White female, born in Alabama in about 1883 based on her estimated age of 34 at the time of her death. She died 10 February 1917 of tuberculosis of the lungs, for which she had been treated since June 6, 1916. She was single at the time of her death, though this information should be taken with a grain of salt. She was buried by F.R. Pou in the Escambia County Poor Farm cemetery.
Her death certificate is frustratingly short on any identifying details: Her parents were unknown; there was no occupation listed nor a place of death, other than Pensacola. The physician was John Whiting Hargis and the informant was Clem Largue, a local undertaker. The death certificate was not filed until March 1, for which there is no explanation.
There is no mention of her death in the local paper, despite the fact that deaths – especially in the city – were published at the time. This is also a source of frustration as I am not convinced that Mr. Largue knew how to accurately spell her name; there is nobody by the name of Rossia Brooks in any local record other than the death certificate. Two women by the name of Rosa Brooks lived in Pensacola at the time; however, they were both Black and one is confirmed to have lived well past 1917. Without further identifying information from the time of her death, it is almost impossible to begin looking for her.
SOURCES:
Florida Certificate of Death for Rossia Brooks, No. 1443, Florida Deaths, 1877-1939. Database. FamilySearch. http://FamilySearch.org : 14 June 2016. Index based upon data collected by the Genealogical Society of Utah, Salt Lake City.