HISTORY OF OUR FAMILY

Hello family and friends. This compilation has been the effort of several individuals, exchanging information, family trees and data, both on the internet and through regular snail mail. While I am posting this information and attempting to keep up a database, it certainly is a combined effort of many people.

One of the obstacles researching our family history has been the spelling variations of the surnames. HOLBROOK, HOLBROOKS, HALBROOK, HALBROOKS, HAULBROOK, and HAULBROOKS are just some of the more common spellings - and I have no doubt omitted a few. The use of the "S" as the last letter appears to be insignificant. I have found it to be spelled both ways by the same people. Woody is known to be spelled Woody, Woodey and Wood.
Regardless of spelling I have indexed the Holbrook name as HOLBROOK and the Woody name as Woody. I did that for my own convenience in handling all this. I chose that spelling because it is what my line of the family has used.

This report should not be taken as the final authority. The Holbrook name is very well researched for anyone to look at. It is only a beginning and undoubtedly contains errors, omissions and even duplicates. That is why I publish it. I want your input to make it more accurate and more complete. I look forward to a continuing dialogue concerning this family and its descendants/ancestors. Please contact me if you have any comments, corrections, suggestions, questions updates, or further information.

My earliest Holbrook is Ralph from Walgherton, Chesire, England. He married Mary Wilcoxon and was born before 1680. He appears to be the immigrant to America. He landed in Virginia and some of his sons later moved to North Carolina. They appear in the 1790 census in Wilkes County. From there the major migration appears to have been to Kentucky. My particular Holbrook lineage appeared in Letcher County, Ky. This family is now spread out all over the United States.

The Woody's are a tough bunch to find information on. I have very little on the older generations. My Grandfather Otto Woody was born on 25 June 1908 in English, North Carolina and he died 13 September 1966. He married Martha Sexton. Otto's father was Gilbert Woody and his mother was Eckie McGee. That's as far back as I go with that line.

The Sarniguet surname is from France. It seems they migrated to the U.S. via New Orleans, not for sure about that though. Ended up in St. Louis Mo for a long time, and still most reside there. Dayton Ohio is where my wife family moved to and still reside.

The Ansel's are a little better documented. Originally from Germany they entered the U.S. in Mass. Changed there name to Ansel from Anselstetter in 1920's.

The Sexton's are very well researched in Lecther county and by others who do research on the internet. I have included a detailed listed here.

The Lucas have been documented well also. The Letcher county Genolological Society has a lot of research on this surname.

Thankyou for stopping by my page. This site is here to assist others in finding there family members. If you can add to this page or correct any errors on it, please email me and I would be happy to help correct or add to it. Good Luck!

Found this lately. ENGLAND ABOUT 1200: Holan is what British Language experts call an oblique case of old English, Hol meaning �Hollow� lying or running in a hollow, Broc means brook. Our name means a running brook in a hollow. Well, before people took up the Holbrook name it was used as a place name and there are two places which have been named Holbrook for more than 900 years. They were first found in the 1088 Domesday book. One is in Derby and the other in Suffolk and they still exist today. Holbrook was also found as a place in 968 that appeared in the areas of Sturminster, Newton, and Dorset. Near Somerset shire in a land charter near this area is Wincanton, Somerset where a �Holbrook house� is located. The house was built in the 1300�s by Sir John Huseeand. It has been rebuilt and enlarged over the years and now operates as a hotel and it was named after a running brook in the hollow. Spellings of the Holbrook name varies in the early days. This was caused by the lack of written records, lack of education, and the use of speech dialect. People who had to write their names did so to their own interpetation of the spoken word. Even today people, especially the elderly say �Howbrock�. Sometimes the name would be spelled differently among family members such as Halbrook(s), Haulbrook(s), Albrook, and Alsebrook. The modern spelling is �Holbrook�.

OUR DIRECT LINE: Our line of Holbrooks came from the Cheshire area. The oldest Holbrook records found there is in a listing of soldiers taken during the Welsh war dated 1256. It contains two Richard Holbrooks. They appear to be knights of Suffolk who were participating in the war. No other Cheshire Holbrook references appear until 1540�s. It is believed that they moved here in the late 1530�s but unsure where they came from. Early Holbrooks were Richard Holbrook, minister of Grapenhall in 1542, John Holbrook, minister of Budworth in 1542, and Thomas Holbrook admitted freeman in 1549. CHESHIRE A stream named Holbrook is located in Prodham, Cheshire. The earliest reference about it is found in 1249. Several parishes in the area contain Holbrook people from the 1500�s as well as Warrington across the Mersey River to the north. Nothing has been found to indicate this stream contributed to a person�s name in the area. The stream starts on a knoll going down the side of the hill and runs through a cleft in some exposed rock. Further downstream it enters the Weaver River from the west. About 5/8 mile from there the Weaver enters the Mersey River from the south. The total length is about 2.5 miles. The water path through the rock cleft may be the source of the Holbrook name. Randolph and Mary Holbrook, tobacco farmers in Stafford County, Virginia, first came to America from Cheshire because they wanted freedom of worship. Because of religious persecution that the Baptists were receiving about 1774 in that area of Virginia, John Holbrook (Randolph's son) and family along with several other families migrated to Surry County, North Carolina and settled in an area that later became Traphill, Wilkes County, North Carolina. Wilkes County was formed from Surry County in 1777. Most were to become members of the Old Roaring Baptist Church, Traphill when it was constituted in 1779. On September 4, 1779, two years after he arrived, John received a land grant from the state of North Carolina for 175 acres in Wilkes County described as being "on the south side of the mountain near Camp Branch" including the plantation where he lived. The mountain was first known as Holbrook Mountain is now part of Greenstreak Mountain. His grant is now located in what is now known as Dockery where many of his descendants still live.

Credit goes to the following web site. www.family.holbrook.org

SURNAMES

Stacy's Side	Colette's Side
Holbrook	Sarniguet
Woody	Ansel's
Pence	Dietzschold
Sexton's	Guyot
Lucas	Wall

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