Joseph Fowlkes Probably Died 173 Years Ago Today

Joseph Fowlkes, my third great grandfather, was born 25 December 1787 in Lunenburg County, Virginia to Thompson B. Fowlkes and his wife Elizabeth Robertson Fowlkes. His paternal grandparents were Col. Gabriel and Ursula Fowlkes. His maternal grandparents were Nathaniel and Anne Elizabeth Robertson. He married about 1811 in Virginia. (This is an estimation.) His earliest land patents in Monroe County, Mississippi are dated 1 October 1825. They are to township 13 south, range 18W, section 18 for the eastern half of the northwest quarter and the eastern half of the southwest quarter. In 1835, he obtained the northwest quarter of the northeast quarter. He and his wife Elizabeth had seven known children: Joseph (b. abt 1813; d. 1 Aug 1840); Mary Jane (b. abt 1815; d. bef 1859; wife of John H. Henry); Elizabeth Ann (b. abt 1817; d. bef 1859; wife of Velias P. Parish); John E. (b. 3 Nov 1818; d. 21 Aug 1862); Catherine Malinda (b. 6 Apr 1823; d. 9 Sep 1891; wife of William Hulon Parr); Gabriel Glenn (b. 1823; d. bef 1855); Sarah B. (b. abt 1826; wife of Thomas Carter). He probably died 10 August 1840 although I've seen one source state that he died in 1851. He is not present in the 1850 Monroe County census so I lean toward the earlier and more specific date. It comes from a published genealogy though which does not give a source, but it is the type of date which quite possibly came from a family Bible or other family source which has somehow been lost to the current generation.