52 Cousins~Rev. Valentine William Brock

The “52 Cousins” series of biographical sketches are Artificial Intelligence (AI) compiled narratives of selected individuals from my Genealogical database. The selected AI will used documents and data from my RootsMagic Genealogical Software. All genealogical data is my research material acquired over the past 48+ years of research. Today's Biography of Doctor Wesley "Dock" Rivers was compiled with the assistance of Claude Sonnett 5.5 Medium. 

Rev. Valentine William Brock

About 1800 – After 1870 • A Baptist Preacher on the Mississippi Frontier

Chesterfield, South Carolina • Pike County and Hinds County, Mississippi • Concordia Parish, Louisiana • Grand Gulf, Claiborne County, Mississippi

Quick Facts

Born	About 1800 (census calculations point to 1800–1802), Chesterfield, South Carolina
Parents	William Brock (1770–1844) and Charlotte (1780–1842)
Occupation	Baptist minister (listed as “Baptist Clergyman” in the 1850 census) and landholder
First Wife	Vashti Brooks (about 1813 – 6 Mar 1851), married 12 Oct 1835, Claiborne County, Mississippi
Second Wife	Martha Conger Sims Burch (1812–1907), married 16 Mar 1852, Claiborne County, Mississippi
Children	Nine documented: seven with Vashti (George, Joseph, Theodore, Albert, Charles, Henry and Mary) and two with Martha (an unnamed son who died at age 2, and Mattie)
Places Lived	Chesterfield, SC • Pike County, MS • Concordia Parish, LA • Hinds County, MS (Utica and Clinton area) • Grand Gulf, Claiborne County, MS
Died	After 1870, Hinds County, Mississippi (believed to be between 1870 and 1880); burial place not yet found

 

Meet Valentine

Rev. Valentine William Brock is one of those ancestors who shows up everywhere in the records and yet keeps a few secrets. He was born in South Carolina around 1800, traveled west to the Mississippi frontier, preached the Baptist gospel for decades, married twice, buried a wife and several children, built up land holdings, lost a good bit of them to creditors, and lived long enough to appear in the 1870 census as a man in his late sixties. After that, the trail goes quiet.

This biography pulls together what the records say about Valentine, his two families, and his youngest daughter Mattie, whose own family carried the Brock line out to Arkansas, Missouri and California. Where the records disagree with one another, we say so plainly, and we have collected the open questions near the end for the next round of research.

Roots: Parents and Family Background

Valentine's parents are recorded as William Brock (1770–1844) and Charlotte (1780–1842); Charlotte's maiden name has not been found. Valentine was born in Chesterfield, South Carolina. The 1870 census agrees that he was born in South Carolina, which is the only birthplace that appears in the census records we have.

The year of his birth takes a little arithmetic. The 1830 census put him between 20 and 30 years old (1800–1810), the 1840 census between 30 and 39 (1801–1810), and the 1850 census gave his age as 50 (about 1800). Taken together, those three censuses point to 1800 or 1801. The 1870 census, however, lists him as age 68, which would make it about 1802, and a family tradition posted online gives 1806. The family group sheet settles on “about 1800.”

A correspondent named Alan, writing to Charlie, agreed that the V. W. Brock in Claiborne County, Mississippi, was “Valentine #2,” a brother of James, Moses and William Brock. He also passed along a comment that Valentine was a co-founder of Utica Baptist Church, which is a very reasonable fit since Utica lies only a few miles from Raymond and Clinton. That church connection is a family report and has not yet been matched to a church record.

Faith on the Frontier: Pike County, Mississippi

Valentine's first appearance in the records is a religious one. In November 1826, the Silver Creek Baptist Church in Pike County, Mississippi, recorded that “Bro. Valentine Brock” was received by experience, which is the Baptist way of saying he had shared his conversion story with the congregation and been welcomed as a member.

Less than three years later, in July 1829, the same church minutes record that “Bro. Vollintine Brock” handed in a letter asking that the church grant him and his wife Annis a letter of dismission, the document a Baptist carried to join a new congregation. This is an intriguing line. Annis does not appear on the family group sheet, and Valentine’s wife in the 1830s and 1840s was Vashti, who was probably still a girl in 1829. We should keep Annis on the list of people to chase (see the research notes at the end).

