John Monks

As printed in 1882

JOHN MONKS. John Monks was one among the early pioneers of this county, and the father of a family whose members have borne a prominent part in its subsequent history. He was born in one of the great cotton manufacturing districts of England, and at an early age learned the art of weaving. When a young man, he came to the United States, and found employment at his trade. Early in the year 1820, he came to Randolph County, Ind., locating one and one-half miles south of Winchester. He had no knowledge of farming, and was ill prepared for the labors of pioneer life, and beyond an occasional job of carding wool for some of his neighbors, he found no work at his trade. In the tiresome drudgery of clearing his farm, building fences, and chopping brush, much of the burden was borne by hia wife, who, although Irom one of the aristocratic families of Kentucky, knew more than her husband about farm work. There was little demand for mechanics of his guild in this thinly settled region, and his first few years in the wilderness were years of hardship, anxiety and toil. He possessed the sturdy Euglish disposition in a market! degree, and determined lo make the best of his surroundings. Little by little he succeeded in clearing his farm and driving a revenue from its products, and little by little he enlarged its boundaries until he possessed quite a good

Hebk )cing a well-k all his neighbor learned, in time ma

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0 and enterprisunity. He died;lil 1861. Their

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As printed in History of Randolph County, Indiana with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers : to which are appended maps of its several townships (1882). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.