John Cook sold out to John Shepard, who commenced erecting a grist-mill.

The evidence

• “John Cook, who purchased the west half of Section 6, and platted a few acres which he called by the above name. In the same year, he built a saw-mill on the Bad Fish Creek, and, in 1844, sold out to John Shepard, who forthwith commenced the erection of a grist-mill, which is still standing. It was completed in 1847, and, after numerous changes, passed into the hands of the present owners, Messrs.”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/16-rock-county-ch10-villages.md, PDF p. 689

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources

  

• “It was laid out in 1842 by John Cook, who purchased the west half of Section 6, and platted a few acres, which he called by the above name. In this same year he erected a sawmill on the "Bad Fish creek," and in 1844 sold out to John Shepard, who built a grist mill. It was completed in 1847, and prior to its completion a room in it was used as a meeting house by the Free Baptist Society.”

  1908-brown-rock-county/31-smaller-cities-villages-towns.md, Vol. 2, PDF p. 162 / book p. 669

  Brown, William Fiske, editor. Rock County, Wisconsin: A New History of Its Cities, Villages, Towns, Citizens and Varied Interests, from the Earliest Times, Up to Date. Chicago: C. F. Cooper & Co., 1908. 2 vols. archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon01brow, archive.org/details/rockcountywiscon02brow.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources · may repeat 1879-history-of-rock-county, so not counted as independent