Person:John Rockwell (33)

John J. Rockwell may have purchased land in McLean Co. IL in 1870.

http://www.ilsos.gov/GenealogyMWeb/PublicLandSalesNameServlet?purchaserNumber=0448638

John J. Rockwell moved to Illinois in October, 1861. He resided near Bloomington, McLean Co. His son Peter had moved there by 1858. This may have been a move to a safer location following the outbreak of battles in Virginia and surrounding states. The family was long associated with railroad work from an early date. Edward hints at T. Tolbert Rockhold's association with the B&O Railroad at an early date (the B&O was chartered in 1827). The migration was to another railroad center. By the end of 1861 the B&O was completely shut down by Confederate raids (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Train_Raid_of_1861).

John J. Rockwell was from Sleepy Creek, which today is found in Morgan County, West Virginia. He was born 20 January 1812. A few weeks later, on 3 February 1812, the great temblor that flattened New Madrid (now Missouri, then Chickasaw territory) struck. Perhaps not coincidentally John J.'s mother passed away while he was an infant - we do not know the circumstances (see the letter from Edward P. Rockwell to his son Walter). John J.'s father Tolbert "Top" Rockhold soon left to serve in the War of 1812, leaving the infant in the care of its grandparents.

After the war, Top started a new family in 1816 with Sarah Meeks, leaving John J. with his grandparents and us with some questions.

Who was John J.'s mother, who died around 1812? That is - what was her name, what was her pedigree (in the genealogical sense), and how and where did she live and die?

Which set of grandparents raised John J? Census evidence from 1820 and 1830 indicates that it may have been Top's parents, Thomas Tolbert Sr. and Sarah Clawson (who died in 1814), but census records from this period do not name individual household members, so this is circumstantial.

_FNRL: Place: Benjamin House AGNC: Elder P. F. York

1.   Thomas T Rockhold Rev. War Pension File, 1833 testimony. (Rev. War archives).
2.   United States. 1850 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M432).
3.   United States. 1860 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M653).
4.   United States. 1870 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publications M593 and T132)
   Blue Mound, McLean Co.
5.   United States. 1880 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication T9).
6.   Rockwell Family Papers.
7.   Obituary
   John J. Rockwell, typed copy.
8.   Find A Grave
   http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Rockwell&GSiman=1&GScid=105608&GRid=50233378&.
9.   Edward Rockwell's Letter to Walter.
10.   United States. 1840 U.S. Census Population Schedule. (National Archives Microfilm Publication M704)
    Morgan Co.
11.   Marriage License
    24 Mar 1834.