Child's Gazeteer of Jefferson County Town of Champion
William Rockwood, son of Reuben, came to Champion in 1799, and settled on the farm now occupied by his son Charles G. He did not remain long, however, but about 1801 or '02 returned and commenced a clearing. In 1805 he married Polly, daughter of Seth Cutler, and they had 12 children, six of whom are now living, namely: Priscilla (Mrs. David Roulston), in St. Lawrence County; Sally (Mrs. George Sayre), in Champion; Reuben, in Michigan; Sabrina (Mrs. Johnson), in Croghan, Lewis County; John W., in Wisconsin; and Charles G., in Champion. Charles G. Rockwood was born March 26, 1816. He married, first, Mary S. Rounds, and second, Jane Van Deusen. He has two children, F.L., who resides at Felt's Mills, and Dempster, who lives with his parents. Dempster Rockwood married Anna, daughter of Joseph Wise, of Watertown, and they have one son, Wesley W.  Charles G. Rockwood has always resided upon the homestead. Reuben Rockwood came to Champion about 1803, and located near his son William. His sons Daniel, Asa, and Roswell also settled on adjoining farms in this town.

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 "They tell us that when this ____ house was built nearly 150 years ago, there were hardly a dozen houses standing in the settlement of what is now Carthage." It was Mrs. Harold S. Rockwood speaking and we were standing with her husband and herself at the farm, located about one-half mile from the community known as Champion Huddle, in the town of Champion and four miles out of Great Bend.
Sure enough, there stood the farmhouse, firm and strong, after nearly a century and a half, while about us were the carefully tilled acres of land the Rockwood family took up as early as 17 (50 or 80?) or maybe the year previous.
It was probably William Rockwood who came first to-the-wilderness-lands of what became the town of Champion, although the father, Reuben Rockwood, must have been residing in the place the next year, for he was elected overseer of the poor at the first town meeting held April 1, 18__.  We will begin the story by speaking first of Reuben. One reason for speaking of Reuben first is to list him as one of the six generations of Rockwood who have resided and tilled this farm in the past ___ years. It is not so very unusual to have three generations ___ farming on the same lands. Four is an event, but here we have six.
We had gone out to the Rockwood farm on an early Monday morning and found Mr. and Mrs. Harold S. Rockwood busy with the Monday morning work. Mrs. Rockwood joined us as Harold completed his work of washing the milking machine. Harold named over the generations that had tilled these acres and we will write them down in order. There were Reuben, William, Charles G., Dempster, Wesley, and now Harold. He told us that four generations had gone up the hill from the farm to attend the school at the "Huddle" and this would include his _____ Wesley.  He pointed over to the wood lot, where he stated ____3,000 hard maple trees not __pped this year because of the lack of help.  In fact, Mr. and Mrs. Rockwood are doing much of the work alone and make a pretty good go of it.
But let us get aquainted with Mrs. Rockwood. She was born in St. Lawrence county and in a Methodist parsonage. Her father was the late Rev. Alexander __ott, a native of Scotland, who reached Great Bend the ____ ____ of 1930-1935.
"My grandmother's name was ___bella(?) and I was named, I suppose, after her," said Mrs. Rockwood, "You see when father came to Great Bend to preach, I got acquainted in the Sunday school with Harold, came up here to ____ the school in the Huddle  ____ was here two years. I married and have been here ever since." If you are looking for ministers, my mother was a Pennock," said Harold, "and you know that __________ Pennock who came to Champion in _____. There were Rev. ____ C. Pennock, and later Rev. Arthur Pennock of the Northern New York ________, a great uncle _____ it was Methodist marring Methodist when we started housekeeping here several years ago."
A trip through the old house was well worth the while. What would William Rockwood have said if he could see the place now? Instead of fireplaces, there is a furnace in the cellar, electric lights (it is the last house on the road to have them, the wires being brought in from the Huddle over the farm lands), a bathroom, telephone, modern sink and other equipment. The one thing about the place is the never failing supply of fine water. A spring high up on the hill sends a stream of water down through the pipes in the barn and to the house.
Each Sunday the family attends the Woolworth Memorial church in Great Bend where Mrs. Rockwood is a teacher and Harold ____secretary in the Sunday school. Up in the rural school at the Huddle, the two children, Wesley and Janice are in school. Later in the day, Janice walked with us over to see one of the older men of the place, who might be able to tell a little about the location of the early industries of the Huddle.
We should mention that Harold told us Dempster Rockwood married Annie, daughter of Joseph Wise of Watertown, so this pioneer family, who have clung to their home acres have through marriage, reached into several other well known north country families.
The Rockwood farm has grown in size from the day it was first carved out from the wilderness. Now it contains 270 acres. The stables will care for 50 dairy cattle, but that number is not now kept. The dairy is cut to what they can care for themselves.
A visit to the Rockwood farm and the Rockwood family is just like going home, so cordial in the welcome from these young people, loyal to home, school and their church.