A "mystery book" about a "mystery man"

A photo from the unnamed book--that didn't name the person in the photo, either!

Moneek was once the largest community within Winneshiek County.  But its prominence was short-lived--by 1850 it had shrunk to a shell of its former self.  Nowadays, there's not so much as a trace of the town that stood a few miles south of Frankville--the town has "disappeared."

That word might also apply to a man who was born in Moneek on November 15th of 1859.  After 40 years living in the community, he, too, disappeared because of his life of crime and "rowdyism" in Winneshiek County.

But before he left, he wrote a book about his life.  That book eventually wound up in the hands of Decorah resident Verne Koenig.  The book didn't have a cover, didn't have the author's name, didn't have much that would tie it to the person who wrote it.

But Koenig, who loves to research the history of Moneek, was hooked.  "I had to find out who he was," he said.

He found clues in the book.  He cross-referenced those clues against records he found in the court system, the US Census, newspapers, legal records and obituaries.

Koenig discovered the man was convicted of grand larceny in 1879 for stealing a horse.  The mystery man later got four years in prison for punching a deputy.  He again returned to court in 1900 to face charges stemming for the theft of items from a junk dealer.

By checking all the records, Koenig finally came up with a name--"Daniel Peter Walker."  After that, his search took him to Waterloo, where he discovered Walker's daughter was still living.  Even she described her father as "a bit of a rounder."

That satisfied Koenig, because after telling the story of his life in the book that made its way into Koenig's hands, the author concluded, "I have been entirely successful at being a failure."