John H. Rook
A veteran of the Civil War and a resident of Fayette county, Ohio, for more than thirty years, John H. Rook has been an important factor in the life of his community for that length of time. He enlisted in the Civil War at the beginning of that struggle and acquitted himself with honor. The old soldiers are fast answering the last roll call and it seems that they should be accorded all honor possible while they are still living. This volume contains the biographies of many of the veterans of Fayette county. These men who volunteered their lives for the sake of their country are especially deserving of mention in the history of their county.
John H. Rook, the son of Gibson and Hannah (Hill) Rook, was born November 16. 1835, in Jackson county, Ohio. His father, the son of John Rook, was born and reared in Jackson county and was also in the Civil War. John Rook, Sr.. had three children, Nancy, Betsy, and Gibson, the father of John H. Rook. Gibson Rook and wife were the parents of six children, John H., William, Elliott, Mrs. Elizabeth Miller, Icebenda and Gibson. Of these children only one, John H.. is still living.
John H. Rook was educated in the common schools of Jackson county, Ohio. His education was necessarily limited because of the meager facilities offered by the schools of his day. He continued working with his father on the home farm until the opening of the Civil War, when he enlisted in 1861 in Company K, Ninety-first Regiment Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He served under Col. John Turley, his regiment being a part of the Eighth Army Corps and attached to the Army of the Cumberland. During his services of three years he participated in many of the bloodiest battles of the war and was never wounded or captured, although he had many narrow escapes. He was finally discharged from the service at Cumberland, Missouri, and mustered out at Cincinnati, Ohio.
Immediately after the close of the war, Mr. Rook returned to Ohio and located on his farm in Ross county, where he lived for eighteen years. He then brought his family to Fayette county. Ohio, and bought a farm of fifty-four acres five miles from Washington C. H. On this farm he has lived for the last thirty years, devoting his time to general farming and stock raising.
Mr. Rock was married in 1862 to Polly Case and to this union eight children hav e been born, William C., Charles, Samuel, Pearl, Jake, Grant (died in infancy), Elizabeth and Malinda. The mother died in 1890 and the subject married in 1898 Mary Alpree, to whom no children have been born.
Mr. Rook and his family have been consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church. Mr. Rook's fraternal connections have been with Harry Rodgers Post, Grand Army of the Republic. Mr. Rook is one of the most highly respected men of his community, although he is now approaching his seventy-ninth birthday, yet he is enjoying good health and takes an active interest in the life of his community.
From History of Fayette County Ohio - Her People, Industries and Institutions by Frank M. Allen (1914, R. F. Bowen & Company, Inc.)