General Notes

Presley R. Peyton married (2) Martha A. Brooks “Mattie” (6 Jan 1847 Memphis – 15 Aug 1940 Memphis) bef. Nov 1867 and died shortly after their marriage. Mattie was the oldest daughter of James Monroe Brooks and Mary Ann Kingston of Memphis and Fisherville, TN. She attended St. Agnes Academy and Calvary Episcopal Church. Widowed early in marriage, Mattie lived with her parent’s family from 1870 to 1920 and never re-married. In 1863 she witnessed the property confiscation by Union soldiers on the Brooks’ plantation and testified to the Southern Claims Commission in 1872 in Memphis. She is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis. (See Brooks)

Issue of Martha Brooks and Presley Peyton
Walter R. Peyton (18 Nov 1867 – 22 Apr 1938 Memphis). A produce merchant for George Bloom Produce Co., he was buried in Forest Hill Cemetery, Memphis.


Dr. May L. Peyton (22 January 1869 Fisherville, Shelby, TN – 23 July 1948 in Memphis) was the 1st woman dentist to practice in the city of Memphis (1903-1938). She married Dr. William Wyatt Brooks before 1897 in Memphis and entered dental school after their marriage. She graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago with 2nd honors in a class of 300 men. She was a lifetime member of the State Dental Society and the American Dental Association. “Aunt May” was described small woman who always wore black. Fiercely independent, assertive, and demanding respect, those who visited her dental chair remained quiet and compliant. She and her husband, Wyatt, divorced after which time May lived at the luxurious Gayoso hotel with her parents and remained there after their deaths. They are buried in Forest Hill Cemetery.

Wyatt
May’s husband, Dr. William Wyatt Brooks (3 May 1859 – 18 March 1927), son of John H. Brooks and Margaret J. Wright, was the foremost pyorrhea specialist in the south. Wyatt’s step-father, Dr. Shelton Hinson, one of Memphis’ first dentists, inspired Wyatt, May and others to enter the field of dentistry. May mentored her younger cousin, Dr. Ardenne Hinson, who, in turn mentored her nephew, Dr. Robert Black, in shared dental practices. Their only child, Dr. Ruth Brooks (ca. 6 Jan 1897 Memphis – ca. 15 Dec 1971 CA), attended Randolph Macon, the University of Chicago, and the University of Tennessee to become a dentist. She met Dr. John H. A. Campbell, D.D.S., Ph.D. at the University of Chicago and married in Memphis. They moved to Los Angeles and had a daughter, Mary L. Campbell.  (See Wright and Hinson)