In 1834 a fellow came to locate land for he and his family to live on. His name was Asa Crook. Finding what he wanted he went back and brought his family here. And this is how the story of our present village begins.
Years ago a local man told his young son about this founding family. One day, when the son was in one of the lower elementary grades, his teacher mentioned something about the founding of Prophetstown. The son told the class that our community was founded by a “bandit.” When the teacher questioned that he said that his dad had told him Prophetstown was founded by a “crook.” Well, he was a “crook,” but in name only.
Unfortunate we do not have a very good picture of Asa and his wife. The one we have is very old, very small and not in focus.
Below are several different accounts from different times and writers. There will be some overlap with some of the stories, but together they should give a broader picture of the history of our town.
This is the tombstone of Asa Crook and Mary L. Dustin Crook
Crook Kin Come Calling
The Family House
Asa Crook built this house in 1839. It stands today on East 3rd Street here in Prophetstown. In its day it was a magnificent house, huge compared to other homes in this area at the time. It is now on East 3rd Street, but when built it was located on the Dixon-Rock Island Road, which is what 3rd Street was then called. The home was known as the largest and nicest home between Rock Island and Dixon and was the stopping place for many travelers.
However, this was not its original location. When we came to town in August 1964 the house looked like this in the top picture below and was the dwelling of Mr. & Mrs. Larry Wagenecht.
Curt and Peggy Perkins purchased the lot with the Crook house on it and wanted to build a new home.
Though the Perkins family no longer lives there, this is the home they built. But first they had to remove Asa’s house. The Prophetstown Area Historical Society expressed an interest in preserving the home, so the Perkins family donated it to the organization.
At one point we nearly lost the Crook house when a fire was started in it. Those responsible were never caught even though the police asked a psychic for help.
Building a home like this in 1839 was a very difficult undertaking. Just getting the finished lumber was a major project. With saw mills few and far between in 1839 a short-cut of sorts was used to make 2 x 4 studs for the walls. A section of one wall was left uncovered so visitors to the house today can see how it was done.
They cut down small trees, flattened two sides and they became the studs.
2 Responses
Asa Crook, Sr. was my 4th great grandfather. I have been working on genealogy for around 25 years but by no means an expert. I always enjoy when I find all the information you have published.
Loved reading all this again. My husband, 3 girls and I left the Johannes Oleson farm in Tampico 45 years ago and moved to Northern California. I grew up in Ptown and will always love it, yet not miss the winters and summers. Thanks so much Mr. South for writing all of this.