August Kukkuck, b. 7 May 1841

NEELAND, SCHMEDKA, MEYER, STORM, PETERS

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 2/21/2004 at 11:42:30

August Kukkuck, one of the thrifty German farmers of Fairfield Township owns a fine body of land on section 23 where he is very successfully prosecuting general agriculture and stock-raising. He is the owner of 591 broad acres on which are substantial modern buildings, his barn being one of the finest in the county, together with the latest improved machinery for carrying on farming in a profitable manner. He arrived in this county on the 20th day of September, 1863, about a month after leaving Hanover, Germany. He was born there May 7, 1841, received a good education in his native language, and was in early life trained to habits of industry and economy. After leaving school he learned the trade of a mason and plasterer, which he followed two years when first coming to Iowa. At the expiration of this time he purchased eighty acres of wild prairie land, only fifteen acres of which had been broken. He put up a house, improved his first purchase and invested his surplus capital in additional land until he is now one of the leading land-owners of the county.

Our subject was married May 20, 1865, in Fairfield Township to Miss Reka Neeland, a native of Mecklenburg, Germany, where she was born May 13, 1848. She came with her parents to America in the autumn of 1857. Her father first settled in Davenport, then came to Clinton County, and in 1868 settled on a farm which he bought in Fairfield and Jackson counties. Of this union there have been born seven children; viz: Ida, Dora, William, Caroline, Reka, Anna, and August. Ida is the wife of John Schmedka, who lives in Crawford County, Iowa, engaged in farming and feeding cattle; they have two children - Anna and Dora. The other children of the subject still remain under the parental roof, and are having the benefit of a good common school education, being taught to speak both German and English.

Carl Kukkuck, the father of our subject, died in Germany in 1865. He was a farmer by occupation, an honest, hard-working man. The mother, Mrs. Justine (Meyer) Kukkuck, survived her husband about two years, dying in 1867. They were the parents of eleven children, five of whom are living: the eldest, Henry, married Miss Mary Storm, of Mecklenburg, Germany, and is farming in this county. They have seven children living - Henry, Jr. Emma, Charles, Louis, Bertha, Mary, and Frederick. Justine married Ferdinand Peters, a native of Holstein, Germany; they live in Dallas Centre, Iowa, and are the parents of six children - Louis, Frank, Mary, Albert, Clara, and Laura. Charles remains in his native Germany, where he is in business as a hotel-keeper. George is married and occupies himself as a farmer and carpenter in the Fatherland.

Mr. Kukkuck intends in the near future to recross the ocean and spend a few weeks among the friends of his childhood. This he can well afford to do, and no one will question the wisdom of his spending his time and money for this purpose. He has become thoroughly identified with the institutions of his adopted country and supports the principles of the Democratic party, although having no aspiration for office. His chief pride is in his family and farm, and he is an admirable illustration of the self-made man, who has worked his way up from a humble beginning and become practically independent. Both he and his estimable wife and family are members of the Lutheran Church, and no people in the community are held in more general respect.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois)