Ferdinand Zoellner of the firm of Tacke & Zoellner, of Muehlhime, Perry Co., Mo., was born in Cape Girardeau County, Mo., in 1862. He is the youngest son of Ferdinand and Nettie (Dollie) Zoellner, both of whom are natives of Langenholdhousen, Prussia, born in 1808 and 1820 respectively.

Ferdinand Zoellner, Sr. was educated in the fatherland, and his mother being left a widow, his youth was spent in helping to do the farm work. When twenty-one years of age he was drafted into the German army, and served four years. For sometime he was engaged in digging ore from the copper mines of Germany.

In 1839 he came to America, landing at Baltimore in October, after a fourteen weeks' voyage. He came from Maryland to Cape Girardeau County where he purchased land, which he immediately began improving.

In 1840 he married Nettie Dotle, who came with her parents to America on the same ship as her husband. Their union was blessed by the birth of five children: Henry, Lizzette (the deceased wife of Adolph Tacke), Gustave, Tilda and Ferdinand. The last named was educated in the public schools, and at the age of twenty-two years engaged in the mercantile business at which he has been very successful. In politics he is a stanch Republican, having cast his first vote for Blaine.

The Goodspeed Publishing Company compiled a series of histories of various counties in the U.S. in the late 19th century. The information in the History of Southeast Missouri, published in 1888, was provided by the contemporary residents of Perry County and her neighboring counties. The biographies are a valuable source of genealogical information, despite a few minor inaccuracies. We are glad to present the transcribed biographies here for anyone researching Perry County's history.