▼Below is the enlarged photo
of Valentine
Amey Lake and
his wife, Sophia Matilda Taft Lake. This may have been a wedding photo in
which case he would have been 26 and she would have been 23. They were
married in Clinton, Wisconsin, located about 10 miles northeast from Rockton,
Ill. across the state line. In the text box below you will see the words
of Claud Nelson McMillan, genealogist and author of
A History of My People
and Yours. In his
book, published in 1956 after years of research, Mr. McMillan wrote the
definitive and authoritative history of the Lake family in America.
He spent a lifetime of fact finding in libraries compiling his work before the
age of computers and the internet. He corresponded with letters and
conducted personal interviews with many living relatives of those families he
details. Quite remarkable, really.
Valentine Lake came with his parents to southern Wisconsin in 1836
and to Winnebago County, Ill. in 1842. He
farmed for some
years
after his marriage, then entered the lumber, grain and coal business at
Rockton. He also had
large grain elevator for grain storage. During his years at Rockton, he
held various Township offices, all with distinction
and honor. He was greatly respected by the people of Rockton, where he
died at the early age of but 54 years and
where he was buried.
My grandmother Minnie
Matilda Jane Humphreys Malcom was named after Sofia
Matilda and
Sophia's mother, Matilda Benson
Taft.
Date of photo is unknown
Shown below is the
gravestone of Valentine Amey Lake. This photo was taken on July 8, 2007.
As you can see from the insignia on his gravestone, he was active in the Masons.
The monument reads: V.A. Lake, Died Aug. 8, 1878, Aged 54 yrs. 6 mos. His
grave is located in the older portion of the Rockton, Ill. Township Cemeteries.
The grave plot holds places for 5 more graves, presumably places for his wife,
Sophia and his 4 unmarried children who still lived at home. None are
there as after his death his family scattered far from Rockton. As I wrote
earlier, Sophia went to live with her daughters and married again at age 68 and
died at Bassett, Nebraska at age 81.
At the right is a photo of the Lake plot in the old
section of the Rockton Township Cemetery. ►
Below is the grave stone for Valentine Amey Lake in
the Rockton Township Cemetery, Rockton, Ill.▼
You can see he was a Masonic Lodge member. My uncle, Vincent Valentine Malcom is named after him.
Below
is a great photo of Sophia Matilda Taft Lake and her second husband James Morse.
This is probably a wedding photo taken in Omaha, Nebraska. He is from Boone Co. Illinois which is
right next to Winnebago County and Rockton on the east so they may have known
each other for a long time, even from the time they were young. We don't
know when or where they met up again or where they were married in 1895.▼
Here below you see an
excerpt from a old book called the History of Rockton-1820 to 1895.
It tells about Valentine Lake, his work and his marriage to Sophia M. Taft
although the date of his death is incorrect.
