Crook Love (1838 - 1908) of Loogootee, Indiana

While browsing old Indiana newspapers, an article from the December 20, 1877 issue of The Loogootee Times, caught my eye. [1] You’ll find an image of the article at right.

While it brings to mind a scene from a movie, with dramatic events unfolding and even a charismatic main character with a unique name like Crook Love, this is actually just the stuff of everyday life in the 19th century. For a rural family, at a time when there also was no phone to call for help during an emergency, the nearest doctor could have potentially been miles away on horseback.

The story itself left me with some questions, including what the outcome was for the injured child, but I was also struck by this thought: anyone with a name like Crook Love deserves some further investigation. What a wonderful, interesting, antiquated moniker! And let’s not overlook the unique name of the town either - Loogootee.

I had to look up Loogootee to know exactly where it’s located, even though it sounded familiar. It turns out that I’d seen a story in the Indianapolis Star last summer about Bill Larkin, a man who has thousands of colorfully painted birdhouses and rocks on his property, which has become a roadside attraction known as the Birdhouse Paradise of Bill Larkin. In any event, Loogootee is located in Martin County, in south-central Indiana, and the exact origins of the community’s unusual name are unknown, which is too bad, because I was hoping for a good tale there as well.

The Loogootee Times, the paper in which the article about Crook Love’s injured child appeared, was a community weekly, published from 1875 to 1879. [2] That same issue was just four pages long and like many newspapers of the time contained some creative, serial fiction and jokes in addition to actual news. [3]

Since the newspaper article was published in 1877, I start the search for Crook Love and his family with the 1870 Federal Census.

In 1870, the family was living on a farm in Martin County’s Center Township, in an area that was served by the Dover Hill Post Office. Notably, Crook Love owned his farm and it was worth $12,000, a significant sum in 1877. Crook’s wife’s name was Abigail and there were three children living in the household: James Love and Lafayette and John Franklin. At this time, the reason for the surname difference with the children is unknown, but the eldest was born in Tennessee and the younger in Kentucky. [4]

Modern day Dover Hill is about 10 miles from Loogootee, but the family likely lived in the rural stretch between these two communities. Still undoubtedly a long ride when seeking emergency medical attention.

In the 1850 and 1860 censuses, we find Crook living in the home of his parents, James and Elizabeth Love, in Perry Township, Martin County. [5] [6] Marriage index records confirm that Crook Love and Abigail B. Elmore married on January 31, 1861 in Martin County, Indiana. [7] [8] Their first child, James, was born in 1862. [9] That same year, Crook enlisted in the Union Army, commencing his service for the duration of the U.S. Civil War. [10]

Crook enlisted on August 5 and mustered in on August 18, 1862. He was assigned to Company F of the Indiana Infantry. While there are few records that survive from Crook’s service with the Union Army, we do know that he was ill in 1864 and spent time at White Hale Hospital in Bristol, PA [11] and that he mustered out on June 22, 1865 in Greensboro, NC. [12]

We also know that Crook was granted a pension in March of 1879 due to disability and that his wife applied for and was granted a survivor’s pension after his death in 1908. According to the pension index card at left, Crook’s wife at the time of his death was named Nancy, not Abigail, sending me in search of additional information on both women. [13]

Though I’ve been unable to locate a death record for Abigail (Elmore) Love, she likely died between 1872, after her daughter Abigail’s birth, and 1874, when Crook Love married his second wife, Nancy (Davis) Perry. [14][15] Nancy and Crook’s first child, Crook W., was born in 1876. [16]

In 1880, Crook and Nancy, along with their children, were living in Doniphan in Ripley County, Missouri [17], but by 1900, they were back in Martin County, Indiana, this time in the community of West Shoals in Center Township. [18] It appears that Crook sold his farm in rural Martin County before the move to Missouri, and upon returning to Indiana, the family rented a home in West Shoals.

On June 11, 1902, Crook Love was appointed as Post Master in the Martin County community of West Shoals when the former postmaster, Grant Luzadder, resigned. [19][20] More than likely, Crook was working for the post office for some time before this appointment, though exactly how long is unknown. In August of 1903, after the communities of Shoals and West Shoals incorporated, Crook Love was ordered to close the West Shoals branch. [21] Whether he continued to work for the U.S. Postal Service following the closure is unknown.

Crook was born October 14, 1838 and died February 6, 1908. He was buried at Mount Union Cemetery in Shoals, Indiana. [23]

He had six biological children: James and Abigail Jane, with his first wife, Abigail (Elmore) Love, and Crook William, Howard, Thomas, and Nora, with his second wife, Nancy (Davis) Perry Love. Crook was also step-father to Joshua Perry, Nancy’s son from her previous marriage. [22]

The question still remains as to which of Crook’s children was kicked by a horse in December of 1877, sending a rider on horseback in search of Dr. Campbell in Loogootee.