Historical Context: Baptists on the Mississippi Frontier In the 1820s and 1830s, Baptist churches were multiplying quickly across the new cotton lands of Mississippi. Many churches were served by farmer-preachers who worked their own land during the week and preached on Sundays. A published list of ministers who came to the Natchez Trace region from South Carolina before 1850 includes “V. W. Brock,” and the Mississippi Historical Society’s 1903 volume also names him among the Baptist ministers of Clinton and its neighborhood.

 

Louisiana, Guardianship and a Marriage

By 1830, Valentine was living in Concordia Parish, Louisiana, across the Mississippi River from Natchez. The census recorded his household as himself (age 20–30), one woman aged 20–30, and one boy under 5.

In 1833, back in Mississippi, Valentine took on some real responsibility. Hinds County probate records show two guardian bonds, one dated 3 February 1833 for William D. Fairchild and one dated 25 May 1833 for James R. Fairchild, both minors. Each bond was for six hundred dollars, with William M. Fairchild as surety. The records note that the children were orphans of Loften Fairchild, late of Pike County, who had been under William M. Fairchild’s care before being placed with Valentine. The sheet files this under the January Term of 1834.

On 2 April 1835, a land deed was made to V. W. Brock (Hinds County Deed Book 6, page 425). Six months later, on 12 October 1835, Valentine married Vashti Brooks in Claiborne County, Mississippi. The marriage index spells her name “Vaskti,” a transcription slip that is easy to spot against her tombstone.

Vashti and the First Family

Vashti Brooks was born about 1813 in Mississippi. Her gravestone at Grand Gulf says she was a member of the Baptist Church for 19 years, which would mean she joined around 1832, when she was about 19. She and Valentine had seven known children, born between 1836 and 1850. The first two arrived in quick succession, and sadly both were lost as young boys.

Child	Born	Died	What the Records Say
George W. Brock	20 Jul 1836, Claiborne Co., MS	11 Sep 1843, Claiborne Co., MS	Buried at Grand Gulf Cemetery. Died at age 7.
Joseph Bowmar Brock	2 Aug 1838, Claiborne Co., MS	22 Oct 1844, Claiborne Co., MS	Buried at Grand Gulf Cemetery beside his brother. Died at age 6.
Theodore Brock	About 1840, Claiborne Co., MS	8 Oct 1862, Perryville, Boyle Co., KY	Age 10 in 1850. See the Civil War section below.
Albert Brock	About 1842, Claiborne Co., MS	Not recorded	Age 8 in the 1850 census.
Charles P. Brock	About 1845, Claiborne Co., MS	Not recorded	Age 5 in 1850. Military entry dated 20 Apr 1861, Clinton Twp., Hinds Co. Married Mary Elizabeth Clark, 11 Oct 1869, Hinds Co.
Henry Brock	About 1847, Claiborne Co., MS	Not recorded	Age 3 in 1850.
Mary C. Brock	About 1850, Claiborne Co., MS	Not recorded	Age 6 months in the 1850 census, so she was a baby when her mother died.

 

Charles married Mary Elizabeth Clark (23 Jan 1850 – 22 Dec 1907) on 11 October 1869 in Hinds County. A published Ross family record lists her as the daughter of Letitia Ann Venable and William Clark of Claiborne County, and names their children as Theodore, Lilly May (who died young) and Charlie. After Charles’s death, Mary Elizabeth married her cousin, Cammie W. Burch, and had no more children.

The 1840 census household in Concordia Parish was larger than the children we can name today: two boys under 5, one boy 15–19, two men 20–29, one man 30–39, two girls 10–14, and one woman 20–29. The census does not name the other members of the household, so who they were remains an open question. It is a household worth studying more closely.

Debts, Land and Hard Times (1837–1843)

Valentine’s land records read like a roller coaster. He was clearly buying and borrowing at the height of the cotton boom, and then the bills came due.

• September 1837 / May 1838 term: In Hinds County Circuit Court, Kinchen A. Martin sued over a $550 promissory note made by Valentine. The note had been endorsed along the way by Robert Jones and James N. Casey before reaching Martin, and it was presented for payment on 9 February 1838 and reported unpaid and protested.

