place about 1816, when John first appears on the tax list there. On January 24,1817, John T. Brock bought 61 acres off the 1000 acre estate of Aaron Lewis at the intersection of the Red River and the Kentucky River. (Deed Book 12, page 536) Through the succeeding years other land was purchased. On August 4, 1821, John T. Brock bought 90 acres on Bull Run from his brother-in-law William Wright, Jr., and his wife, Nancy. The price was $500. (Deed Book 12, page 44) On January 20, 1829, John T. Brock bought 20 acres on the Kentucky River from William Stone and his wife Nancy. This land adjoined the 90 acres mentioned above. (Deed Book 23, page 503) On July 26, 1830, John Brock, Sr., bought 50 acres near a branch of the Kentucky River from Richard Oliver for $100. (Deed Book 24, page 222) Then, on March 25, 1833, John Brock, Sr., and Franky, his wife, bought 25 acres adjoining John Brock, Jr., from Charles Goldman. (Deed Book 26, page 139)
John T. Brock. Sr., was listed in the Clark County Tax List for many years, beginning in 1819. A typical notation was, “Brock, John, 90 acres Bull Run; 61 acres Ky. River; 1 white male over 21, 3 horses.”

The 1820 Clark County Census, page 73, provides the following information on John Brock’s household:
1 male 0-10 1 female 0-10
1 “ 10-16 1 “ 10-16
1 “ 16-18 1 “ 16-26
1 “ 19-26
1 “ 26-45 1 “ 26-45
1 “ 45 or older 1 “ 45 or older

The 1830 census, page 83, gives this information:
1 male 50-60 1 female 50-60
1 “ 15-20 1 “ 20-30
1 “ 5-10 2 “ 15-20

The 1840 census, page 268, adds this:
1 male 60-70 1 female 60-70
1 “ 15-20

The 1850 census is the first to use family names. Page 507 provides this data:
John Brock, Sr. 74 Male Farmer Va.
Frances “ 76 Female Va.
Rebecca “ 25 “ Ky

The 1860 census, page 503, is the final listing:
John D. Brock 84 Male Farmer Va.
Frances “ 86 Female Va.
Robert “ 38 Male Ky.

The identity of Robert is not known at this time. We suspect he was a nephew.

In 1939, Harvey Henry Brock wrote Genealogies of our Boggs, Cornelius, Ellison and Brock Kin. Born in 1870, the year John T. Brock, Sr., died, he had important family memories to draw on. This is his description:

My great-grandfather, John T. Brock, was a large, muscular man as described by my mother, who admired him very much; and she often said he was a man of splendid sense. Evidently he could not be moved easily, for when every voter in his Goode precinct voted the “Know Nothing” ticket about 1852, he was the only Democrat who kept voting the straight Democratic ticket. We had for years at home hanging on the wall a certificate given him by the members of the old Methodist Dunaways Church for his fifty years of splendid membership and cooperation in church work. He was very fond of my father (John William Brock) who was named for him. I have a two volume set, calf bound, of Wesley’s Sermons given to my father by him when Pa started preaching.

The Dunaway Methodist Church was near to where they lived. It was built of logs in 1837, and John T. Brock was a founding member and board member. Several members of the family are recorded as members of the church.

On June 21, 1861, John T. Brock and his wife, Frances, signed an agreement to turn over 115 acres on Bull Run Creek to Martin Brock. Martin Brock, the youngest son, later became the administrator of the estate of John Brock, Sr. Here was the agreement:
The said Martin Brock is now to have possession of said tract of land and the improvements thereon situated. And the consideration for which said John Brock and wife have and hereby sell and convey said tract of land to said Martin Brock is this - the said Martin Brock is to furnish to me said John Brock & my wife Francis Brock - all the necessaries of life for the maintenance comfort and support of ourselves during our natural lives clothes excepted, and we are to have a home upon said tract of land so long as we or either of us live, and at our death the said Martin Brock is to pay our son John Brock the sum of two hundred dollars twelve months after our death as an additional consideration of said tract of land. The said Martin Brock has taken care of us and cared for us during our infirm old age and is still doing so... John T. x Brock
Frances x Brock