Illinois Grove has a history of its own. We could not possibly cover it adequately in our history. However, we can include a sketch in our history.
The history of the Illinois Grove post office has been included with our post office history. The history of the church at Illinois Grove has been included with the histories of our churches. Many of the families of Illinois Grove had members who moved to Lincoln township in later years. We have included as many of those families as we could in our family section.
Some of the family names of Illinois Grove did not appear in the records of Lincoln township. They evidently moved to other communities when they left Illinois Grove.
One of the families which does not appear in the records of Lincoln township is the Abbott family. From our own knowledge of the history of Illinois Grove, I would classify the Abbott family as the leading pioneer family of that community. The family came to Illinois Grove in the 1850's. Members of the Abbott family were community leaders in Illinois Grove for many years. I tried to obtain a family sketch of the Abbott family. I could not locate a living relative.
The name Lockwood was a well known pioneer name. Elijah Cox was a prominent pioneer. Clark, McCurdy, and Frayer were leading pioneer names.
David A. Tooker was an Illinois Grove postmaster in the 1870's. A member of the Tooker family owned a small store in Zearing in later years. However, we do not have the given name of the Zearing store owner.
The Haslett family moved to Lincoln township in the 1880's. However, the family belongs in the history of Illinois Grove. William owned a store in the town of Illinois Grove. William, Jennie, and Agnes Haslett were charter members of the church organized at the Wickham school house.
Albert W. Squires was the last postmaster at Illinois Grove. He was the first postmaster of Zearing. Albert's wife, Lugetta, died in Zearing on September 9, 1882. She was buried in the Illinois Grove Cemetery.
The See family was considered an Illinois Grove family although several members of the family came to our community in later years. The See hill in Illinois Grove was named because the Michael See family lived on the hill. Many of the first car owners of Lin-