Biography of Mathew Crooks, pages 858 / 859.  History of De Kalb County, 
Indiana.  Inter-State Publishing Company, Chicago, 1885.

Mathew Crooks, one of the pioneers of De Kalb County, Ind., was born in 
Trumbull county, Ohio, April 10, 1816, a son of William and Jane (Nixon) 
Crooks; his father a native of Pennsylvania, and his mother of Maryland.  
When he was sixteen years old his father died, leaving the care of eleven 
children to the mother.  In 1833 he came to De Kalb County, but remained 
only a short time, returning to Trumbull County in the spring of 1834.  In 
1836 he came again to De Kalb County and worked by the day for farmers and 
on the canal several years.  In 1850 he bought the farm in Union Township 
where he has since lived.  He owns eighty acres of good land, valued at $75 
an acre.  He was married in July, 1844, to Nancy Bryan, a native of Lancaster 
County, Ohio.  To them were born twelve children, seven of whom are living---
Marinda, Sheldon, Almond, Barbara, Amanda, George and Alice.  Mrs. Crooks 
died April 20, 1884.  Politically, Mr. Crooks was orginially a Whig, casting 
his first Presidential vote for Harrison, but later has affiliated with the 
Republican party.  When he first came to the county it was covered with 
timber and infested with wild animals.  He was a noted hunter, and was 
often hired by the settlers to hunt for them, as their only meat was game.  
He relates many interesting anecdote of his adventures in the early 
settlement of the county, incidents of thrilling interest, especially to 
all lovers of the hunt, as he has had many hair-breadth escapes from death 
by wild animals.

Submitted by:
Arlene Goodwin
Auburn, Indiana
Agoodwin@ctlnet.com