Andrew J. Rock

 

SOURCE: "Portrait and Biographical Album of Champaign County, Illinois," Chapman Brothers, Chicago, 1887
SURNAMES: BEAVERS, BRYANT, BURKHART, FLAT, GRIFFEN, MATTOX, MERRICK, PEABODY, QUICK, ROCK

ANDREW J. ROCK, son of one of the earliest pioneers of Champaign County, was born in Wabash County, Ind., March 21, 1832. He was the fourth child of William and Nancy (BEAVERS) ROCK, who were natives of Maryland, but removed in about 1831 to Indiana, where they lived until March, 1835. William Rock then took up a claim of forty acres in what is now Sadorus Township, where he built his first house, which was constructed of poles. He lived for a period of over forty years in that township. Our subject distinctly recollects the journey to Chicago with teams, for the purpose of hauling lumber, shingles, etc., for the brick house erected later, and which when completed was considered an unusually fine structure. There were no hotels along the route, and the young teamster with his companions took their meals by the wayside, and slept in their wagon at night.

The subject of our sketch passed his boyhood and youth on his father’s farm in Illinois, and when nineteen years old left home to look around over the country. He halted in McLean County for a time and in the spring of 1852 returned home, for the purpose of securing one of his early playmates for his wife. This was Miss Mercy PEABODY, the eldest of a family of three children born to Cornelius and Mercy (BRYANT) PEABODY, of Ohio. The young people remained on the father’s homestead two years, and then our subject purchased ninety acres of land, where the following spring he put up a house and which he occupied until the spring of 1859. Andrew then sold this property to his father and, crossing the Mississippi, purchased 200 acres of land in Jasper County, Mo., upon which the plowshare had never turned a furrow. At the same time he located on a rented farm in the vicinity, designing to improve his own land as opportunity afforded, while he raised regular crops on the improved land. Not long afterward, however, he was driven out by the rebels, who were overrunning the State, seeking to introduce their own peculiar institutions, among them that of slavery.

After leaving Missouri in August, 1861, Mr. Rock moved to Ft. Scott, Kan., where he left his family, and enlisting in the 6th Kansas Cavalry, entered upon the duties of a Union soldier. He remained with his regiment until spring, when he was detailed as a Government scout in the State of Kansas, where his knowledge of the country proved of invaluable service to the Union, and where he remained until the winter of 1864. His term of enlistment then having expired, he was mustered out, and returned to his home and family. Here, however, there was a vacant chair, his estimable wife having passed away, her death taking place Oct. 6, 1861, soon after his enlistment. She left two children—Franklin and Nancy. The former is now operating a cattle ranch near Leadville, Col., where he went when seventeen years of age. Nancy is the wife of John MATTOX, who occupies a farm adjoining that of our subject.

After his return from the army Mr. Rock was united in marriage with Mrs. Martha (MERRICK) Quick, fourth child of Charles and Lucinda MERRICK, natives of New York State. The second wife of our subject was born in New York, and spent her childhood and youth in Missouri, where she was married to Mr. Quick. After their marriage, Mr. and Mrs. R. set out for his old home in Illinois, where they spent the winter of 1864, and during the following fall built a residence across the road from his father’s on section 24, Sadorus Township, where he now resides. Three years later, however, our subject went back to Kansas, and purchased a quarter section of improved land in Cherokee County, where he followed farming and stock-raising for six years. His wife, in the spring of 1869, was seized with fatal illness, and on the 4th of April yielded up her life, leaving her husband with two little daughters—Harriet and Ida. The former is now the wife of Orny FLAT, a farmer of Sadorus Township; Ida is still at home.

The third wife of our subject, to whom he was married Aug. 15, 1870, was formerly Miss Elizabeth, only child of John and Elizabeth BURKHART, of Kansas. They remained in that State until the summer of 1874, and then our subject returned with his family to Illinois, and moved into the house which he had left a few years before. He has been uniformly prosperous and is now the owner of 460 acres of fertile land, and prides himself upon the quality of his crops and life-stock. He has good grades of horses and cattle, although not devoting much time to francy breeds.

Mrs. Elizabeth (Burkhart) Rock, after remaining the companion of her husband a few brief years, and becoming the mother of four children, departed this life in the spring of 1879. The offspring of this union were Bertie, John H., Lulu and Maude, all of whom are at home with their father.

The present wife of our subject, to whom he was married in the fall of 1883, was formerly Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Rev. Nathan and Rebecca GRIFFEN, of Sadorus. Mrs. R. was born in LaFayette County, Mo., in 1848. Our subject is a stanch adherent of the Democratic party, but does not meddle with politics otherwise than to cast his vote at the elections. He has filled the offices of his township and is a man whose judgment is regarded with great deference. Nothing pleases him better than to observe the welfare and progress of his community morally, intellectually and financially. Mrs. Rock is a member of the Baptist Church, and a most estimable lady. The homestead is one of the attractive spots in Sadorus Township, a pleasant sight to the eye of the traveler, and a hospitable resort for the friends of the family, and we are pleased to present a lithographic view of it in this work.