Roscoe History: The Storytellers
Many have written about our small town of Roscoe, Illinois, but few have published their findings.
Township historical societies and historians interpret and document the trials and tribulations of those who established their towns. The accomplishments and failures of the people and their families, business and industry of both bygone eras and the present, are carefully researched and preserved for future generations.
Robert John Cross, the first permanent settler of Roscoe wrote, “The waggon track made by General Atkinson in June 1832, when following Blackhawk was plainly traceable through the town, crossing through the village just East of the woolen factory and crossing North Kinnikanic halfway between the waggon Road and the Rail Road, and continuing across the Prairie crossing the state line one mile East of Beloit and East of the Turtle village of the Winnebagos on Turtle Creek.” Those words were some of the first written history of Roscoe.
Since the time of Robert J. Cross, many have written about our small town but few have published their findings.
The first to do so was Dr. Wilmot Leland Ransom. Dr. Ransom came from a long line of physicians who were meticulous record keepers and many of his ancestors documented their family history. So, it is no surprise that W.L Ransom did the same. During the late 1800s and early 1900s he wrote many articles for local papers that were published as a series. Copies of his original notes are held in the Roscoe Township Historical Societies (RTHS) archives. His work is often the basis on which other Roscoe historians have based their research and many of the Ransom family descendants are on the current RTHS board, carrying on his legacy.
The matriarchs of Roscoe history, Florence Lovejoy Shugars and Dorothy Hunter, published their book “The Story of Roscoe” in 1987. Mrs. Shugars was the writer and Mrs. Hunter edited the book. These two cousins were descended from some of Roscoe's earliest settlers. Nola Carnine, daughter of Dorothy Hunter, says her mother often told the story of being in the sixth grade and writing stories a page at a time, “handing the page back to the kids in the row behind her who were tapping her on the shoulder as they each read the next page of the story, asking to find out what happened next.” Dorothy was a born writer and went on to publish three other books on Roscoe history.
In “The Story of Roscoe” Florence Shugars and Dorothy Hunter wrote, “Our hope is that the story will be picked up and continued by another who will respond to the call of the heart to record for generations to come what it was like to live in Roscoe.”
In 2018 that call was answered when the Roscoe Township purchased 17 acres of land once belonging to Cross. After some research it was discovered that the house that sits on the land is the 1842 home of Robert John Cross. The historical society was formed and tasked with preserving this home and the preserving and documenting the history of Roscoe.
For more information on Roscoe history and its people, please visit roscoehistory.org or their Facebook pages, Roscoe Township Historical Society Group or Roscoe Township Historical Society.
