Names: Root

Dear Holly,

We had a small computer crash and lost some of our messages for a period
of about 3 weeks. We have a print out of your request, but have no idea
if we have answered it, and so here we are again. If you already got
your answer, please forgive the duplication.

Laurie Huffman
Brown County, IL Lookups

ps. About the best advice I can give for researching in Brown County is that you first use our web site listings to their fullest possible extent. check out every index for your family names. Then we can give further advice, if needed. If you are looking for siblings of Erastus Root, also remember to check the census indexes we have online. LH

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Cemeteries of Brown County, IL, p. 346-348 - Root Family Cemetery (SE quarter of Section 21, Versailles twp)

Samuel Root, died 29 Sep 1829, aged 54 years 21 days.
Ruth, wife of Samuel Root, died 7 Oct 1829, aged 56 years.
Erastus Root, died 26 Feb 1845, aged 45 years, 2 months, 5 days
Ann Maria (Lawson) Root, wife of Erastus Root 1807-1868
Roswell Root , died 13 Feb 1846, aged 39 years, 2 months.

From p. 346: "Samuel Root II, son of Samuel Root I, and his family were the first of the Root name to settle in Brown County, Illinois. their forebears had migrated from England to the New World early in the 17th century. they stopped along the Atlantic seaboard, reaching kentucky in 1819, but soon joined the great migration west, ultimately in the 1826, reaching the state of Illinois in the Midwest. Green Coiunty was their first destination for two years, after which they journeyed farther west to Versailles township in Brown County, and there made their permanent settlement in Section 21, near the Illinois River. Samuel Root II was born at Piermont, New Hampshire in 1775, and married Ruth Crook, native of the same locality. their family consisted of Erastus, who had married Ann Maria Lawson in Kentucky, Roswell, single, and Cynthia Ann, who had married in Kentucky and did not accompany them. A third son, Samuel III had started the journey with them, but at the age of six was lost enroute by drowning in the Allegheny River. In 1829, only the next year after their long trek from Kentucky, death claimed both Samuel II and his wife, Ruth Crook. He died on September 29, and she only a few days later, on October 7."

The cemetery family listings section clearly states that Erastus and Roswell, and Cynthia (wife of Justus Hurd) are children of Samuel and Ruth (Crook) Root, though there is no mention of the child Samuel III for obvious reasons. There is also a brief family history of their grandson, the Rev. Thomas E. Root, who was quite prominent (p. 616). History of Brown County, IL, pp. 303, 713-715 gives brief bios on several of Samuels descendants in Cooperstown and Versailles. Here is a brief statement about Samuel's family from History of Brown and Schuyler Counties, IL, p. 296: "Samuel Root was born in Vermont (variation) and was an early emigrant in Kentucky. His family consisted of Erastus, Roswell I., Cynthia, and her husband, Justus Hurd. Hurd did not settle in this county. Erastus brought his wife with him from Kentucky and reared a family of ten children, six of whom are now living (1882)."

There is a great deal of information here you would probably like to have, including family burials, that I can send to you by photocopy and mail, or fax, or have my husband send over email when he returns from a business trip on the 29th.

Let me know what you would like to do.

Laurie