ADOLPH KOCH
The first blacksmith to put in an appearance, was Adolph Koch, who built him a shop one block south of his present location. He commenced business in November, 1875, and has prospered with the town. He is now to be found one block south of Washington street, and one block west of Main.
Adolph Koch, the pioneer blacksmith of Marne, was born in Prussia, in 1839. In 1857 he came to America, stopping a while in Pennsylvania, then going on to Illinois, where he engaged in blacksmithing, in Pike county. He enlisted, January 1, 1862, in Company I, Thirty-third Illinois, in which he served, taking part in many battles, till January 1, 1865, when he was discharged. He returned to Illinois, where he remained till 1873, when he went to Kansas, where he remained till coming to Marne, in 1875.
Transcribed by Gloria Goltiani from "History of Cass County, Iowa. Together With Sketches of its Towns, Villages and Townships, Educational, Civil, Military and Political History: Portraits of Prominent Persons, and Biographies of Old Settlers and Representative Citizens." Springfield, Ill.: Continental Historical Company, 1884, pg. 611.
