One of my cousins is in possession of an old family bible (in German) that lists several generations of Koberstein marriages. We also have a copy of my grandparents' North Dakota land grant, signed by Teddy Roosevelt. I am attempting to obtain a photocopy of the bible marriage list, and when I do, I'll share the info with you.

One of my chief interests in learning more about the family history is to find why our branch in the States seemed to lose all contact with the Kobersteins who remained in Germany. Apparently, there was correspondence up to WWII, but nothing afterwards. Perhaps the war scattered the family or, I fear, worse. You asked whether I live in Germany. I don't, but I visit there infrequntly on business. One time, after flying into Frankfurt early on a Sunday, I took the train to Cologne. On the way, the train stopped in Koblenz, and I looked out the window to see a family saying their farewells to someone getting on. Then, an older woman in the group turned and noticed me. I was just thinking that she looked exactly like my father's twin sister Emma, when walked right over to my window and pointed me out to her family. She gestured something about my facila features and stared at me in apparent amazement. At that moment the train pulled away, leaving me with goosebumps.

I mentioned that the Cologne phonebook contains no Kobersteins but several pages of listings for "Kober." I have the strong feeling that having even a Jewish-SOUNDING name in Nazi Germany was not healthy. I suspect that many if not all of those Kobers are actually Kobersteins who dropped the "stein" to avoid any such "confusion." Just a theory, but one I hope to pursue further. Enough banter for now. I'll send you a fresh messgage next time fso we don't pile up any more "replies." Hope this all adds to your information cache.  WK.

From: Terry Koberstein <KOBERSTEIN@compuserve.com> at INTERNETPO Date: 6/30/99 10:36 PM

Could the Ernst you mention be the same one that I have listed in Nebraska.   Did he end up there. His information is: Ernst Wilhelm KOBERSTEIN was born 1 Jun 1851 in Lansberg, Germany. He died 1933 in Hastings, Nebraska. The brothers listed are Henry, Gustav, and Albert. His parents were H Karl  KOBERSTEIN who was born about 1820 and Minnie Mary FRICKA.  You mention that August was your grandfather and there was also an August that was your great uncle. Does this mean that they were brothers?

Message text written by Wayne Koberstein

>August was my grandfather. Carl and Ida were their children, the first of 12.  The name August and Gustave appear often in my family. August is my father's name, as it was my great uncle's, a Koberstein who with his brother Ernst had all kinds of adventures on the West Coast as young men in the late 1800s.  They worked on schooners and canneries from San Francisco to Alaska, as well as with mule teams on mining wagons near Shanico in Eastern Oregon. "Uncle August" was a deaf-mute, a snappy dresser with great appeal to the ladies, according to my dad. Ernst was a grizzled old character when I knew him as a kid in Corvallis.  He owned a house near the OSU campus and refused to sell to the university for years until he died, when I was about 13.

I could see Wisconsin and Oregon appealing to Germans, but the appeal of North Dakota was apparently free land for my grandparents, then just a young married couple. They left their parents and families behind in the lush hills of Oregon to settle on the midwestern sod. It was great life while it lasted; my dad has never stopped talking about his childhood on the farm. But dust and the depression brought it all to an end and drove the entire family back to Oregon.  There they found work and a stable life in town. (My mother had a similar experience with her Norwegian family from South Dakota.) Years later, in the 70s, my parents could not understand why I wanted to move back to the country, which they associated with the hard life they had escaped.  I'll send more info as time allows. Hope this helps match up more pieces of the Koberstein puzzle. Thanks.<

I could see Wisconsin and Oregon appealing to Germans, but the appeal of North Dakota was apparently free land for my grandparents, then just a young married couple. They left their parents and families behind in the lush hills of Oregon to settle on the midwestern sod. It was great life while it lasted; my dad has never stopped talking about his childhood on the farm. But dust and the depression brought it all to an end and drove the entire family back to Oregon.  There they found work and a stable life in town. (My mother had a similar experience with her Norwegian family from South Dakota.) Years later, in the 70s, my parents could not understand why I wanted to move back to the country, which they associated with the hard life they had escaped.

I'll send more info as time allows. Hope this helps match up more pieces of the Koberstein puzzle. Thanks. WK.

Subject: Re: More Kobersteins

From: Terry Koberstein <KOBERSTEIN@compuserve.com> at INTERNETPO

Date: 6/29/99 6:39 PM

Message text written by Wayne Koberstein

>Enjoy your Koberstein site. My father's family stems from the Cologne/Koblenz area, with other roots in Strausburg. Grandparents immigrated to Oregon as teenagers in the 1880s. (My great-grandfather thought Oregon's Willamette Valley a dead ringer for the Rhein Valley.)  Married there and then took on a land grant from Teddy Roosevelt in North Dakota. Many people, here and in Germany, have asked me through the years if the name is Jewish (ala' Rubenstein, Einstein, and the like.) Do you have any insight into that? I would like to make more of a contribution now but must wait until I get a few more facts straight. Incidentally, I've seen one Koberstein in the Berlin phonebook, but none in Cologne's. Two pages of "Kober" however. Regards,<

I am very interested in your information on your Koberstein family. It is funny that your family came to Oregon then ended up in the mid west (North Dakota) and my family immigrated first to the mid west (Wisconsin) but ended up in Oregon. Did you notice the North Dakota information at my web site:

Morton County, North Dakota

Recently I found entries for Carl Koberstein (1906 - 1914) and Ida Koberstein (1910 - 1927) in the St. John UCC Cemetery at Hebron, Morton county, North Dakota. I ordered the death records to see if I could get more information.  The record for Carl Koberstein was not found, however the record for Ida was found with a birth date of April 11, 1910 and a death date of February 10, 1927 at Bismark, Burleigh, North Dakota.  The father is listed as A. G. Koberstein (born in Germany) and mothers maiden name as Hartman (born in Germany).  It is probable that the father is the August Koberstein listed for the adjacent county of Burleigh.  Given this information is probable that Carl is a child of August also.

Burleigh county, North Dakota

Recently I found Naturalization records for August Koberstein, who was from Germany and took out his first papers on August 27, 1897 (Volume D-3, Page 141) and his second papers on September 28, 1903 (Volume F-13, Page 010).  I have ordered the original papers to see if there is more information.  Based on death record for Ida Koberstein of Morton county, it is probable that she and Carl Koberstien are children of August Koberstein and wife nee Hartman.  They must have lived in Hebron, Morton county, but the nearest hospital and place to register naturalization was across the river in Bismark, Burleigh county, North Dakota.

Wayne Koberstein

wkoberstein@advanstar.com