Cross, Robert J.

Born: 1803-10-03 New York

Died: 1873-02-15 Roscoe, Illinois

Flourished: Roscoe, Illinois

Cross moved from his native state first to the Michigan Territory and, in August 1835, to Illinois. He settled in what would become Winnebago County, becoming the first permanent white settler of Roscoe. When the Illinois General Assembly created Winnebago County in 1836, Cross assisted at the organization of the county, serving as a member of the election board for the first county election. Cross was among the 12o men who cast ballots in the election, and the County Commissioners' Court elected him county treasurer. He also served as justice of the peace for the Rock River precinct. In 1839, he purchased approximately 430 acres of public land near Roscoe. In 1841, Cross became vice president of the newly-organized Winnebago County Agricultural Society. In 1846, he won election as a Whig to the Illinois House of Representatives, serving until 1847. In 1847, he represented Winnebago County at the Illinois Constitutional Convention. In 1850, he was farming and owned real property valued at $8,000. In 1860, he owned property valued at $11,600 and had a personal estate of $910.

Gravestone, Roscoe Cemetery, Roscoe, IL; Charles A. Church, Past and Present of the City of Rockford and Winnebago County, Illinois (Chicago: S. J. Clarke, 1905), 11, 14, 15, 58, 59, 101; Charles A. Church, History of Rockford and Winnebago County Illinois (Rockford, IL: W. P. Lamb, 1900), 56, 172; Illinois Public Domain Land Tract Sales, Winnebago County, 706:81, Illinois State Archives, Springfield, IL; John Clayton, comp., Illinois Fact Book and Historical Almanac 1673-1968 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1970), 214; U.S. Census Office, Seventh Census of the United States (1850), Roscoe, Winnebago County, IL, 397; U.S. Census Office, Eighth Census of the United States (1860), Roscoe, Winnebago County, IL, 587.