Rockton history from Jerri Noller

First, let me tell you a little bit about me and my association with the Rockton Township cemeteries, one of which is the Phillips Cemetery on Bates Rd, rural Rockton.

I am a graduate of Hononegah High school class of 1963. When I married in 1966 my husband’s family had a local contracting and service business in Rockton, so from the mid 1960s when I was working for the Noller family business I then was able, later on in my association with the Township Cemetery, to recognize many of the names of those buried in the local cemetery.

I was appointed to the Rockton Township Cemetery Board as a trustee in 1996. In 2000 that board was dissolved and the management and guidance for the cemeteries would then be handled totally by the elected Township Supervisor and the elected Township Board of Trustees. I was then hired by the Township Board to manage the bookkeeping for the cemeteries and worked with the Sexton until he abruptly vacated the Sexton position in 2005. As I had several years’ knowledge of the workings of the cemeteries, the Township Board appointed me as the Sexton, a position I gratefully and graciously held until 2019.

After I became Sexton, we had some storm damage to trees at the Phillips Cemetery and I asked the arborist who was hired to clean up the damage (Mark’s Tree Service from Rockford) about the age of some of the huge trees on the grounds. He estimated at that time that some of the larger trees were 150 years or older. I was astonished at the girth of several of them. They were just beautiful. I think that because for many years there had not been many burials in the cemetery the roots had not been disturbed and that contributed to the life longevity of the trees. I believe there are 275 burials in Phillips cemetery at this time. There may be more as many are unmarked, but the records as I recall were quite accurate.

In 2016, Stonehuggers Restorations from Indiana reset and cleaned many badly damaged stones and cleaned the remainder of the stones at Phillips cemetery. A majority of the stones are of sandstone or Italian marble and are very fragile and cannot be power washed like stones of granite material. There are still many stones that need repairs done. Maybe sometime in the future that can be accomplished.

A short story of information passed along to me by the Sexton who held that position from the 1930s until the mid 1970s was that when Benjamin Phillips sold the land to the Township for a cemetery, Mr. Phillips wanted the cemetery to have a name so it was agreed to be named Phillips Cemetery. Several Phillips family members are buried in this cemetery.

There were, of course, already many burials on the land as it was known as the “wagon train or settlers cemetery.” Records show that the one acre of land (surveyed) was transferred to the Cemetery on June 20, 1865. I have photos (pictured here) of a couple of markers that have death dates of 1841 which is before the land was sold as a designated cemetery – it amazed me that folks traveling through the area had the money to erect grave stones for their loved ones. Many of course were children or mothers who died bearing children. What a tragic and sad journey.

Two burials of significant note were Stephen Mack (born 1798 – died April 10, 1850, age 52 years), the founder of Rockton, and his (Native American) wife Hononegah (born 1814 – died September 8, 1847 age 33 years). There were eight surviving children at the time of her death.

In 1850 Winnebago County was formally divided into townships. In an election held April 2, 1850 Mack ran for the position of the first Township Supervisor of Rockton and was narrowly defeated by Sylvester Talcott. Six days later on the following April 10 Mack died suddenly of unknown causes (rumors circulated for years that he was poisoned). Mack, Hononegah and one of their sons were buried in a cemetery which is near the present Macktown golf course club house and is marked by a boulder with a memorial plaque.

In 1880 the Mack estate was owned by Sylvester Smith. The cemetery was in such poor condition that Smith announced that he intended to plow the site under, and if anyone had family buried there, they had better move them soon. The Macks were moved to Phillips Cemetery west of Rockton.

In May 1964 the executive committee for the Forest Preserve decided that Rockton’s founding father should be buried next to the Mack home and announced that they were moving their remains back to Macktown. There was a storm of protest by the descendants of the people who had moved the remains in 1880. The Forest Preserve waited until the dead of night of July 23, 1965 when they exhumed their remains and reburied them near Mack’s home.

For many years the fencing encircling the Phillips Cemetery was a simple woven wire fence with a metal farm gate at the entrance. In 2008 Roger and Judy Bates donated the materials and installation of black decorative metal fencing to enhance the beauty of the cemetery. Several members of the Bates family are buried at Phillips Cemetery and Erastus Bates was a board member of Rockton Township when the Phillips cemetery land was purchased.

I am currently a board member of the Rockton Township Historical Society so I am able to continue my research on local burials and to assist local residents and visitors in their quest for information on their ancestors and friends.