Only three of Crook’s children were born prior to December 1877: James, Abigail Jane, and Crook William, all of whom survived to adulthood, married, and had children of their own. [24] [25] [26] Crook’s stepson, Joshua Perry, was also born before 1877 and could have been the injured child reported in the newspaper; however, he too survived to adulthood, married, and had children. [27]

Now, this doesn’t rule out the possibility that there were other children born to Crook and Abigail or Crook and Nancy that we don’t already know about. I haven’t been able to locate any census, birth, death, or burial records indicating the loss of a child in 1877 though. Here’s hoping this means the child kicked by the horse wasn’t in as bad of shape as The Loogootee Times piece indicated and that he or she was treated by Dr. Campbell and lived a long life.

Sources:

[1] “Take Notice” entry, The Loogootee Times (Loogootee, Indiana), Thursday, Dec. 20, 1877, page 3. Newspapers.com, digital image, retrieved 22 Apr 2021.

[2] The LOOGOOTEE Times. Chronicling America, index entry, retrieved 22 Apr 2021 from https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn84037915/

[3] “Take Notice” entry, The Loogootee Times (Loogootee, Indiana), Thursday, Dec. 20, 1877, page 1 - 4. Newspapers.com, digital images, retrieved 22 Apr 2021.

[4] Crook Love household. Year: 1870; Census Place: Center, Martin, Indiana; Roll: M593_342; Page: 299A, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[5] James M Love household. Year: 1850; Census Place: Perry, Martin, Indiana; Roll: 160; Page: 44a. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[6] James M Love household. Year: 1860; Census Place: Perry, Martin, Indiana; Page: 762; Family History Library Film: 803278. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[7] Crook Love. Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[8] Crook Love. Martin County, Indiana; Index to Marriage Record 1850-1920 Inclusive Lette, W. P. A. Original Record Located: County Clerk's O; Book: 2; Page: 74. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[9] Crook Love household. Year: 1870; Census Place: Center, Martin, Indiana; Roll: M593_342; Page: 299A, Ancestry, digital image, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[10] Crook Love. Historical Data Systems, Inc.; Duxbury, MA 02331; American Civil War Research Database. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 22 Apr 2021.

[11] Cook Love. Ancestry.com. Web: Indiana, U.S., Civil War Soldier Database Index, 1861-1865 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2015. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[12] Ibid.

[13] Crook Love. The National Archives at Washington, D.C.; Washington, D.C.; NAI Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; NAI Number: T288; Record Group Title: Records of the Department of Veterans Affairs, 1773-2007; Record Group Number: 15; Series Title: U.S., Civil War Pension Index: General Index to Pension Files, 1861-1934; Series Number: T288; Roll: 289. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[14] Crook Love. Ancestry.com. Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[15] Thomas Love. Ancestry.com. Indiana, U.S., Marriages, 1810-2001 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014. Ancestry, index entry, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[16] Crook Love household. Year: 1880; Census Place: Doniphan, Ripley, Missouri; Roll: 713; Page: 575A; Enumeration District: 115. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[17] Ibid.

[18] Crook Love household. Year: 1900; Census Place: Center, Martin, Indiana; Page: 1; Enumeration District: 0082; FHL microfilm: 1240392. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[19] Crook Love. U.S., Appointments of U. S. Postmasters, 1832-1971 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[20] “New Rural Mail Routes: Free Delivery Service Extended in Eight Indiana Counties” The Indianapolis Journal (Indianapolis, Indiana), Thursday, June 12, 1902, page 6.

[21] “Trouble Arose Over Location of the Postoffice.” The Daily Mail (Bedford, Indiana), Monday, September 7, 1903, page 4.

[22] Nancy Perry in Ezekiel Davis household. Year: 1870; Census Place: Center, Martin, Indiana; Roll: M593_342; Page: 291A. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 23 Apr 2021.

[23] Crook Love. Find a Grave Memorial. Retrieved 23 Apr 2021 from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/144597102/crook-love

[24] James L. Love. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1938; Roll: 03. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 24 Apr 2021.

[25] Jane Love Deilkes. Find a Grave Memorial. Retrieved 24 Apr 2021 from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/27082937/jane-deilkes

[26] William Crook Love. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1947; Roll: 07. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 24 Apr 2021.

[27] Joshua Perry. Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Death Certificates; Year: 1939; Roll: 04. Ancestry, digital image, accessed 24 Apr 2021.