History of the Heacock Family in America
The history of the Heacock family in America began in 1710 when Jonathon Heacock and his wife, Ann (Till) Heacock, emigrated from Slindon, Staffordshire, England, to make their home in the then English colonies.
Because of their religious beliefs, they decided to settle in the Quaker colony of Pennsylvania. There, at Richland in Bucks County, they proceeded to build for themselves and their family of two daughters and four sons, a new home, and a new life.
Eighty years after the original immigrants arrived, two of their grandsons, John and Jonathon Heacock, lured by the prospect of good land free for the taking, decided to move farther west. It was their original plan to go into Canada where an older sister and her husband had gone some six years earlier. The brothers, with their wives, their children and their wives and husbands, together with all their possessions, again set out to carve out a new home and life in the wilderness. They planned to cross the Niagara River some distance below the falls, but due to spring rains the river was at flood stage and presented a dangerous obstacle. The two groups held a conference but could not come to an agreement. Finally, Jonathon and his group did cross the river into Canada and eventually found land to their liking.
John and his followers turned westward in the United States and settled in Stark County, in Ohio.
In Ohio, these people found homes and prosperity, but the urge to move Westward still remained. Always there was the knowledge that farther west there was new and possibly better land that could be had at little cost. Consequently, sometime before the Civil War, Nathan, the son of John, and his wife, Hannah, (John) along with his son John and his wife Ann (Gruswell) and their family, decided to move westward. They came to West Branch in the newly created state of Iowa. Here they bought a half section of land some four and one-half miles northeast of town for a home site. One acre on the southwest corner was given as a site for a Friends Meeting House and cemetery. Here members of the family and their neighbors attended church and many were eventually buried in the cemetery. The cemetery still remains, but the church has gone. Now, as in the past, this location is known as Honey Grove.
The family of John and Ann (Gruswell) Heacock consisted of twelve children -- six sons and six daughters: Alice Ann, Joseph J., Hannah, Sarah, Robert C., Mary, Ellen, Esther, Edwin C., James S., William P., and Nathan. Of these twelve, three were destined to play a part in the history of Kingsley.
In 1881 and 1882, Joseph J. and Edwin C. Heacock, working together, moved the Old Mill from its original site in Rochester, Iowa to Quorn, Iowa. Here they rebuilt it and began its operation in June of 1882. In 1883 James S. Heacock came to Quorn and assumed his brother, Edwin C. Heacock's place in the partnership, and with the exception of a few short intervals of time, operated the mill until its closing in 1925.
Edwin C., like so many young men of the period, wanted to travel westward and so, with his wife Ida and their children, they moved to the west coast. For a time they made their home in Alaska, but eventually, they settled permanently in San Diego, California. The several families now living in that city are his descendants.
Joseph John Heacock was born in Salem County, Ohio, July 2, 1841, and died in West Branch, Iowa, January 26, 1906. His wife, Luella Heald, was born in West Branch, October 6, 1856, and was buried in Lake City. Iowa, on May 3, 1932. (Note: We found a headstone for Louella in West Branch in 2014. So, some confusion here.) They lived in Kingsley from 1882 until 1902 when they moved to West Branch, Iowa, where he operated a flour and feed mill until his death in 1905. Their eight children, Joseph Wilson, Marguerite, Sarah, Ida, Grace, Arthur, and Eloise grew up and attended school in Kingsley. Another daughter, Anne, died in infancy and is buried in the Elkhorn Cemetery northwest of Kingsley.
Joseph Wilson Heacock, son of J. J. Heacock, was born in West Branch, Iowa, July 25, 1877, and died in Edinburg, Texas, on November 2, 1958. He married Fanny Knowles, who was born February 5, 1878, in Port Byron, Illinois and died in Edinburg, Texas, March 14, 1972. They are both buried in a beautiful cemetery between Edinburg and McAllen, Texas. Wilson and Fanny grew to adulthood in Kingsley and lived there for several years after their marriage. They had six children; Richard Knowles Heacock, Dorothy Heacock Bair, Esther Heacock Sterling, Mary Dodge Hunter, Steven Heacock, and Joseph Wilson Heacock, Jr., a United States Air Force pilot killed in World War II and is buried in England.
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From a copy of printed information obtained from Steven Heacock. Where this story was published and the primary author is unknown to me. I scanned the story and send it to you in the interest of maintaining important information on our family history.
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