Harrison County Iowa Genealogy

HISTORY OF HARRISON COUNTY, IOWA, 1915
BIOGRAPHIES
Page 674
PETER ZOLK

Among the many residents of this section of Iowa who are of German birth or who have had German forbears, there are few who are better known or more justly popular than the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this interesting biographical narrative. In making up a history of Harrison county, the chronicler cannot but be impressed with the many evidences of the great debt which this section owes to that considerable element of the population which has its root springs in the German fatherland. Coming here with an earnest and laudable purpose to make new and better homes in the country of limitless opportunities than seemed possible for them ever to make amid the more restricted conditions of their native land, they brought to this labor of love all the inherent thrift and industry of the Fatherland to which they added the firm determination to make the very best of every wind that blew the way of fortune, with the result that we have in this section of the state some of the best and most skillfully-tilled farms in the United States being the impress of Teutonic thrift and thoroughness upon every acre. Among these there are few bearing more distinctively this mark of the German fatherland than that of Peter ZOLK, a native of Germany, retired farmer and present capitalist of Persia, Harrison county, without a history of whose interesting career this volume would be far from complete.

Peter ZOLK was born in Germany November 5, 1869, the son of Peter and Anna (CHRISTIAN) ZOLK, to whom but two children were born, Peter, the subject of this narrative, and a daughter, now Mrs. Anna FAHRENKROG, a resident of Logan, Iowa. Peter ZOLK Sr., was a native of Germany born in 1839. He grew up there, following the usual course of the German youth, being thoroughly schooled and doing the customary three years army service. He learned the trade of mason and married Anna Christian, who was born in Germany in 1841, and in the Fatherland their two children were born. When he had reached the age of seventeen, the determination came to Peter ZOLK, the son, to seek his fortune in the country across the sea. In 1886 he came to this country and located in Pottawattamie County, Iowa. The glowing word sent back by him of the possibilities that awaited persons of industrious habits in this section stimulated the zeal of the elder ZOLK to follow his son, and in 1889, accompanied by his wife and daughter, he came to America, joining his son in Pottawattamie County. Upon arriving there, he worked for a time as a carpenter and later turned to farming. He found this latter form of occupation so much to his liking that he later moved to Harrison County and bought a farm in Washington township. He made extensive improvements upon this farm and resided there the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1903, his wife surviving him several years; her death not occurring until 1908. This excellent couple made and retained many friends in the home of their adoption and at their passing there was sincere mourning.

Peter ZOLK, the son of Peter and Anna, was 17 years old when he was seized with the desire to try his fortunes in the great land of opportunity across the broad Atlantic. He had grown up sturdily, acquiring readily the instruction imparted by the schools of his native land, and felt the need of a larger freedom of endeavor than seemed to offer there. He made the trip across the water in 1886 and was 20 days in making the passage, the vessel on which he had embarked having been delayed five days waiting for the tide to come in so it could proceed. Upon arriving in New York, Peter ZOLK went to Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where for a time he "worked out" as a farm hand, later renting a tract of land which he occupied for four years, tilling the same so profitably that in 1893 he was able to come to Harrison County and buy 200 acres of choice land in Washington township. The first year of his occupancy of this farm, he put it into habitable condition and then year by year added to the improvements thereon until he had spent more than $5,000 bringing home conditions up to his liking.

Upon finding himself comfortably established on this farm, Peter ZOLK's thoughts naturally turned toward a helpmate and homemaker, and on January 15, 1897, he was united in marriage with Clara FAHRENKROG, who was born in Pottawattamie County, Iowa, in 1877, the daughter of Henry and Gertrude (BURNMEISTER) FAHRENKROG, natives of Germany, who are now living in Minden, Iowa. To this union of Peter and Clara (Fahrenkrog) ZOLK, three children have been born, Lillie, Monroe, and Elmer, all of whom are living at home with their parents, their home in Persia being one of the pleasantest and most hospitable in this section of the state.

Peter ZOLK landed in America with no more than five dollars in his pocket, his passage money and expenses on the way having absorbed all of his small savings but this trifling sum. Practically unaided by outside influences, but continually spurred on by indomitable energy and perseverance, fittingly supplemented by his inherent thrift and habits of industry, he has prospered until today he owns in Harrison and Shelby counties 360 acres of as fine land as lies in this part of Iowa, besides much valuable property in Persia. He has the largest store building in Persia, the ZOLK Block, which is seventy-five by eighty feet in extent, three stories high, in addition to which he owns five residence lots besides his own fine home. He also is a shareholder in the Persia Savings Bank and is manager of his own opera house, besides working in the garage, the latter occupation being, as he says, merely a diversion "to keep him out of mischief."

Mr. ZOLK always has taken an active interest in the welfare of the county and the land of his adoption and has been liberal of his time and his means in the advancement of all movements having to do with the betterment of conditions in a civic, moral, or social way of the community in which he chose to make his home. He takes his proper part in the political life of the county and in the local councils of the Republican party, to which party he has given his allegiance ever since landing in America, his voice is not without influence. He has been called to do service in behalf of the public as a member of the city council of Persia and during his incumbency was able to do much for the material welfare of the thriving little city. In a fraternal way, he is a member of the local lodge of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, in the affairs of which he takes an active interest. He and Mrs. ZOLK are earnest members of the German Lutheran Church and are among the most active communicants of that denomination, ever being ready to give of their time and substance to the furtherance of its interests in their home community.

The chronicler is impressed with the importance to the community, whose history these chronicles seek to set out, of the decision taken back in 1886 by that German youth of 17, whose aspirations led him to this land of freedom. The town of Persia and Harrison county would have been less well off today had Peter ZOLK remained in the Fatherland. This brief review of his career but emphasizes the statement made at the beginning of this biographical sketch regarding the debt which this section owes to those settlers of foreign birth who have done so much for the upbuilding of this section, and the future historian surely will be able to give full credit to their works and to the influence for good which they have exerted upon those with whom they have become associated in the land of their adoption.

Return to 1915 Biographical Y-Z Surnames Index

Back to 1915 Biographies Index