When Phelps Tade Brookshire was born on 21 November 1869, in Missouri, United States, his father, James William Porter Brookshire, was 32 and his mother, Nancy Bird Deskins, was 31. He married Zula Itura Trammell on 7 September 1893, in Coryell, Texas, United States. They were the parents of at least 4 sons and 1 daughter. He lived in Coryell, Texas, United States in 1880 and Justice Precinct 4, Coryell, Texas, United States in 1900. He died on 31 March 1949, in Texas, United States, at the age of 79, and was buried in Gatesville, Coryell, Texas, United States.