John R. Zook was born in Mifflin County, PA in 1842, as was his wife Malinda Hertzler.  The couple was of Amish-Mennonite heritage and was supported by John’s work as a carpenter.  They moved across Pennsylvania and settled in Neshannock Falls, PA.  (The house they built is on present day McCreary road and is currently owned by the Amish family of Wally and Margaret Byler).  They were influential members of the Maple Grove Mennonite Church and raised all nine of their children in the church.

            John and Malinda’s first child was a son who was not named; he was born and died on March 4, 1865.  He was buried in the Amish Cemetery in New Wilmington.  Their first daughter was born on April 30, 1866 and was named Anna Fannie, although most just called her “Aunt Fannie”.  Fannie never married and stayed in the Neshannock Falls area her entire life.  She was remembered in the history of Maple Grove Mennonite Church as a good German teacher.  Towards the end of her life, Fannie was living in a house on Fayette-Neshannock Falls Road (the house that is commonly known as “the Powell Place”, but has most recently been owned by the Sutton family).  She was elderly and living alone, so her youngest brother, Andy Zook, made it a point to watch out for her and make sure that she was okay.  One day just before Christmas in 1934 several Amish neighbors told the family that they had not seen Aunt Fannie around the yard in a few days.  The family sent Sarah Zook (Andy’s daughter-in-law, who was married to Lester and living in Fayette) to check on her aging aunt.  Sarah found Fannie dead in her rocking chair.  Her date of death is given as December 20, 1934.  She was also buried in the Amish Cemetery.

            Margaret E. Zook was born next, on January 7, 1868.  She died just before her second birthday on December 28, 1870 and was buried in the Amish Cemetery.  The next child was another son, Charles E.  Charles was born on October 11, 1869 and only lived to be 12 years old.  He died on July 28, 1881 and was buried near his brother and sister.

            Mary Amy Zook was born on September 4, 1871.  Mary Amy married James A. Cummings in 1889.  They had five children.  Ralph Cummings was born in 1891 in Neshannock Falls.  He married Emma Bowers from Princeton, PA and had two children.  Ralph was a farmer and a member of the Eastbrook United Presbyterian Church, where he and his wife are buried.  Mary Amy’s next child was Edna Mae, born in 1892.  Edna married Levi Harrison Pitts, a chemist from Mount Jackson.  They had six children.  Edna and Levi are buried at the Mount Jackson Methodist Cemetery.  Their brother, Laverne Cummings, was born in 1894.  Laverne’s nickname was “Fritz” and he never married.  He fought in WWI and was living at the PA Soldiers and Sailors Home in Erie, PA when he died in 1984.  He was buried in their cemetery.  George Moore Cummings was born to Mary Amy and James while they lived in New Wilmington in 1896.  George married Florence Moyer in 1922 and they moved to Washington, DC, where George worked as an ice cream manufacturer.  They had no children.  George was found unconscious at the ice cream factory in 1938 and all efforts to revive him failed.  He died at Mt. Alto Hospital from the toxic gas fumes that had knocked him unconscious.  The youngest child of Mary Amy and James was Harry Raymond, born in 1903.  Harry never married and died in 1982 in Paisley, FL.  After their children were all born, James and Mary Amy moved to Mount Jackson, PA.  Mary Amy died in 1915, and James in 1931.  They are buried in Mount Jackson.

            Elijah Yoder Zook was the first of John and Malinda’s sons to survive childhood.  He was born on August 7, 1873 and married Mary Maurer Stahly in 1900.  Mary had one son, Clarence, from her previous marriage.  They moved to Illinois and Elijah and Mary had two children of their own, named Lester and Edith.  The family attended the Carlock Mennonite Church.  Lester was born in 1902 and later lived in Jackson, Mississippi and Phoenix, AZ.  Edith was born in 1910 and was married to Frank Rapp.  The couple lived in Joliet, Illinois.  They had three children.  Mary was sick for six years before she died in the couple’s home in 1935.  Elijah died in 1956.  He was living in the Meadows Mennonite Home when he died, and was buried with Mary in the North Danvers Mennonite Cemetery. 

            Hosea Zook was born on September 23, 1875 and died only five days later on September 27^th.  He was buried in the Amish Cemetery.  John C. Zook was born on February 6, 1877.  He worked as a tinner and a roofer and was married twice.  His first wife was Sarah (Sadie) Moose, a sister of Menno and Milo Moose from the Maple Grove Church.  They were married in 1902.  John and Sadie had five children.  Francis Mary was born in 1903 and married Walter Buss.  They had four sons- Walter Jr. (1926), Wayne Leroy (1929), William Bruce (1932) and John Arnold (1940).  Fern Malinda was born in 1905.  She married Boyd Miller and had three children- Barbara Joanne (1934), John Randall (1935) and Marjorie Ruth (birth date unknown).  The family settled in Cortland, OH.  A son, Arthur J., was born to John and Sadie in 1907.  He died on Christmas day in 1922 at the age of 15.  Thurman Zook was born in 1910.  He married Helen Tracey and adopted a set of twins, Larry and Jerri.  Mabel E. was John and Sadie’s last child together.  She was born in 1912 and later married Walter Conn and then don Forrer.  She was had three children-  Gwendolyn Conn (date unknown), Julia Ann Forrer (1948) and Barbara E. Forrer (1951).  Mabel was living in Aurora, Colorado when she died in 1972.

John’s family moved from the Neshannock Falls area to Smithville, OH and attended the Oak Grove Mennonite Church.  Sadie died in 1922 and John remarried in 1926 to Katie Ann Miller of the Smithville area.  They had three daughters.  Alice K. was born in 1927.  She married George Keen, Jr. and had two children- Cynthia Alice (1957) and Thomas (date unknown).  Their family lived in the Wooster, OH area.  Mae E. Zook was born in 1930 and married Henry Fletcher.  Her family lived in San Diego, CA.  She had Rick, Craig, Mark, Robyn and Shawn (all dates unknown).  John’s youngest child was Bernice Zook.  Bernice was born in 1932 and married William Sipe.  They had two children, Julie and Christopher.  John died on May 15, 1960.  He was buried in the Oak Grove Mennonite Cemetery with Sadie.  Katie lived until 1988, and is also buried with John and Sadie.

Andrew H. Zook was born in 1879.  He married Tillie May Kauffman and stayed in Neshannock Falls.  For more on Andy, please click here.

John R. was a respected and influential member of the Maple Grove Mennonite Church.  In his history of Maple Grove Church, Harry B. Kauffman recorded that John R. was ordained to the ministry on May 9, 1878, and as a Bishop on May 24, 1897.   The church was at a crossroads during the time that he was a leader there.  Until this point it had been a traditional Mennonite congregation, with services spoken in German and outsiders generally unwelcome.  John was a proponent of modernizing the church.  He led the movement to begin services in English so that non-German neighbors could join and understand.  He also helped the church to reach out to other Mennonite congregations through joining conferences.  He was a key leader in starting the Sunday School program at Maple Grove to replace the Young People’s Meetings that had previously existed. 

John died on June 14, 1910.  Malinda survived him to die on June 3, 1917.