John Frank Hook
1835 - 1910
(known as Frank Hook)
from
Compendium of History Reminiscence & Biography of Western
Nebraska, published 1909, p. 982 or 983:
According to family records, Frank Hook was born February 2, 1835, and died November 21, 1910. His wife, Martha A. Hill, or Angelina Hill, died in 1880. He is listed in Kerri's Family Tree at Rootsweb.com as having been a lawyer; this is attributed to the United States Census 1880. However, I can find no federal census information for the year 1880, and he is listed as a farmer in the censuses of 1860, 1870, and 1910. Here is a link to a copy of the relevant page of the 1860 Census, for Hamilton County, Iowa. Here he is listed as Francis Hook (not John or Frank), age 24, Farmer. There is only a blank listed for the value of his real estate, and the value of his personal estate is listed as $100. His birthplace is listed as Indiana. His wife is listed as Martha A., age 21, born in Illinois, and his children as Amanda, age 3, and Isaac D., age 1.5, both born in Iowa. Here is a link to a copy of an image of the relevant page of the 1870 Census of Hamilton County, Iowa. Francis Hook, age 35, male, white, Farmer, value of real estate $400, value of personal estate $400, born Indiana. His wife is listed next, Martha A., age 32, female, white, occupation Keeping House, born Illinois. Children Mary (?) E., age 13, Isaac, age 11, Ida, age 7, Roswell, 5, and Eldora (?), age 2, female, all born in Iowa. Here is a link to a copy of the image of the relevant page of the 1910 census, from series T624, roll 840, page 54. It is dated June 22, 1910, and lists him as Frank Hook (not Francis or John F.), the head of his household, apparently living alone. It gives his age as 75, sex M, race W, birthplace Indiana, state of residence Nebraska, Cherry county, in the Cody Pct. It also lists his father's birthplace as Kentucky and his mother's birthplace as Ohio. He was able to read and write, it says, but had not attended school.JOHN F. HOOK
John F. Hook, a successful farmer of Cherry county, resides on his well-improved estate on sectin 32, township 33, range 33. Mr. Hook was born in Bartholomew county, Indiana, February 2, 1835, of American parents. He was reared there on a farm, and was the eldest of six children. At the age of eighteen years he began working at the carpenter's trade in Iowa, following that for a time, then started farming, combining the two occupations. He came to Cherry county in 1886 and took up a homestead and after proving up on it sold it to his son-in-law, and later took an additional four hundred and eighty-acres farm, situated on the Niobrara River. This is fairly good land altogether, two hundred and forty acres being farming land the balance hay and pasture. Here he has built a good house, fenced the place and has built the place up in good shape. In the early days after coming here he ran a sawmill on his farm and returned to that occupation in the spring of 1908, setting up a mill on the Niobrara south of Cody. All of his life was been spent on the frontier, and he likes the west. Mr. Hook was married in 1860 to Miss Martha Hill, born in Illinois in 1838, she died in Nebraska in 1880. Her parents were pioneers of Illinois, and later were among the early settlers of Iowa. Nine children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Hook, of which six are living: Ellen, wife of Joseph Jackson, Roswell; Ida married to Harris Johnson, deceased; William, Nettie, wife of Rollin Poland, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume: and Etta, wife of George Barnes. Mr. Hook has always been active in local affairs in his community. In 1863 he was elected sheriff at Yankton, South Dakota, and served for one year. He is a Democrat in political affiliations.
Last updated: March 2004
(Link for the Compendium of History Reminiscence & Biography of Western Nebraska updated May 15, 2019)