John Mason & Sarah Paine Peck - chapter 5 review

As we continue to review the content of our forthcoming book - John Mason and Sarah Paine Peck: Missionaries Extraordinaire, by Myron Dillow - chapter 5 finds them moving to Rock Spring, Illinois. An excerpt:

"With the help of neighbors, Peck began establishing his homestead. He constructed a two-story log house, barn, and other outbuildings. In the spring, he was found breaking the virgin soil with his oxen, planting and cultivating crops, and securing livestock. While farming was not something he desired, it was necessary to provide for his family. Working the soil must have reminded him of days when he worked his parents’ farm near Litchfield, Connecticut. As he worked the fields and performed the other necessary labor around the farm, his mind must have been occupied with his mission: how to reach the people for Christ and counter the attacks of his adversaries. He was doubtless anxious to get back out on the circuit. Here at Rock Spring, the center of operations, Sarah and John Mason Peck would rear their family and reside until their deaths in 1856 and 1858, respectively."

Picture is of the Pecks' house that was constructed in 1822.