Koch, Adolph

HAEFKE, HEISE, SILK KOENECKE

Posted By: BCGS
Date: 1/3/2010 at 13:45:19

For a period of thirty years Adolph Koch was prominently identified with agricultural interests of Fremont township and he won, during that time, a place among the able and representative farmers of this locality and a comfortable degree of material prosperity, permitting him now to live retired. He was born in Prussia, Germany, April 23, 1834, and is a son of Fred and Annie (Haefke) Koch, both natives of Germany.

Adoph Koch acquired his education in the public schools of his native country and there remained until he was twenty-three years of age. He then borrowed forty dollars from his mother, with which to pay his passage to America, and crossed the Atlantic in a sailing vessel, arriving in the United States after a thirty-four day journey. He settled in Cook county, Illinois, and soon secured work on a farm. He was thrifty and energetic and saved his money, returning fifty dollars to his mother in a short time after his arrival. One year and a half later she came to America and joined her son in Cook county, where they remained seven years. In 1864 they moved to Bremer county, this state, and Mr. Koch purchased eighty acres of wild prairie land on section 17, Fremont township. Through the years which followed he cultivated and improved this farm, adding to his holdings until he owned one hundred and sixty acres of valuable and productive land. He made his home upon the property for thirty years and then, in 1894, retired from active life and moved into Tripoli, where he is now enjoying the fruits of his former toil.

In Cook county, Illinois, Mr. Koch was united in marriage to Miss Matilda Heise, who was born in Germany, September 23, 1848, and who came to America with her parents. Mr. and Mrs. Koch became the parents of five children: A.G., of Fremont township; Bertha, who married Fred Silk, of Tripoli; Carl, of Fremont township; Hermina, the wife of Fred Koenecke, also of Fremont township; and Sophia, who died in infancy.

Mr. Koch is a veteran of the Civil war, having enlisted on October 1, 1864, in Company K, Sixteenth Iowa Volunteer Infantry. He served until the close of hostilities and received his honorable discahrge July 27, 1865. He is now a member of O'Brien Post, G.A.R. and he gives his political allegiance to the republican party. He is numbered among the earliest settlers in Bremer county and he has been closely identified with the development and growth of the community. His record presents many splendid examples of the value of industry, perseverance and good management, for his success is the natural result of his own well directed labor.

History of Bremer County, Iowa Vol. II 1914