• 7 April 1838: Valentine and Moses Brock (spelled “Block” in the deed summary) deeded land in trust to John Perry, as trustee, to secure a joint debt owed to Thomas C. Riley of Virginia. The land included property in the town of Utica.

• 3 April 1840: A trustee’s notice in the Raymond South-Western Farmer announced a sale on 25 April 1840 at the Hinds County courthouse door. It described a quarter-acre lot in Utica “upon which is now erected the dwelling house” of V. W. Brock, plus several parcels in Township 3, Range 4 West. This notice gives the debt as owed to “Thos. B. Rixby senior dec’d,” a different name than the 1838 deed summary.

• 10 December 1840: Even so, the U.S. government issued a land patent to Valentine and John F. Mapp for the southeast quarter of Section 15, Township 3, Range 4 West, 160.06 acres, through the Mount Salus land district. They held it as tenants in common. The patent was signed under President Martin Van Buren.

• 1842–1843: Henry N. Allin bought Valentine’s land at an execution sale held the first Monday of November 1842, and on 7 November 1843, Hinds County Sheriff Daniel Thomas signed the sheriff’s deed conveying the former Brock property to Allin.

 

Historical Context: The Panic of 1837 A banking panic in 1837 set off a depression that dragged on into the early 1840s. Cotton prices fell, banks failed, and land that had been bought on credit during the boom was suddenly hard to pay for. Mississippi was hit especially hard, and notes, trust deeds and sheriff’s sales like the ones above were common sights in county courthouses. Valentine’s paper trail from 1837 to 1843 fits that pattern.

 

Valentine also kept up with the civic life of the day. A Natchez paper, the Mississippi Free Trader (22 February 1840), mentions him in a report on a Democratic committee meeting at the courthouse in Vidalia, Concordia Parish, Louisiana, which was also where the 1840 census found his household. That was a presidential election year, with Martin Van Buren seeking a second term.

The Preacher

Through all of this, Valentine’s calling remained constant. The 1850 census lists his occupation as Baptist Clergyman. The Mississippi Historical Society’s 1903 volume, in a piece called “Historic Clinton,” lists him as a Baptist minister (pages 292–293), and the Natchez Trace ministers list mentioned earlier places “V. W. Brock” among the preachers who came out of South Carolina.

One of the nicest finds is in a Revolutionary War widow’s pension file. Tabitha Lewis, widow of Joseph Lewis of South Carolina, stated that she had married Joseph Lewis in 1835 in Copiah County, Mississippi, by Valentine Brock, Minister of the gospel, and that she knew of no record of the marriage. It is a small window on what a frontier preacher did: baptize, bury, and marry couples, often without a courthouse clerk in sight.

Loss and Grief: The 1840s and Vashti’s Death

The 1840s were hard on the family. Their first-born, George, died on 11 September 1843 at age 7, and Joseph Bowmar followed on 22 October 1844 at age 6. (The Find a Grave memorial for George lists 1 September, while the stone inscription transcribed in the same notes reads Sept. 11, so the sheet uses the 11th.) Both boys rest in Grand Gulf Cemetery, which is now cared for by Grand Gulf Military Park.

The family was living in Grand Gulf by the time of the 1850 census (dwelling 202, page 113B): Valentine, 50, Baptist Clergyman; Vashti, 39; and children Theodore, Albert, Charles, Henry and baby Mary.

Vashti died on 6 March 1851, in her 38th year, leaving a houseful of young children. Her stone at Grand Gulf declares she was a member of the Baptist Church 19 years and that she “obtained a promise from her oldest children, to meet her in heaven.” Her last words, carved on the stone, were a prayer that God would enable her family to meet her in heaven. Valentine had a minister’s faith, and it is touching to see it so plainly chiseled into her memorial.

Historical Context: Grand Gulf Grand Gulf was a Mississippi River town between Natchez and Vicksburg and was the main burial ground for the early inhabitants of the old town. During the Civil War, Union gunboats attacked the Confederate batteries there in April 1863, and the town never recovered its earlier importance. Today the Grand Gulf Military Park preserves the site and maintains the cemetery where Vashti and her sons rest.

