Mahala Brock Stansbury

Mahala Brock Stansbury

KentuckyProbable

Daughter of James and Betsy Brock · 1843–1905

Born

9 August 1843

Parents

James Brock & Elizabeth "Betsy" Brock

Married

William M. Stansbury (1836)

Sources

3

Research status

Research status: PROBABLE Probable confirm or correct → as the daughter of James Brock and Elizabeth “Betsy” Brock, and so a sister of Solomon Alfred Brock. The evidence is strong. Evidence: she is in James and Elizabeth's household twice, read on the census images, as Mahala, 6, in 1850 and Mahala, 17, in 1860, beside Solomon both times S169S167; her Find a Grave memorial gives her maiden name as Brock, and lists a son named Soloman Brock Stansbury S2459; and her son William L. Stansbury's Texas death record names his mother “Malala Buck”, a misreading of Mahala Brock S2459. What is weak: no record found names her parents, the censuses before 1880 state no relationships, and her dates come from a compiled Find a Grave entry, not from a death certificate. Her own Texas death record or a marriage record would settle it. If you know more, use “Add to this record”.

Evidence: She is in James and Elizabeth Brock's household in the 1850 and 1860 census images, beside Solomon both times (S169, S167); her Find a Grave memorial gives her maiden name as Brock, and her son's Texas death record names his mother 'Malala Buck' (S2459). Weak or missing: No record found names her parents, and her dates come from a compiled Find a Grave entry, not a death certificate. Not yet confirmed. Know more? Confirm or correct this →

Life in the order the records give it

Birth1843

Born 9 August 1843, Kentucky, by her memorial S2459; 6 in August 1850 S169 and 17 in July 1860 S167

Burial1905

Mahala Brock Stansbury died on 29 October 1905 and was buried at Clyde, Callahan County, Texas S2459

Family parents, marriages, children, siblings

Parents—

Daughter of James Brock and Elizabeth “Betsy” Brock; sister of Solomon Alfred Brock, of Elizabeth Brock Hoskins and of Sabra Brock Wilson

Marriage1836

Wife of William M. Stansbury (1836–1924), who is named here only. They lived in Laurel County, Kentucky, in 1870 and 1880 and had moved to Callahan County, Texas, by 1900.

Parents2026

History of this card. 26 Oct 2026

card added; she was entered on the family tree the same day as the daughter of James and Elizabeth Brock (PROPOSALS-APPLY PA-1026M, card SWEEP-1026K). The Brock line page already named her in both census households, with the same sources.

Documents and record images for the Brock family →

In the record Generation 6 — Earl's 3rd-great-grandparents and their siblings

1. S1671860 U.S. Federal Census — James Brock household, County of Laurel, State of Kentucky. Ancestry collection 7667, record 39738881, image 4231191_00444. SCHEDULE 1.—Free Inhabitants, enumerated the 25th day of July 1860 by J. R. Martin, Ass't Marshal; page 112, dwelling 760, family 714, lines 9–17. Read from the image at full resolution — 2237 × 2930 px, 22 September 2026. Brock, James, 56, U.B. Clergym'n, $700 real and $152 personal, born Ky; Elizabeth, 57; Caleb 26 (farm labor, $82); Sabrey A. 24; Soleman, 22, farm labor, $50; Mary J. 19; Mahala 17; Carline C. 13; Hetia C. 10 — all born Ky. A PROBABLE sixth generation on the Brock side. This sheet puts him at 22 in the household of James and Elizabeth Brock with seven others of the surname, and the 1850 Harlan County sheet [S169] shows the same couple with the same children ten years earlier and Solomon at 12. The hedge is the whole point and it is stated plainly: a census names a household, not a parentage. No record read in this research says son of, so the link is graded PROBABLE, in the family tree as on this page. James Brock was a United Brethren minister — U.B. Clergym'n in the occupation column, against page totals of $3,200 and $2,000, with a second U.B. clergyman, B. Cochins, 78, born Georgia, at line 2 of the same page. The first religious vocation anywhere in the Brock line. Solomon is a farm labourer at 22 with $50 to his name — ten years before he is Teaching School in Arkansas [S153]. Laurel County, not Harlan. The family is in Harlan in 1850 [S169], in Laurel in July 1860, and back in Harlan for the marriage of 6 March 1865 [S151]; the birthplace column on both schedules reads only Kentucky. Age 22 points to 1838 and excludes 8 April 1837. Reference day 1 June 1860; 22 requires a birth between 2 June 1837 and 1 June 1838, and born 8 April 1837 he would be 23. Neither schedule carries a month or a day; the day comes from his headstone alone [S1769]. Ancestry indexes him Salman; the image reads Soleman.
2. S1691850 U.S. Federal Census — James Brock household, District No. 1, County of Harlan, State of Kentucky. Ancestry collection 8054, record 17189309, image 4192493_00369. SCHEDULE I.—Free Inhabitants, enumerated on the 21st day of August 1850; dwelling and family 381/381, lines 20–27, with dwelling 382 next door. Read from the image at full resolution — 3502 × 4498 px, 22 September 2026. Brock, James, 45, Farmer, real estate $600, born Ky; Elizabeth, 46; Caleb 16 (farmer); Sabra 14; Solomon, 12; Mary 9; Mahala 6; Caroline V. 3 — the surname written once on line 20 and dittoed down. Next door, dwelling 382: Brock, Zecheriah, 22, farmer, $100, with Margarett 20, James 2 and Abram 7/12. This is the pair to S167, and it turns the CANDIDATE parentage into a two-census chain. Every member of dwelling 381 reappears in Laurel County ten years later at the right age — Caleb 16→26, Sabra 14→Sabrey A. 24, Solomon 12→22, Mary 9→19, Mahala 6→17, Caroline V. 3→Carline C. 13, James 45→56, Elizabeth 46→57 — nobody drops out, and the only addition in 1860 is Hetia C., 10, born after this sheet was taken. Eight people twice, a decade apart, in two counties. That is what makes it a chain rather than a one-page guess, and it is still an inference. No record here says son of; graded Probable on James Brock's card, with the 1930 death record of Solomon's sister Sabra, which names the same parents. A married Brock next door. Zecheriah, 22, born c.1828, with a wife of 20 and two small sons — exactly where an elder son of James who had already married out would sit. A candidate brother, carded and not claimed. James Brock's calling changed: a farmer with $600 here and a U.B. clergyman with $700 in 1860 [S167]. Both are on the record and neither should be flattened into the other. The given name is written out in full — Solomon, clearer than 1860's Soleman. Age 12 points to 1838 and excludes 8 April 1837: reference day 1 June 1850, so 12 requires a birth between 2 June 1837 and 1 June 1838, and at 8 April 1837 he would be 13. The day comes from his headstone [S1769]. The birthplace column names a state, not a county. The enumeration-day digit reads 21; 31 cannot be wholly excluded, and the arithmetic is the same either way.
3. S2459Mahala (Brock) Stansbury — Find a Grave memorial 68930733, and her son’s Texas death index. Find a Grave memorial 68930733 (Ancestry db 60525, record 30721061); Ancestry, “Texas, U.S., Death Certificates” (db 2272), record 21738390. Found 27 September 2026 (S5-0927Q, S5-0927R); memorial text and index only — no image was read. Probable Mahala Stansbury, maiden name Brock, born 9 August 1843, died 29 October 1905, buried at Clyde, Callahan County, Texas; her children include Ed and Soloman Brock Stansbury. Her son William L. Stansbury’s death record names his parents as W. M. Stansbury and “Malala Buck”. A compiled memorial and one index row; neither names her parents.