PETER WALTER, a
retired farmer of Norway, Benton county, Iowa, is a worthy
representative of that class of staunch citizens known as
German-Americans.
Mr. Walter was born in what is now Prussia, but was then Alsace,
Germany, December 25, 1832, a son of George and Magdalene (Houre)
Walter, member of respected German families George Walter was a
blacksmith and farmer. He died in his native land in 1847. Subsequently
his widow came to this country and settled in Ohio, where she died in
1874. Both were devout Catholics.
In his youth Mr. Walter received such schooling as was then obtainable
in the vicinity in which they lived, and at the age of twenty-four
years emigrated to the United States, stopping first in Ohio and
spending one year in that state. In 1858 he came to Iowa. For five
years he was in the employ of Governor Kirkwood, in Johnson county, and
at the end of that time went to Iowa county and purchased two hundred
and twenty-five acres of land. There he pioneered. He cleared his land
and cultivated the soil, and contributed his part toward the
development of a rich country. As the years passed prosperity rewarded
his efforts, and in 1895, having accumulated a competency, he retired
from active work. He has since lived in Norway, Benton county, where he
has a comfortable home and where he and his wife are rounding out the
closing years of a half century of happy married life, enjoying the
respect and esteem of the people of the community.
Mr. Walter married, in 1862, Miss Anna Frick, daughter of Michael and
Anna Frick, nee Kuen, of Iowa county. Sons and daughters to the number
of ten have come to bless their home, and have grown up and scattered
and are settled in homes of their own. Their names in order of birth
are as follows: Magdalena, wife of Charles Trojovsky, of Norway, Iowa;
Catherine, wife of Benjamin Salber of Boone county, Nebraska; Mary,
wife of Charles Preusser, of Boone county, Nebraska; Anna, wife of John
Miller, Benton county, Iowa; Peter, George and John, farmers, Peter in
Iowa county, and George and John in Benton county; Joseph, a dealer in
agricultural implements, Watkins, Iowa; William, a merchant,
Dyersville, Iowa; and Frances, wife of Joseph Schulte, Benton county,
Iowa.
While in Lennox township, Iowa county, Mr. Walter filled such offices
as member of school board and road supervisor, but he has never sought
official position nor has he ever been in any sense a public man. He
has always been a conscientious voter, however, and has cast his ballot
with the Democratic party. Religiously he is a Catholic. He was one of
the first members of the Catholic church in Iowa county, and helped to
build the church there, and since coming to Norway he has been a
liberal contributor to the support of the church and to the building of
the new school.
Picture of Peter Walter family
