Notes for William Henry PECK
Will Peck had come to Wisconsin in the middle 1840's. Then later to
northern Illinois. There he became acquainted with Rachel Lake, daughter
of John Jacob Lake, who had come to Wisconsin, then later to Illinois as
a small girl. It was from her the writer learned much about the Lake
Family History, in Canada, as she lived neighbor to his family at
Wyoming, Iowa, in her later life. They were married in Oct. 1851, and
Will Peck farmed for a year or two, still in Illinois. Then he became
uneasy and wanted to go to the Iowa country as many were then doing, and
as Iowa was open-ing up to settlement.
Rachel did not want to go. There was much talk of Indian troubles, as
well as trouble with miners in eastern Iowa at Du-buque. She was
supported in this by her mother, who did not want Rachel to go so far
from home, forgetting her own experience in coming into the States, and
into a new country.
So Rachel declared she would not go to Iowa, so there. But without much
argument, Will just packed up their belongings, ready to start for the
river crossing at Dubuque, by ferry. When the goods were nearly all
loaded and she saw there was no place for her to ride, Rachel asked where
was she to ride" "Oh," he said, "I thought you were not going along."
Rachel stamped her foot and said, "Will Peck, you make a place for me
right now. I AM going, so there." So a place was made for her to ride on
the load, and there was no further discussion as to her going along. This
was 1854.
Crossing the Mississippi river on the ferry at Dubuque, they made their
way to a settlement at Frozen Hill, in Jones County, Iowa, and there Will
Peck farmed and there some of their children were born. This was near a
settlement called Canton, Iowa, on the Maquoketa river, whose people had
come, largely from Kentucky and Tennessee, down the Ohio, or the
Tennessee, then up the Mississippi, to the Maquoketa, thence to Canton.
When war clouds hung low and war threatened, there was great discussion
in the community as to who was right and who wrong. It was true that none
of the people who had come into eastern Iowa had brought slaves with
them. Indeed many had come to get away from slavery.
As the call came for volunteers, Will Peck volunteered with others at
Canton on Aug. 13, 1862, was mustered into the service as 4th Sergeant,
Co. F, 31st Inft. Iowa Vols. Was promoted to 2nd Sgt. July 1, 1864.
Mustered out at Louisville, Ky., June 27, 1865.
While Will Peck was in the army, Rachel lived on their farm at Frozen
Hill, making out, with help of her neighbors as best she could. To this
farm Will Peck returned at the close of the war, and here they continued
to live until the fall of 1873, when Rachel's nephew, Dennis L. McMillan
came for a visit on his way west, looking for a location for a meat
market.
In the fall of 1874, after the crops were harvested, the family moved in
to Wyoming, Iowa, where Will Peck entered into a part-nership with his
wife's nephew, Dennis L. McMillan. This partner-ship was of but a short
duration, but they continued to live in Wyoming the rest of their lives,
and there they lie buried in the cemetery on the hill. After dissolving
his partnership with McMillan, Will Peck entered into a partnership with
a man named Shibley, in a meat market, which continued for a time only.
Three of their children died early in life and are buried at Wyoming, Iowa
He took the third degree in the Masonic Blue Lodge at Wyoming, Iowa. The
records of the Keystone Lodge No. 206, A.F. & A.M., of Wyoming, show that
when W.H. Peck took the 3rd degree, the date was July 14, 1874, and the
officers present were: A.G. McGrew, Master; Geo. Bottomstone, S.W. (pro
tem); P.R. Bradshaw, J.W.; T.B. Reynolds, Secretary; J.O. Spencer,
Treasure; O.E. Aldrich, S.D.; P.G. Abrams, J.D.; N.B. Little, Tyler, and
three Master Masons, whose names were not written out; J.O. Spencer and
C.L. Gilbert, visitors.
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I have not personally researched or verified every
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