Hook Family History & Genealogy

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Hooke Family Lore
Notes by Katherine Hooke Hubbell
John Canada Hooke was 9 years old and his brother was 7 years old, when their mother placed their clothes in a bundle and sent them out to make their own way in the world. I know nothing more about them until after the Civil War. I don't even know the name of his brother. John served in the war between the state in the Illinios 49th infantry. He was wounded in the back on the first day of the battle of Shiloh. He returned to duty a month after his injury
Following the war, a party was held to celebrate the return of the soldiers. John Canada was 26 and just back from the war. At the party, he met Louisa Catherine Negley, it was love at first sight for both John and Louisa. Three weeks later they were married and in a covered wagon on their way from Illinois to Kansas.
Louisa was only 16 years old when she married. She was the youngest of a large family. She had been the pampered one of the family all her life. She was intended to be the "Lady of the Negley Family", so instead of teaching her cooking, sewing, and the ordinary household duties, she was taught music and dance. The family was disappointed when she married, feeling that she let them down by marrying a man of "unknown qualities."
Grandma Hook told me herself about some of the problems she faced when she married knowing nothing about keeping house or cooking.
They traveled by covered wagon and three families camped close together, the Inmans, Lemons, and Hooks. One evening she was cooking navy beans over a campfire and when she went to stir them, there were little white things floating on the top of the beans. She was heartbroken and crawled into the covered wagon and cried. Mrs. Inman asked her what the matter was and Louisa sobbed, "The beans are wormy and I don't have anything else to cook." Mrs. Inman soothed her and explained that the beans were not wormy, that the little white things were just the heart of the beans!
When they arrived in Kansas, they filed a homestead 1 ½ miles north west of Monmouth, Kansas and John built a little one room sod house.
One day, an Indian chief rode into the yard. When Louisa saw him, she was frightened, expecting him to kill her at once. All Grandma knew about indians was that they killed white people. She began screaming at the top of her voice. John was just a short distance away, and he came running. Meanwhile, the Indian kept repeating, "Me no hurt missy, me no hurt." John arrived and straightened things out. After that, the Indian Chief was a frequent visitor to the farm.
About a year later, while still in the little one room soddy, their first child, John Charles, was born. When he was three or four months old, Grandma was feeding him with a bottle. One day, she heard John Charles cooing happily in his crib. She went over to check on him as he sounded so happy. When she peeked in the cradle she saw a big black snake sucking on the baby's bottle. Of course, Grandma began to scream and Grandpa came running and killed the snake. John Charles seemed to miss the snake but snakes were not kept as pets in those days!
Some years later, they built a two story house on the homestead, but they kept the little sod house for the kitchen.They raised four boys and a girl on the farm. When John Charles married, John Canada and Louisa moved to Monmouth and John Charles and Rachael lived on the farm. John and Rachel lived on the farm for several years before moving to Weir City. I don't know why they moved nor do I know what kind of work John Charles did. John Charles died of Typhoid fever in 1898.
John Canada and Louisa lost a little girl, India Ella, at 9 months from whooping cough.