Re: Look for Illinois Ronk Families
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In reply to:
Look for Illinois Ronk Families
2/16/02
Dear Ted,
I tried to email this to you but my email was returned to me. I hope this long post will be of interest to other RONK researchers, also.
Three RONK brothers, of the ten children of George W. and Sarah Jane (CARY) RONK, are known or believed to have lived for a time in Canton. At about the time that the Civil War broke out, George and Sarah removed with their younger children to Indiana, and there many of this branch of RONKs remained. Four brothers stayed to fight for the South, then most met, once released, with their parents in Indiana.
Henry S. RONK, b. abt 1840 in or near Lewisburg, in Greenbrier County, (now W)VA, was the eldest of the three believed to have lived in Canton. He is not known to have fought for either North or South in the war, and it is not known when he moved to Canton. I say he is "believed" to have lived there because a Henry RONK of his age is on the 1870 census (see below), only pages from brother Andrew RONK, but I know so little else of him that I cannot absolutely say that it is he. His older brother Jacob may also have lived there for a time but he is not documented there.
About Henry's younger brother Andrew J., the most is known: He was born in August 1842, in Lewisburg, Greenbrier County, (W)VA. Andrew moved to Canton in about 1861, after deserting the 22 VA Infantry (in Aug 1861) where three other brothers would stay to serve; and served in the 67th IL Infantry, Co. F, for the North (the company did not have a long service, however). In the fall of 1870, he moved to Iowa, where his brother Jacob also later resided. Andrew J. (and his family) spent the rest of his life in the Clarke and Adams County, IA area.
Another brother, John G., born in February 1847 also in Lewisburg, was living in Canton in 1863 (he was only 16; there is no evidence of military service for him, but when/why he moved there, whether he lived in Indiana for a time first, are not known); he moved to Henry County, IL in 1865, where he met his wife and at least began his family. After the 1877 publication of a Henry County History in which he is featured, I know no more of John G. RONK. All the children of George and Sarah RONK were still living at home in VA at the time of the 1860 census, so none were in IL quite that early.
It is possible that the three brothers moved to Illinois at the same time (late 1861, from Andrew's service record), but I know of many instances where one relative's glowing letters draw others at a later date. By 1865, John G. was not living there; by late 1870, Andrew had also moved; so I very hopefully guess that your family is descended from the Henry and Thapena RONK on the 1870 census with children Alice (b abt 1863), Eddy (b abt 1865), Willie (b abt 1867), and James (b abt Spring 1870). You say that the family has been in the Moline area since the "late 1800s" but perhaps you do not know specifically when they made that move? You have given me renewed hope to find out more about this branch. My interest is in finding a branch besides ours (Jacob D. RONK's) where living descendants may be able to fill in something about the parents, George W. RONK and Sarah Jane CARY. Actually about her quite a bit is known, but more solid proofs are always welcome. About him: George W. RONK was born in about 1809 (depending on the source), in the Roanoke County area of what was then Botetourt County, VA. I won't make this even longer by telling his saga, but if you search the RONK forum for other J Erickson posts you'll discover the difficulty of determining George's parents.
We are definitely trying to make as complete a study of the ten children of George and Sarah RONK as possible, so we welcome absolutely anything/everything you have compiled on your known ancestry/descendancy, wheteher in a genealogy program, a text file, or an email. Any detail could tell us the next direction to head our search. If you know of any others in your family who are also doing genealogy work, we'd love to connect with them also.
The census mentioned above follows. I apologize for the length of this note; I just like to get my likely proofs in order to explain why Henry's branch seems to be yours, as opposed to the others who passed through Fulton County perhaps more briefly.
So glad to read your post. I hope to hear back from you and I hope this helps put lots of puzzle pieces together for you!
Regards,
J Erickson
Illinois, Fulton County, 4th Ward City of Canton.
p. 409b.
Ronk, Andrew 27 M Wagon maker VA/owns land
Rachel(BRILEY) 27 F Keeping house Germ. FOR* FOR
George W. 5 M IL FOR
Edith M. 2 F IL FOR
Daisy G. 5/12 F IL FOR
*FOR answered the question about parents of foreign birth; Rachel was born in Germany as were both her parents.
p. 413a.
Ronk,* Henry 30 M Cooper VA/owns land
Thapena ? 33 F Keeps house VA
Alice 7 F IL
Eddy 5 M IL
Willie 3 M IL
James 3/12 M IL
*surname first written “Ronak” but written over it, more darkly, “Ronk”
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