Better Know an Officer: Lieut. Daniel A. Zook

Today's post is an exciting guest post by Joel Rodgers, a Lancaster County native and descendant of Lieut. Daniel A. Zook of Company I, 79th Pennsylvania.  Joel runs a Facebook page for the 79th Pennsylvania, so be sure to connect with him there, as well as his other pages for the 203rd Pennsylvania and the 122nd Pennsylvania.  Welcome, Joel, and thank you for sharing your research!     

Lieut. Daniel A. Zook
Company I, 79th Pennsylvania
(79th PA Officers Oval)

Name: 2nd Lt. Daniel Andrew Zook, Company I, 79th Pennsylvania
Born: May 10, 1834; Lancaster Co, Pennsylvania
Died: May 18 1883; Intercourse, Lancaster Co, Pennsylvania; Buried at Intercourse United Methodist Cemetery, Lancaster PA
Pre-war Life: Laborer and Butcher. Married Susanna Harsh in 1858 in Lancaster County and had four daughters.
Post-war Life: Butcher, painter and hotel employee in Intercourse and Lancaster City from 1865 until his death.

A grandson of one of the oldest living Revolutionary veterans of Lancaster County, Andrew Snyder (1733-1845), Daniel A. Zook and his family had long been patriotic members of the county. Lieut. Zook was born in 1834 to Daniel L. Zook and Catherine Snyder. His great-grandfather, Johannes Zug, was one of the three founding brothers of the Zook/Zug family who arrived from Germany by way of Rotterdam, Holland, in Philadelphia in 1742. He was also a great-grandson of the Bishop Jacob Mast (1738-1808), who was the 2nd Amish Mennonite Bishop in America and also provided public service to the Revolution in Pennsylvania.

His brother, Azariah Mast Zook, was a private in the 2nd Pennsylvania Calvary and died of typhoid fever soon after Antietam at Hairwood Hospital, Washington, D. C., in Oct 1862. His brother Josiah was married to the sister of Lt Cyrus Eckert of Company C 79th PVI. Also, his sister Elmira was married to the brother of Lt Cyrus Eckert. Daniel was a second cousin of Brevet Maj. Gen. Samuel K. Zook, US Volunteers, who was killed on the second day of the Gettysburg Campaign.

Before the war, Daniel lived with his family in the Intercourse area of Lancaster County. His father died two years after his birth, and Daniel was likely raised with the help of his older siblings. By 1850, he was known to be a laborer in the Leacock Township area, and was listed as a Butcher in Newville, Lancaste, prior to the war in 1860. He was wed to Susan (Susanna) Harsh in Sept 1858 by the Rev. J. J. Strine. They had at least three daughters between 1858-1862. What became of Susan is still a mystery; all research indicates she passed away during the war.

Zook enrolled at the age of 27 as a Private with the 79th on the 18th of Sept 1861 in Lancaster County and was assigned to Captain Whiteside's Company, later known as Company I. By March of 1862, Daniel would be a corporal with the regiment, during the time they were moving from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Nashville, Tennessee. A Lancaster Examiner and Herald news story from the 15 Oct 1862, days after the Battle of Perryville, listed Daniel as a corporal and the Regimental Butcher. Daniel would continue to serve as a corporal until the veteran furlough re-enlistment period in Feb 1864 in Chattanooga TN.

Daniel re-enlisted as a sergeant, and coincidently his Veteran Volunteer Enlistment papers were signed by his brother-in-law, Lt Cyrus Eckert, as recruiter. Daniel served as sergeant for the remainder of the year; presumably he participated in most engagements. On January 21, 1865, he was made a 1st Sgt during the Campaign of the Carolinas. Daniel received one final promotion, that of Second Lieutenant on April 23 1865. The promotion was by the order of Capt. Samuel Nixdorf while in Martha's Vineyard, NC. In a matter of days the 79th would see the surrender of Johnston and his army and soon would be joyful participants in the Grand Review in Washington.

(New Holland Clarion, 1/19/1878)

Like many men, Daniel returned home to many parades and community dinners. Daniel returned to the profession of butcher in Lancaster after the war. He was working and living in the southern end of the city near the Woodward Cemetery in 1866. In March of 1870 Daniel had an accident while searching for his escaped team of horses in Leahman Place. While walking in the dark in searching for his horses he stepped through the bridge between Gordonville and Leahman Place and badly injured his leg. It was feared at the time that his leg may need to be amputated, it is unknown if it ever was. The 1870 census list him as a painter in Gap living with his brother Josiah and their aging mother. He spent the next decade as a laborer in the Leacock area. He was again the topic of news in January 1878 for chasing off a chicken thief from his employer's hotel and bar in Intercourse, the former Cross Keys Tavern then operated by Jacob Rutter. Daniel was listed as working for Rutter at late as 1880.

Daniel passed away in May 1883 at the young age of 45. His mother would pass 8 years later and be laid to rest next to him at the Intercourse United Methodist Church, which she was a founding member. Daniel passed away before he could apply for his pension, so much of his history is dependent solely on his service records. His three daughters married members of the Beamesderfer, Eckert, and Price families. Any records, correspondences, and stories that his family may have had are not know to exists. Daniel is know to not be an original member of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, but his descendants are all eligible. Daniel is known to have at least 15 grandchildren, some of his descendants are members of the Lupinetti, Smaltz, Trautman, Gravatti, Schafebook, Plasterer, and Hauser families. Anyone who descends from Daniel Zook is welcome to contact the author, Joel Rodgers, to provide or receive information.

Gravestones of Lt. Daniel A. Zook and his mother
Intercourse United Methodist Cemetery (Photo by Joel Rodgers)

Sources:

• "Zug/Zuck/Zouck/Zook Genealogy" (Baltimore: Gateway Press, 2009)
• "Mast Family History" C.Z. Mast
• Zook, Daniel A; NARA Service Record