 

A Second Marriage: Martha Conger Sims Burch

Valentine did not remain a widower for long. On 16 March 1852, a little over a year after Vashti’s death, he married Martha E. Burch in Claiborne County. She was Martha Conger Sims Burch, born in 1812, a widow whose first marriage had brought her several children. (A Ross family history gives the date of the second marriage as March 2nd, so a day-of-the-month question remains, and it describes Valentine at the time as “of Tensas Parish, La.”)

Martha lived a very long life and died in 1907. Her Burch children, Mattie’s half-siblings, include David Stanton Burch (1838–1905) and Cordelia G. Burch Brown (1828–1916), both noted on Mattie’s sheet. Valentine and Martha had two children of their own:

Child	Born	Died	What the Records Say
Son (name unknown)	Not recorded	At age 2	Mentioned in the Ross family history as having died at age 2.
Martha Valentine “Mattie” Brock	26 Sep 1856, Clinton, MS	31 Oct 1947, Jackson Co., MO	Married Andrew Jackson “Jack” Brown, 22 May 1878. Her story is told below.

 

The Civil War Years

Valentine’s sons grew up as the country came apart. Mississippi left the Union in January 1861, and the family sheet records a military entry for Charles P. Brock on 20 April 1861 at Clinton Township, Hinds County. The sheet gives no regiment, so the details of his service are still to be found.

A newspaper notice from the Vicksburg Whig of 17 April 1861 also catches the family in the days just before the war. It advertised a lost promissory note for $3,000, drawn by V. W. Brock and Theodore A. Brock, payable to the order of D. C. Thomas and due 1 January 1862. That father-and-son business arrangement shows Valentine, who was around 60, doing business with his eldest surviving son, who would have been about 21.

Theodore Brock died on 8 October 1862 at Perryville, Boyle County, Kentucky. That is the very date of the Battle of Perryville, one of the largest battles fought in Kentucky. The family sheet does not state his unit or cause of death, but the place and date make a military record well worth searching for. If it holds up, Valentine and Vashti’s son was one of the many Mississippians who never came home.

Later Years

The 1870 census (Clinton Township, Hinds County, dwelling 30) finds Valentine, age 68 and born in South Carolina, with Martha, age 58, keeping house, and their daughter Mattie S., age 12. Five other people with other surnames were in the household as well: Vernon A. Rome (22), John Henderson (38), Hanny Cockroft (20), Daniel Spencer (25) and Eustice E. King (19).

Valentine’s life after that point is not yet documented. He is believed to have died between 1870 and 1880 in Hinds County, but no death record, will or gravestone has turned up. Martha lived until 1907, outliving him by many years.

Valentine’s Daughter Mattie and the Brown Family

Valentine’s youngest child, Martha Valentine “Mattie” Brock, carried the family story into the next century. She was born in Clinton, Mississippi, on 26 September 1856 according to the sheet, although records vary: the 1870 census suggests about 1857–1858 and the Ross family history says 1858. The 1870 census finds her at home with her parents in Clinton Township.

On 22 May 1878, Mattie married Andrew Jackson “Jack” Brown in Hinds County, Mississippi. Jack was born on 6 March 1850 in Mt. Eden, Kentucky. An online family comment says Mattie attended Hillman Academy and that Jack had attended Hillman College; the marriage year in that comment (1877) differs from the marriage index, so we rely on the index.

Their first child was born in Mississippi in 1878, and the rest of the family followed in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, in Carroll County, where Jack worked as a house painter and Mattie as a music teacher, according to the 1900 census (Ward 2). Eureka Springs had been founded as a spa town in 1879, and was growing fast as a resort. The 1900 census also says Mattie had borne eight children, six of whom were living, so two of her children are not yet on the family group sheet.

