Biography of Sheldon Crooks, pages 544/545/546. History of DeKalb County, Indiana; B. F. Bowen & Company, Inc., Indianapolis, 1914. Sheldon Crooks Among the citizens of Grant township, DeKalb county, Indiana who have built up comfortable homes and surrounded themselves with a fair amount of landed and personal property, few have attained a higher degree of success than the subject of this review. With a few opportunities except what his own efforts were capable of mastering and with some obstacles to overcome, he has made a success of life, and in his declining years has the gratification of knowing that the community in which he has resided has been benefited by his residence therein. Sheldon Crooks, a highly esteemed citizen of Waterloo, Indiana, was born one and one-half miles southeast of Waterloo on June 7, 1848, and is the son of Matthew and Nancy (Bryan) Crooks, the former of whom was born April 10, 1816 and died October 31, 1900, at the age of nearly eighty-five years, and the latter born in Fairfield county, Ohio, on April 3, 1821, and died April 20, 1884. Matthew Crooks, with a brother, came to DeKalb county in 1833 at the age of seventeen years and was here seized with ague so that he was compelled to return home for a period. In 1836 he again came here, this time being favored with good health and he grew to be a strong, hearty man. Their first work here was clearing the land of the dense timber, which covered it, and at that time, wolves and other wild animals as well as the no less savage wild men were numerous. For a part of the time during these first years Mr. Crooks was employed in railroad work. His marriage to Nancy Bryan occurred in 1844, she being a daughter of William Bryan and had come here with her parents, who located between the present towns of Waterloo and Butler on the Morningstar farm. Mr. Crooks farmed for some time, being compelled to do without many of the present conveniences, using ox teams and rude implements of the early times, all of which entailed an immense amount of hard labor. In 1847 he bought eighty acres of land of Wesley Park, of Auburn, the farm being located a half mile west of the place where he was then working in what is now Grant township. There he built a cabin and a double log barn in the wilderness and persisted in his farming operations until a length success crowned his efforts. He became the father of twelve children, three of whom died in infancy; Lucinda died in 1865, aged nine years; Harriett died in 1871 at the age of eleven years; Mrs. Amanda Reed died October 19, 1893, being the widow of Stephen Reed, who died March 14, 1893, and she left a son, Carl Reed, then about three years old; Alice died in 1904, and was the wife of Thomas Cool, of South Bend; Marinda is the wife of Theodore McCush, of Litchfield, Nebraska; Sheldon, the subject of this sketch is next in order of birth; Robert A. lives in Auburn and is a retired farmer; Barbara is the wife of John Hefty, who lives south of Butler in Wilmington township; George W. is an attorney at Waterloo, this county. Sheldon Crooks lives on his father’s farm until he was about twenty-two years old and then worked a year for this uncle, Robert N. Crooks. In 1872 he obtained railroad employment, in which he was engaged for eight year. In 1877 he bought forty acres of land in section 14, Grant township, to which he gave his attention when, three years later, he quit railroad work. This land was only partly cleared, but was of good quality and he bought it for only twenty-five dollars per acre, making of it a fine farm on which he raised excellent crops. In November, 1904, he bought forty acres adjoining, also paying twenty- five dollars per acre for this, and he transformed an unsightly cranberry marsh into another fine tract of land. To the cultivation of this farm he devoted his attention with splendid success, so that in 1910 he was enabled to retire from active labor and now resides in a pleasant and attractive home at Waterloo. In May, 1874, Mr. Crooks married Samantha Baughman, who was born in section 23, Union township, this county, the daughter of John and Nancy (Slentz) Baughman. These parents came from Pennsylvania in 1844 and located on the farm where Mrs. Crooks was born, and here reared the following children: Addison, of Auburn; Eliza, the wife of David Miser, is deceased; Nancy, who also is deceased, was the wife of Charles Oiler; Isaiah, deceased; Washington, deceased; Samantha, the wife of Mr. Crooks; Ermina, deceased, who was the wife of Henry Smith; Matilda, the widow of James Sibert, now deceased, lives in Auburn. The mother of these children died while Mrs. Crooks was a little girl, and the father afterwards married Elizabeth Weeks, by which union there were born four children, namely: John Franklin, of Auburn; Idola is the wife of John Fleming, who lives in the north part of Union township; Ida, the wife of Judson Miller, of Auburn, and Carries, the wife of Delbert McBride, of Wilmington township, this county. The father of these children died on October 3, 1884. To Mr. and Mrs. Crooks were born six children, namely: Cora is the wife of John Oiler, of Wilmington township. They adopted Agatha Luce, the daughter Mrs. Oiler deceased sister, Mrs. Alta May (Crooks) Luce; Alta was the wife of Edward Luce, and her death occurred on February 10, 1912, leaving four children, Howard, Vida Allene, Agatha Lucile and Lester Sheldon; Howard lives with his father in Waterloo; Vida, lives with the grandfather, Mr. Crooks; Agatha was adopted by Mrs. Cora Oiler and Sheldon was adopted by Charles Platter and wife, of Auburn; Minnie Crooks became the wife of Jay Raub, of Auburn, Olive is the wife of Elmer Pontius, a railway mail clerk who lives in Waterloo, and they have two children, Mabel and Clayton; Ora A. lives on the father’s farm in Grant township, and married Dora Leaky, by whom he has two children, Margaret and Patrick; Vera Jane, who graduated from the Waterloo high school in 1913, married J. Lautzenheiser, and live in Union township. Mr. Crooks is a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, and has passed through all the chairs of the subordinate lodge, while in 1903 he was a member of the grand lodge of the state. He takes a deep interest in the workings of the order and is held in high esteem among his fellow members. He is a man of ability, sturdy integrity and usefulness and as a citizen representative of the utmost loyalty, he merits the respect of his fellow men and his life is deserving of a place in this publication. Submitted by: Arlene Goodwin Auburn, Indiana Agoodwin@ctlnet.com