Before We Were Lombard: The Story of Babcock’s Grove

The Babcock Brothers

Before we officially became Lombard in 1869, our area was known as Babcock’s Grove—a name that pays tribute to two of the earliest settlers, brothers Ralph and Morgan Babcock. The roots of this community go back to 1833, when the Babcocks, originally from Onondaga County, New York, claimed land near the DuPage River. Both brothers were married when they made the journey west, and they were soon joined by neighbors from their hometown.

Among those early settlers were Deacon Winslow Churchill and his family, as well as Sheldon Peck, his wife Harriet Corey Peck, and their children. The Pecks initially settled in Chicago but soon moved west to claim land on the eastern edge of what became known as Babcock’s Grove. As more families arrived and the settlement expanded, the Babcock brothers moved on in search of new opportunities.

Ralph and Morgan’s younger brother, Anson Babcock, also passed through the area with his wife Harriet, though he ultimately claimed land in Stephenson County in northwestern Illinois. Ralph and his family followed Anson there, later relocating to Monroe County, Wisconsin. Ralph and his wife Azubah had three children—Oscar Almeron, Elsie, and Elgen Eugene—while living in Babcock’s Grove. Ralph enlisted in the 20th Wisconsin Infantry in 1862 and served through the Civil War, including the Siege of Vicksburg. He died in 1897 at the age of 86 and is buried alongside Azubah in Hillsboro, Wisconsin.

Babcock Genealogy, 1903.

Morgan Babcock, photo permission use given by Barbara Krause. ND.

Morgan Babcock’s story also took many turns. He and his first wife, Maria Pardee, had four children—one born in New York and three more in DuPage County. After Maria’s death in 1848, Morgan remarried Rhoda Bevans. He worked as a carpenter in Chicago and later moved west again, eventually settling in Kansas. By 1870, he was serving as postmaster in Margaret, Kansas. Morgan passed away in 1883 and is buried in Wilson, Kansas.

Although the Babcocks did not remain in this part of DuPage County, their contributions to the early days of the settlement were significant. Their legacy lives on in the name that came before Lombard—Babcock’s Grove—and in the history they helped shape.