Child	Born	Died	What the Records Say
Walter H. Brown	Apr 1878, Hinds Co., MS	Not recorded	House painter in 1900. Lived with Mattie in the 1930 and 1940 censuses in Kansas City, MO.
Bebe Brown (Bebe Adele Brown Sellinger)	Nov 1880, Carroll Co., AR	1951 (per the Ancestry tree timeline)	Listed as a music teacher in 1900. Her married name was Sellinger.
Cameron Burch Brown	1 Apr 1883, Eureka Springs, AR	6 Jun 1939, San Francisco, CA	Listed as a druggist in 1900. His middle name, Burch, likely echoes his grandmother’s earlier married name. An obituary exists.
Jack Brown	Feb 1885, Carroll Co., AR (the Ancestry tree gives 18 Feb 1886)	20 Mar 1944	Delivery boy in 1900.
Albert Stanhope Brown	18 Aug 1889, Eureka Springs, AR	8 Jun 1969, Los Angeles Co., CA	Age 10 in 1900.
Clara V. Brown	Sep 1891, Carroll Co., AR	Not recorded	Age 8 in 1900, and 18 in the 1910 census.

 

By 1910, Mattie and Jack were living in Kansas City, Missouri (Ward 4, Jackson County), with Walter, Cameron, Albert and Clara still at home. In 1930, the household on De Groff Street in Kansas City included Andrew (80), his wife (listed as “Nettie,” 72), son Walter (51) and a 17-year-old granddaughter, Bettie Brown, who was born in Arkansas.

Andrew Jackson Brown died on 6 December 1938 in Jackson County, Missouri, and was cremated the next day. By the 1940 census, Mattie, 83, was widowed and heading her own household at 3276 Oak Street in Kansas City, with her son Walter, 63, living with her. The census notes she had completed two years of college. Mattie died on 31 October 1947 in Jackson County, Missouri, and, like her husband, was cremated.

Historical Context: From Mississippi to the Ozarks and the Missouri River Mattie’s journey was a common one for post-war Southern families. Reconstruction-era Mississippi offered few prospects, and families such as the Browns moved west and north to places where trades like painting, teaching and pharmacy could earn a living. Eureka Springs, a boom-time resort in the Ozarks, and later Kansas City, a major rail hub on the Missouri River, were both natural destinations. Two of Mattie’s sons eventually settled on the Pacific coast, in San Francisco and Los Angeles County.

 

Timeline of Valentine’s Life

Date	Event
About 1800	Born in Chesterfield, South Carolina.
Nov 1826	Received by experience at Silver Creek Baptist Church, Pike County, MS.
Jul 1829	Requests a church letter of dismission for himself and wife Annis.
1830	Census: Concordia Parish, Louisiana.
1833	Guardian bonds for William D. and James R. Fairchild, Hinds County, MS.
2 Apr 1835	Land deed to V. W. Brock, Hinds County Deed Book 6, p. 425.
12 Oct 1835	Marries Vashti Brooks, Claiborne County, MS.
20 Jul 1836	Son George W. born.
Sep 1837 – May 1838	Sued over a $550 promissory note, Hinds County Circuit Court.
2 Aug 1838	Son Joseph Bowmar born.
7 Apr 1838	Trust deed with Moses Brock to John Perry; property in Utica.
Feb 1840	Named in a Democratic committee meeting report, Vidalia, Louisiana.
25 Apr 1840	Trust sale of Utica lot and land announced.
1840	Census: Concordia Parish, Louisiana. Son Theodore born about this year.
10 Dec 1840	U.S. land patent with John F. Mapp, 160.06 acres, Mount Salus district.
Nov 1842 – 7 Nov 1843	Land sold at execution sale; sheriff’s deed to Henry N. Allin.
11 Sep 1843	Son George dies at age 7.
22 Oct 1844	Son Joseph Bowmar dies at age 6.
1850	Census: Grand Gulf, Claiborne County, as Baptist Clergyman.
6 Mar 1851	Wife Vashti dies. Buried at Grand Gulf Cemetery.
16 Mar 1852	Marries Martha E. Burch (Martha Conger Sims Burch), Claiborne County.
20 Apr 1861	Son Charles P. has a military entry at Clinton Township, Hinds County.
8 Oct 1862	Son Theodore dies at Perryville, Kentucky.
11 Oct 1869	Son Charles marries Mary Elizabeth Clark, Hinds County.
1870	Census: Clinton Township, Hinds County, age 68.
After 1870	Death in Hinds County, believed between 1870 and 1880.

