THE MOUNT MORRIS FOUR – THE FOUKES MOVE WEST

Subject: FOUKE, of course!

Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 13:02:24 -0600

From: "dardar" dardar@midwest.net (Darrin R. Fouke)

To: "David / Janet Bradford" dbrad4d@execpc.com

Howdy! Nice to have more allies in the quest for Fouke info! I've sent you photos; one is of my Dad's grandpa George Fouke, and his surviving sisters. I call this George "Farmer" George because (obviously!) he was a dairy farmer near Winslow, IL, north of Freeport. "Farmer" was the grandson of "Shoemaker" George Fouke. "Shoemaker" was the uncle who raised R.R. Fouke's brother Frederick Dorsey Fouke. "Shoe" had 3 children: "Indiana" George, Mahala J. (adopted; possibly named after her Aunt Mahala Chapline Fouke?) and my Dad's great-grandpa William J. Fouke. As near as I've been able to tell, "Indiana" had only one daughter, so Wm. J. is the only one of these 3 who passed on the Fouke name.

Your latest information shows me that at least 3 Fouke men were Confederate prisoners: F. D. Fouke (he went by the name John Fouke during his military career), R.R. Fouke (I knew he was a soldier but not of his imprisonment), and Wm. J. Fouke. He was in Libby Prison for about a month. So far all the Civil War Fouke soldiers I've learned about were Union men; I've yet to find mention of a Confederate one.

I'll try now to begin to give you an idea of the scope of the family, and of some of the research that's been done. What is this I hear about "Old" Michal Fouke being a Huguenot?

Anyone who begins delving into Fouke research will find several different "sub-groups" of families. Ultimately, these all seem to stem from one source: "Old" Michal Fouke and his wife Sophia. Their family was living in the Shepherdstown, (West) VA area before the Revolutionary War. They had several sons and one daughter. Let me start with Philip:

Philip Fouke, son of "Old" Michal, and brother of Michael Jr., seems to have moved to the area of Kaskaskia, IL by about 1800. This was the territorial capitol of the future state, and is roughly one hour's drive south of St. Louis. Kaskaskia is a fascinating tale all by itself (it was nearly destroyed by a sudden shift in the course of the Mississippi and Kaskaskia Rivers in early 1899 – what little remains is an island now). Philip was a prominent man, and evidently a frontiersman. Eventually he was an innkeeper, judge, U.S. Marshall, etc. He had several daughters and one son: Philip Bond Fouke. P.B.F. was later a newspaper man, congressman, and Civil War Colonel. I know of no natural, living descendants of P.B.F. today; but there are several families in the U.S. today who descend from adopted sons of this family who went on to operate the Fouke Fur Co. of St. Louis! Davis Young of Michigan is the only natural descendant of this family that I know of. He is descended from one of Philip's daughters.

Philip may have been the 1st Fouke in Illinois; it is possible that a Jacob Fouke was here 1st (more than one man by that name, on 2 continents!).

Christian was another son of "Old" Michal; many of us (including Petersons) are his descendants! I think the 1st of his children to come to IL was my own "Shoemaker" Geo. Fouke. He came to Mt. Morris, IL in 1846,in a wagon. He may have had F. D. Fouke with him; he did have Mahala (adopted daughter) with him, and probably my ancestor as well: 18 yr. old Wm. J. Fouke. The oldest son, "Indiana" George, seems to have settled in S. Bend, IN. I think the rest of the "Mt. Morris 4" followed in the next few years.

Another Fouke group is descended from Joseph Thomas Fouke, who lived most of his life in Greenville, L. He came with his mother, at age 3 (1830), from VA. They traveled down the Ohio River. His mother was Charlotte Fouke. I am guessing that she was the sister of a Jacob Fouke, who was (I'm guessing) possibly a child of an Isaac Fouke, himself either a son or grandson of "OLD" Michal. J.T. Fouke served in the Civil War under the command of his relative (cousin?), Philip Bond Fouke. Joseph fathered at least 15 children and outlived 2 wives! So far, 2 of our researchers are from this group: Rick Fouke of Seattle, and Richard Fouke of LaSalle, IL area.

Many Foukes trace their roots to the state of Ohio. I think most of these people descend from Michael Fouke Jr. At least one man from here was also a Civil War soldier: Charles Michael Fouke. Descendants I know of today include: Dr. Dan Fouke of OH; Herbert "Steve" Fouke of the state of LA; and Velzoe Brown of CA.

There was another Jacob Fouke (brother of Charlotte?) who lived for a time in IL. I think this was about 1830 -1840. He had several sons and daughters, and ran a tavern or inn around Edwardsville/Vandalia/Greenville area. He eventually moved back east (Pittsburgh?), but his son Jacob Jr. moved back as a very young man and struck out on his own. He became a judge and lived and died in Vandalia, IL. A building there has his name very prominently displayed. I have yet to find anyone from this group. He grew up "under the wing" of Joseph T. Fouke's family in nearby Greenville.

There are still a few Fouke families in the east, mostly near Hagerstown, MD. This is still fairly near the old family area of Shepherdstown and Harper's Ferry. I have some sketchy info on these folks. I believe they trace back to the children of Michal and Sophia who stayed close to home.

Now a little more about the "Mt. Morris 4" group: descendants of Wm. Henry Fouke (who looked out for R.R. Fouke, his nephew) include Mrs. Dick Matteson, and Prof. Bruce Fouke of Urbana, IL who spent some time in The Netherlands, and is convinced that FOUKE is Frisian!

Janet Bradford and Gary Pearson are descendants of Robt. Fouke, as are Sharon Fouke, Ken Fouke and Ken Jr. I am descendant of "Uncle Geo." as are Jan Fouke of Decatur (my Dad), Christopher Fouke of Benton, IL (my bro.) Gary Fouke of Rockford area, Carol Fouke of NYC, Lester Fouke of Freeport, and Steve Fouke of CA!

Then there's Uncle James Fouke. He's buried near Lake Shelbyville,IL, near the older part of the town of that name. If you run into anyone who mentions a family connection to Fouke, AR., they descend from this man. Next time I will try to give you details on the research progress in Europe.

Darrin