The family later occupied a house in Rock Falls, in the vicinity of the Rock Falls cemetery. Mrs. Brewer then pursued her studies in the old red brick schoolhouse on the Dixon road, east of Rock Falls. Backin those early days, Mrs. Brewer recalled the time when the Deacon Arey house, an inn for travelers, stood on First Avenue just north of the river. The oldMerrill house, built by Isaac Merrill and a stone barn were the only two other buildings west of the canal. Across the canal Robert McNeil had built a home shortly before.
The Rock Falls lady was well acquainted with Mr. Fulton, the first collector on the toll bridge and also with his wife, who was the first lady to weave carpet in the vicinity. She wove a number of rugs for Mrs. Brewer's mother after they came to Sterling. William Rae, father of Mrs. Charles Allen of Rock Falls, raised the flax and twisted the rope for the first ferry across the river. Many were the times that Mrs. Brewer's parents have driven a team of horses across the river at Cook's ford, which was located near the government locks. A family by the name of Cook lived in a house near the ford and that is where the ford derived its name.
The Sterling Gazette July 25, 1967
