Uriah Brock II and Sarah Jane Burke

When Uriah Brock II was promoted to pilot in 1840, if the reported date is correct, he would have been only 20 years old. I would think it unusual for a man to have been in that position at such an early age. By 1842, however, he found himself in a good enough financial position to begin to make investments. On the 5th of December 1842, Uriah Brock purchased from William Steinbeck and "Sylpha" his wife, for one hundred dollars, half of a lot with a house on it in the town of Cape Girardeau. Although the exact location is not given in this deed, when the lot was later sold, it was described as follows:
"being the East South West half of a lot No. eleven (11) in range 6 bounded East by Fountain Street, as laid in the plat of said town being the same half lot conveyed to said Uriah by Wm. Steinbeck by deed dated Dec. 5th 1842..." (Cape Girardeau Deeds, Book K, page 369)

On the 19th of December 1844, Uriah was married at the First Presbyterian Church in St. Louis to Sarah Jane Burke. Sarah, the daughter of Ambrose C. Burke and his wife Sarah (Sally) was born on Feb. 4, 1827 in New Albany, Indiana.

Where the young couple made their residence for the next 3 years is not certain. They may have made their home in Cape Girardeau on the property Uriah purchased in 1842. By the time the St. Louis City Directory for 1847 was published, Uriah and Sarah must have been living in in St. Louis. The City directory for that year shows: Uriah Brock, pilot, living on the south side of Biddle Street, west of 15th. The information for this directory was actually taken between July and Sept. 1846.

Unfortunately, the Brock's first child, Attella, born 1845, died in her first year and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. Was she born in Cape or St. Louis?
NOTE: There are some differences in information, regarding the children between what I found in the 1980's and what was later available in the International Genealogical Index 5.0. It appears that some descendant of Uriah II may have a bible or other family information. We wish he or she would share. It would be wonderful if there were a diary or stories passed down that we all could enjoy. C'mon, if you see this, PLEASE!!
Anyway, it's interesting that Attella and her Uncle Andrew J. Brock, brother to Uriah II, died only 1 month, 9 days apart. Probably from some sickness running wild in those days . They both were buried first in Methodist cemetery and then moved to Bellefontaine in May of 1855 (Thanks ,Jeannine Pauli, who did research at Bellefontaine) to be placed in a family plot owned by Uriah and his cousin Eliza A (Robertson) Court. The mortuary used for both Attella and Andrew was George Lynch Funeral Home.
After 1847, the Brocks disappear from the St. Louis Directory until 1854, (Jeannine Pauli) however the 1850 census for that city, shows B. Brock, age 30, Boatman , with Sarah Jane, age 21 should be 23) both born Missouri, Virginia, age 3, Jeremiah (Uriah ?) age 2, both born Indiana. It is my opinion that this is actually our Uriah and Sarah Jane with their 2nd and 3rd children, Virginia and Uriah A., being recorded by a hard of hearing census taker or given by an uninformed neighbor. This is where another question needs answering. If this is indeed Uriah and family in 1850, it differs from information submitted to IGI after 2000. Although the age of 3 would be right for Virginia, was she born in Indiana or St. Louis (IGI) ? On the IGI, Uriah Armstrong Brock was born 16 Feb 1849, in Burlington, Des Moines, Iowa. The census shows the Jeremiah (Uriah) as 2 years old in 1850 rather than just one. Although I tend to want to accept the information on the IGI, believeing it must have come from family records, I know through experience in researching some of my other lines, that this kind of information can be mis-recorded or misinterpreted also. It occured to me that perhaps Sarah would have wanted to be home in Indiana with family for the birth of Virginia, since she had lost her first child so young and undoubtedly was still mourning for her. More research needs to be done here to get an accurate picture!

WHOA!!-I just looked back through my files to check the date of deed when Uriah and Sarah Jane sold their property in Cape Girardeau. What I found solves at least some of the controversy above: "Know all men that Uriah Brock & Sarah Jane, his wife of Des Moines county, state of Iowa..." have sold to William Surrell... (the same piece of property that Uriah had purchased of William Steinbeck in 1842.) dated 1 June 1848. (Cape Girardeau Deeds, Book N, page 257)
Well that settles that! obviously the Brocks were in Iowa during the time they were missing in St. Louis, and that is most likely where Uriah A. was born. A quick search of a transcribed 1850 census index for Des Moines Co. Iowa, on the net, didn't reveal Uriah's name, so maybe they were back in St. Louis by then. Wish I had time to work more on the descendants, it's always tempting and I'm often distracted from my goal of trying to share what I already have. by trying to find more on my own. We really NEED those of you out there who have something to contribute! By the way, I have heard from a desd. of William Brock through Sylvia who gave her line down and permission to use it, so I will post that soon. This blog should be open to all comments now, so maybe it will be easier to share your informatin
On to the last two children of Uriah and Sarah: Marcella. J. and Charles H
IGI contributor shows them as Marcell Jackson Brock (b. 10 Feb 1851) and Charles Henry Brock, (b.22 Jan 1853).

Sarah Jane passed on the 9th of Novemeber 1854, at age 28 and is buried in Bellefontaine Cemetery in St. Louis. In May 1855, the two children who preceeded her in death were moved to rest beside her. Her estate, (#4472, Probate Records, City of St. Louis) lists her heirs as follows: Virginia, Uriah, Macella J, and Charles H. Brock. There are a number of deed references in St. Louis for Uriah and Sarah, both buying and selling. I have the references, but did not go through the deeds. It appears that they had between them a good bit of real estate. Part of the inventory of Sarah Jane mentions a
"deed from James S. Thomas & wife to Sheldon Strawley, in trust for sole and separate use of Sarah Jane Brock, wife of Uriah Brock, lot in "Compton Hill" in St. Louis.
Lots #24 & 25 in Block 10, each twenty five feet front on Grand Avenue. 25 X 134.
Deed from Russell & wife to Theodore Stanley in trust for Sarah Jane Brock & her heirs for the following described ground; Lot in County of St. Louis, Block #3 fronting 71 feet on Lindell, 250 more or less in depth"
One would wonder why these pieces of property were just in the name of Sarah Jane. Perhaps they were an inheritance. It will take more time than I have at present to go through all the deeds and figure it out. If some descendant would like to do so, I can give you Book and page numbers. Two things that should be mentioned: (1) Sheldon Strawley, named a few lines above, was living in the household of B. Brock (whom I believe to be Uriah) in 1850. This lends credence to the fact that it is indeed Uriah in 1850. Mr Strawley may have been a relative of Sarah Jane. (2) Probate shows a lien put against the estate of Sarah Jane for work done and material furnished for a house being built on Lindell and Grand Ave. in the amount of $952.

Evidently the youngest Brock child, Charles H. was raised by His Aunt Elizabeth Brock and Uncle Samuel P. Curtis, who also resided with Therese (or she with them) from 1850 through 1870. In 1876 Elizabeth Curtis died and in 1880 we find Charles H. a painter, at age 26 with his Aunt Virginia (Jennie) Cramer and her Husband Andrew J.

On the 21 October, 1855 Uriah married (2) in Pike County, Illinois, Clarinda C. Marsh. See Next Post.