 

 

Rev. Valentine William Brock is my 1st Cousin 5X Removed.

 

Research Notes and Open Questions

Research Notes Birth year: The sheet says about 1800, the 1830–1850 censuses support 1800–1801, the 1870 census implies about 1802, and an online family comment says 1806 and Clinton, MS. The 1870 census and sheet agree on South Carolina as his birthplace. The 4 Censuses mentioned show that Valentine was born between 1 Jan 1800 & 31 Dec 1802. Annis: The July 1829 church letter names his wife as Annis. She is not on the sheet, and Vashti (born about 1813) would have been very young in 1829. The 1830 census shows a woman aged 20–30 in his household. A first marriage is a strong possibility and deserves a search. Marriage dates: Valentine and Martha’s marriage is 16 March 1852 in the Mississippi marriage index but March 2nd in the Ross family history. 22 May 1878 is the Correct Marriage date. https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7842/records/67888 Creditor’s name: The 1838 trust deed lists Thomas C. Riley of Virginia, while the 1840 trustee’s notice names “Thos. B. Rixby senior dec’d.” Moses is “Block” in one source and “Brock” in another. Moses is a “Brock” & Thomas is a “Rixby.” Mattie’s birth: The sheet says 26 Sep 1856, while census records suggest 1857 or 1858 and the Ross history says 1858. Martha V Brown---Missouri, U.S., Death Certificates#38035 has Martha's date of birth as 26 September 1856.  Missing children: The 1840 household is larger than the known children, and Mattie’s 1900 census shows two children who died before 1900 and are not yet on her sheet. Valentine and Martha’s infant son is also unnamed. . [Noted] Still to find: Valentine’s death and burial, Charles’s military records, the fates of Albert, Henry and Mary, Martha’s Birch/Burch family, and any church minutes from Utica. Charles enlisted and was discharged for being under age. Discharged being under age July 15, 1861. Henry was also too young.

 

Sources

• Bevin J. Creel, 19th Century Baptist Church Records of Marion and Pike Counties, Mississippi (2013), pp. 4–5 (Silver Creek Baptist Church minutes).

• U.S. Federal Census: 1830 and 1840, Concordia Parish, Louisiana; 1850, Grand Gulf, Claiborne County, Mississippi; 1870, Clinton Township, Hinds County, Mississippi (via Ancestry).

• Hinds County, Mississippi: Deed Book 6, p. 425 (1835); Deeds 1838–1841 (trust deed, 7 Apr 1838); Circuit Court case files 1836–1839; Probate Court Estates, Old Series, Vol. 1, pp. 36–37 (guardian bonds); sheriff’s deed, 7 Nov 1843 (FamilySearch).

• U.S. land patent to Valentine W. Brock and John F. Mapp, 10 Dec 1840 (Mount Salus land district).

• South-Western Farmer (Raymond, MS), 3 Apr 1840; Mississippi Free Trader (Natchez), 22 Feb 1840; Vicksburg Whig, 17 Apr 1861 (Newspapers.com).

• Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society, Vol. 7 (1903), “Historic Clinton,” pp. 292–293; Natchez Trace ministers list contributed by Janye Conway Garlington Pruitt (1949).

• Mississippi Marriages, 1776–1935 (Ancestry): Brock–Brooks, 12 Oct 1835; Burch–Brock, 16 Mar 1852; Brock–Brown, 22 May 1878.

• Find a Grave memorials: Vashti Brooks Brock (#16781532), George W. Brock (#35399348), Joseph Bowmar Brock (#69207380), Grand Gulf Cemetery.

• A Record of the Descendants of Isaac Ross and Jean Brown, p. 114.

• Revolutionary War Pension file R. 19,780, Joseph Lewis / Tabitha Lewis (NARA M804).

• 1900, 1910, 1930 and 1940 U.S. Federal Censuses; Missouri Death Certificates, 1910–1971 (Andrew Brown, Dec 1938; Martha V. Brown, Oct 1947).

• Family Group Sheets dated 3 November 2026, prepared by Charles Purvis.

 

Prepared by Charles Purvis

CPurvis1@gmail.com

Draft biography prepared 3 November 2026 from family group sheets.