Rodney C. Crook is a native of Corinth, Orange county, Vermont, and
was born August 24, 1836. In 1838 his father came to Whiteside with the
family, and located in Prophetstown. Mr. Crook married Miss Mary C.
Brydie, in Livingston county, Illinois. His farm in Hume is situated
on sections 30 and 31, and is one of the most finely cultivated ones
in the township. He has been School Director, School Trustee, Commissioner of Highways, and is the present Supervisor of the township. The frequency with which public positions have been conferred upon him, show the estimation in which he is held by his fellow townsmen.
Bent & Wilson History of Whiteside County Page 242
Rodney C. Crook, a retired fanner residing in Prophetstown, this county, is a son of Stephen and Mary C. (Gibbs) Crook. He was born in Orange County, Vt., Aug. 24. 1836. His father was a farmer by occupation, and in April, 1838, came West, and located in what is now Prophetstown Township, this county, and about one and a half miles east of the present village of that name. Asa Crook, a brother of Stephen Crook, father of the subject of this biographical notice, moved from New York to Michigan, and in May, 1834, came to this county and located, and was one of the first, if not the first, settler in Prophetstown Township. The parents of ~ Mr. Crook, of this sketch, drove from Vermont with a teams in the fall of 1837, spending the winter in Buffalo, N. Y., and in the following spring came West, with two teams loaded with household goods, and located in this county. The family consisted of four sons and four daughters. One daughter was married and remained in Vermont; and one brother, David P., had already preceded the family to this county to prepare a place of shelter; Mary, now deceased, was married to Harry C. Crook, in Vermont; David P. and Albert G. are also deceased; Lucy A. is a widow, and resides in Denver, Col.; Irene G. is the wife of Joel Kirshbaum, of Burlington, Iowa, a book-keeper by occupation; Charles H. is a resident of Iowa; Harriet is deceased, and Rodney C., the subject of this notice. The father died here in the fall after the arrival of the family. The mother was assisted by her two sons, David P. and Albert G., and when the land had come into market on which they originally settled, they purchased 240 acres. The mother died in Sterling, Sept. 30, 1861, where she was living with her daughter, Lucy A.
Mr. Crook remained at home, assisting in the maintenance of the family and receiving the advantages afforded by the common schools, until the spring of 1834, when he went to California, in company with two brothers, D. P. and Charles. He was employed in herding for his brother, D. P., and in 1857 he returned, and the following spring he was employed in a livery stable at Sterling. He then, in 1860, went to Colorado, but only remained a short time. In 1861 he again made the same trip. In 1862 he went for the third time, and remained until 1864, engaged in mining, and meeting with very good success. He had several claims, and made enough to return and purchase a farm of 160 acres, located on sections 30 and 31, Hume Township. He resides on section 30, and has since added by subsequent purchase to his landed interests until he is at present the proprietor of 240 acres. He gradually worked into fine stock, and
when he retired from farming he had 53 head of cattle, among which were 17 head of full-blooded Short-horn and graded. He still owns his 240 acre farm, and has held the office of Supervisor one year, Commissioner three years, School Trustee three years, and Justice of the Peace nearly four years. He is a member of the Masonic Order. In the spring of 1885 he retired from active labor on the farm, and moved to Prophetstown.
Mr. Crook was united in marriage in Livingston Co., Ill., Feb. 20, 1866, to Miss Mary C. Brydia, a. daughter of Truman W. and Laura (Day) Brydia. She was born in Bluffdale, Green County, May 13, 1844. They have one daughter, Mary, born in Hume Township, this county, March 20,1876. The parents of Mrs. Crook were natives of Vermont. Her father is a farmer by occupation, and resides in Livingston Co., Ill. Her mother died in that county, July 8, 1873.
Portraits & Biographical Pg 556
