History of George R. & Mary (Mason) Peacock

George R. Peacock Sr. & Mary (Mason) Peacock

The following is a composite of what we know today. It could be improved on if we had more fact. If you have it and we like it then you're in this page! The "PEACOCK IOWA PIONEERS HOMEPAGE" begins with " George and Mary." George and Mary were from England. They had a son named James who was born in Yorkshire, England on June 6, 1826. They came to the United States in 1830. They spent time in Philadelphia, PA, where they had a daughter Ruth b. 1831, a son Edmund b. 1836 and a daughter Mary b. 1837. Then they moved to Dubuque Co., IA about 1838. They lived in an area south of the city of Dubuque called Rockdale Township at a place referred to as "Dirty Hollow". (We assume that some sort of Lead Smelting or Slaughter House activities may have taken place there.) While living in this area, the final three children were born, Anne b. 1839, Thomas J. b. 1843 and George Jr. b. 1844. The 1850 census shows George Sr.'s occupation as merchant and cattleman. In 1850 their son James married Rossana Comber and in 1851 their daughter Ruth married Jonathan Crawshaw.

Some time in April 1857, mother Mary (Mason) Peacock died and was buried at the Rockdale Methodist Church Cemetery. It was after this time that George Sr. moved to unsettled territory up in Allamakee County, IA in Paint Creek Township, near Rossville and Waterville, IA. He operated a sawmill at Waterville and raised cattle on his property. He was apparently into land speculation at the time and bought and sold properties to arriving immigrants. His youngest sons Thomas (Tim) and George Jr. worked at the sawmill for him. In the summer of 1861, George Sr. died, but we do not know for certain where he is buried. (SEE NOTE 2 For Speculation on George's Probable Burial Site).

Allamakee County IAGenWeb Index

In the spring of 1862 with the Civil War cranking up, Thomas and George Jr. enlisted into the US Army at the Hotel in Waterville. They mustered into the US 16th Regulars (Infantry) forming up at McGregor, IA . Ruth, her husband Jonathan and children were living at the homestead. James and his family apparently stayed in the Dubuque area to run a business. George Jr. got some type of camp sickness, and was discharged from the Army in July 1862. Edmund decided to join the 27th Iowa Infantry, and turned over his executorship of his father's probate to a local lawyer. George Jr. re-enlisted in the 9th Iowa Calvary.

"Click" To A Slice Of The Old North-West Territories

By the war's end, Tim had marched along with General Sherman to Atlanta, GA , and then musters out at "Lookout Mountain" Chattanooga, TN at wars end. Edmund's unit fought around Mississippi and Louisiana area. George Jr. unit was located in somewhere in Arkansas. All three brothers were eventually honorably discharged around 1865-66. Up until this time the Allamakee Co. seat was at Lansing, IA and this is where they all seem to have end up.

Mission Statement

Well, now you know a little about this Peacock Family. If you made it this far, you are either interested and are possibly a distant relative, or you are a bored "net surfer" who has run out of places to go! In spite of all the discussion above, we are not a "chatty" bunch of people and are not interested in pen pals, unless you can provide some evidence that you are a likely relative. (We will also consider old family friends and civilized visitors in this category.) By using this Homepage, we are looking for new ways to find lost relatives and piece our Peacock family's history together. If our content, grammar or spelling is not to your liking, then "Get your own home page." You may also exit at this point by backing out. Thank You!

NOTE 1: This wasn't much of a mission statement. However, it has more meaning then most of that "trendy crap" put out from corporate board rooms by people who have no intentions of actually saying anything worth knowing, believing or following anyway!

NOTE 2: The above is a brief composite of our Peacock family's known history as taken from the 1850, 1860 and 1870 US Census', military and veterans disability records from Iowa and the National Archives, several visits to the present day Allamakee Co. court house and Veterans Office in Waukon, IA, the Dubuque Co. Court House and Carnegie-Stout Public Library - Dubuque, the Rockdale Methodist Cemetery, many rolls of microfilm read at the Church of Latter Day Saints Library in LA, a few other side visits to the towns mentioned, and a drop of oral family history to bind up the gaps.

NOTE 3: GEORGE SR's burial site based on the info so far, George Sr. is probably buried at Lansing, but we have found no grave to date. It is possible he is the one buried at Burr Oak, IA, but we have found no family connection as of yet with that tribe. He does not appear to be buried along side his wife at Rockdale. We have run out of clues. Some gentleman who was living near the Oak Hill Cemetery in the Summer of 1993, and who makes a hobby out of recording the data from headstones said to us that there was another Peacock buried at Oak Hill, besides the ones we found. The ones found are his son and family { click below on George Jr.} It should also be noted that many of the headstones at this cemetery from that period are severely damaged since they seem to be made from sandstone. "We" had no luck finding that "other" headstone. Further, no records seem to have been kept by the City of Lansing from that time period. If he's there or wherever, 'God Bless Him'.

PLEASE CONTINUE

The below are some additional info links on each of the children and in some cases farther down the descendant line. It gets fuzzier as we go on because this family has a hard time staying put. We hope that some of the names will sound like your great grandfather, great grandmother etc. We have come across some other Peacocks in this general area such as at Burr Oak, IA. We don't think they are part of us, but they could be yours. This can be open for discussion. You may have leads for us, so take a look! Anyone who can survive childhood with the last name of Peacock deserves consideration, regardless of relation. The accuracy of the above info is open to debate with family only. In general we will not make clear reference to any living descendant unless they give the "OK.