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Note: My grandmother, Rosa Lee Brooks was born in Urbanna, VA in 1866. The Civil War had just ended one year earlier. Today, her remaining family descendents know little of her youth or schooling. Because the war left the whole South so devastated, it's not impossible to ponder Rosa Lee had no formal education beyond home tutoring.
After marriage in 1884 some records indicate she and Winter moved to Center Cross, VA. where Ida Jane Brooks was born a year later. The once lush rural land in this part of Virginia supported fields of corn, tomatoes, snaps. corn and beans, even some sugar cane, Irish potatoes, tobacco and livestock hay. Now my gramdfather's land failed to yield enough to feed a family. Tea was brewed from sassafras. Polk berries and walnut hulls were used to make a dye for the homespun cloth. Even chickens were scrawny. Cows, pigs and horses were all scarce on the farms around Center Cross. Proud southern vast landowner planters and plantation owners became survival farmers. James Winter now began to develop his skills as a cobbler. The War had destroyed all the glamour of a previous Southern life. So in 1891, Winter Brooks sold his small farm to C.A. Taylor, his brother-in-law and planned to relocate his new family where a better life might be in the making for his shoemaking talents. About eight years after she and James Winter married, they packed their meager belongings, gathered their young children and boarded a ship either at Bowler's Wharf or the larger port at Tappahannock, VA and sailed with a high tide down the Rappahannock River to Newport News. After the family moved, Rosa took up the art of lace and dress making and became a well-known seamstress in Newport News, VA.
According to an article in the TIMES HERALD (Thursday, October 10, 1946) their first home was in the East End on Roanoke Avenue. From there they moved to a home on the corner of 28th and Washington Avenue. Next, the couple and their expanding family lived and worked at 1237 East 25th Street in downtown Newport News. My dad was living here when he was courting my mom in 1921-1923.
When Rosa Lee spent hours in front of the window overlooking 25th street and Washington Avenue creating the special lace for which she was known, I feel sure she felt her creative efforts would benefit her family and her customers.
Many lacemakers admit experiencing a state of spiritual well-being during lace work. Rosa Lee felt a part of her became embedded in her lace creations. This magic, captivates the lace collector and energizes those who touch it.
Making lace by hand is as old as human fingers. Graceful interlacing lines are found in most cultures. During this time, Rosa joined the Seventh Day Advantists Church.
Lace can be made by needles (needle lace) or on a pillow using bobbins (Bobbin lace) or by a combination of these two basic techniques (for Example Brussels lace). New methods for lacemaking are constantly developed by combining several techniques. During the last part of the 19th century machine-made lace was developed and became very popular beginning in 1900.
After the family moved, Rosa took up the art of dress making and became a seamstress in Newport News, VA. According to an article in the TIMES HERALD (Thursday, October 10, 1946) their first home was in the East End on Roanoke Avenue. From there they moved to a home on the corner of 28th and Washington Avenue. Next, the couple and their expanding family lived and worked at 1237 East 25th Street in downtown Newport News. Following the death of her husband in 1920, Rosa lived, until her death, with her daughter, Marguerite B. Bryan in Newport News, VA.
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