from Inscriptions On Gravestones In Old Brookville Cemetery
Stoops, Sarah Born 1808, Died 1898
Stoops, Robert Born November 13, 1799. Died August 5, 1875
Stoops, James W. Died February 10, 1864 - Aged 13 yr 2 mo 7
Stoops, Catharine, wife of Robert Born February 11, 1806. Died December 28, 1848 - Aged 42 yr 10 mo 17 da
Stoops, Catharine R., daughter of R. and C.
Stoops Born July 2, 1837. Died July 5, 1849 - Aged 12 yr 3 da
Stoops, Caroline, daughter of R. and C. Stoops Born February 24, 1829. Died August 19, 1849 - Aged 20 yr 6 mo 25
Stoops, Sarah E., daughter of R. and C. Stoops Born November 3, 1847. Died August 19, 1849 - Aged 1 yr 9 mo 16 da
Death of Mrs. Stoops Within Three Months of Her 90th Birthday.
Passing of Our Oldest Native Inhabitant.
Died Within Twenty Feet of the Spot on Which She was Born.
Three score and ten is the allotted age of man, but by reason of strength some live to be four score and ten. Such has been the case with Mrs. Sarah Stoops of this city, who was probably the oldest native-born inhabitant of Franklin county. She was born on the Stoops farm June 11, 1808, and her death occurred within twenty feet of the spot on which she was born.
Her father, John Vincent, was an Englishman by birth. When very young he was kidnaped (sic) by a trading vessel and brought to this country and sold as an apprentice to a Dutchman in Virginia. After serving his time he entered the Virginia militia and was one of the Continentals under Washington that covered the retreat of Braddock in his defeat at Fort Du Quense.
After the French and Indian war he served in the Revolution from the beginning to the close of the war, attaining the rank of lieutenant.
At the close of the war he went to Tennessee, where he married Sarah Johnson, she being a sister of President Andrew Johnson's father, Mrs. Stoops and President Johnson thus being first cousins.
After living in Tennessee for some years he moved to Fayette county, Ky., and entered a claim, but not being satisfied he soon came north of the Ohio and settled near Harrison, where he remained a few years.
In the spring of 1805 he made a journey up the Whitewater, following the West Fork to the bound...line. He was now on the divide... back in the fall and built the first cabin on the West Fork. The next spring he came with his family.
In this log cabin Sarah Stoops was born. On the day of her birth a brother, a lad of 11 years, was bitten by a rattle snake and died the next day. His was probably the first grave in the Whitewater Valley.
When she was eleven years old her mother died and she assumed the household duties in her father's house, doing the housework, spinning and weaving for the family.
Her opportunities for an education were very limited. Her entire school life was a part of one quarter – six weeks – but during this brief school life she helped to roll the master in the snow because he would not treat at Christmas.
Mrs. Stoops was well acquainted with nearly all the prominent men of Brookville, especially in their childhood days. She has carried Gen. Lew Wallace from Brookville to he father's home and rocked Capt. James B. Eads in the old-fashioned cradle.
She well remembers the Indians that came to her father's cabin to trade the breast of a wild turkey for a teaspoonful of salt. The sxxxx [indigenous woman] usually came with her papoose strapped to a board and tied to her back. She never brought it into the house, but would set it up against the side of the cabin, not even taking the pains to put it in the shade.
In 1829 she married Amos D. Martin, a half brother of John S. and Charles B. Martin. By this marriage she was the mother of nine children, three of whom survive her.
After Mr. Martin's death she was again married to Robert Stoops and was the mother of one son that died when he was 13 years of age.
In early life she attended church at the old brick meeting house south of town, but on November 14, 1841, she united with the Presbytern (sic) Church in Brookville, and was at the time of her death its oldest living member.
Her whole life was spent in sight of her birth place. She often remarked that it did not seem possible that any one could have lived for almost ninety years in one place and seen this valley transformed from an unbroken wilderness to what it is today. But the weight of years became too great and she paid nature's debt on Thursday morning, March 10, 1898.
from Brookville Democrat 1898"
Death of Mrs. Sarah Stoops
Aunt Sally Stoops, one of the familial landmarks of the West Fork of the White Water Valley, departed this life on Thursday morning, March 10th, at the advanced age of 89 years and 9 months. She was the widow of Robert Stoops, deceased, and has been a resident of this part of Indiana for over four score years, having been born within 20 feet of where she died, near Brookville, June 11, 1808, just before the town was platted. Her entire life was spent either in the town or with-in sight of its roofs and spires. Thus one by one the old pioneers of the White Water Valley are passing away. Only a few landmarks are left to tell the unwritten history of hardships and trials, of which the present generation know nothing. It has always been the writer's pleasure to meet with these old pioneers and hear them talk of the early settlement of our valley. Many of these 'old folk' have forgotten more than the average class of so-called educated people know even if their grammar and command of language and music is not modernized. They knew how to make an honest living and could keep house, make their own clothing, and prepare nutritious food for the table. Such accomplishments may look at this day and age a little 'old fashioned,' yet the very best families of our land sprang from the middle class, who were the foundation of our present prosperity and greatness, if greatness depends upon wealth and position.
