1.
August Gustav KOBERSTEIN Senior
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.
E-mail from Wayne Koberstein dated June 2, 1999.
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.
E-mail from Wayne Koberstein dated July 6, 1999.
No, my great uncle Ernst, though born in Germany, lived to a ripe old age and died in Corvallis, Oregon in the late 1950s. He was my grandfather's brother. The answer to your other question is interesting: My great uncle August was named August Gustav and my grandfather Gustav August. Their father, my great grandfather, was also named August. My grandfather didn't like the name Gustav so he went by August as well. So, indeed, the two brothers both had the same name. My mother tells me that, when my older brother Gary was born, my father (August) wanted to name the baby August, too. But my Mother put her foot down and said, "No, that's the end of August!"
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.
Imentioned 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 so we don't pile up any more "replies." Hope this all adds to your information cache.
WK.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Subject: Re: Re[2]: More Kobersteins
From: Terry Koberstein 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?
Terry L. Koberstein
e-mail: koberstein@compuserve.com
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.<
Patentee: AUGUST G KOBERSTEIN
Survey
State: NORTH DAKOTA
Acres: 145.98
Metes/Bounds: No
Title Transfer
Issue Date: 9/16/1904
Land Office: Montana State Office
Cancelled: No
U.S. Reservations: Yes
Mineral Reservations: No
Authority: May 20, 1862: Homestead EntryOriginal (12 Stat. 392)
Document Numbers
Document Nr.: 6377
Accession/Serial Nr.: NDMTAA 061631
BLM Serial Nr.: NDMTAA 061631
Note: This record has not been checked against the Legal Land Patent. We don't have an electronic image for this document.
Aliquot Sec./ Fract. Survey
Parts Block Township Range Section Meridian State Counties Nr.
E½SE 30/ 140-N 89-W No 5th PM ND Morton
3 30/ 140-N 89-W No 5th PM ND Morton
Remarks: LOT 3 OR NWSW QUARTER
4 30/ 140-N 89-W No 5th PM ND Morton
Remarks: LOT 4 OR SWSW QUARTER
Note: Legal land descriptions can be used to help find the precise location of the land. For more information, please see our description of the Rectangular Survey System
8.
Ernest Hermann R KOBERSTEIN
Name: Anna Quetschke
Age in 1910: 19
Estimated birth year: abt 1891
Birthplace: Kansas
Home in 1910: Twp 140 Range 90, Morton, North Dakota
Neighbors: View Results
Race: White
Gender: Female
Series: T624
Roll: 1144
Part: 2
Page: 337B
Year: 1910
She is listed as a servant to the Gustav and Christina Koberstein Family in Morton County, North Dakota.
This would have given Ernest a great opportunity to get to know this 19 year old girl and grow in love.
Social Security Death Index
Name: Anna Quetschke
SSN: 320-56-2926
Last Residence: 60452 Oak Forest, Cook, Illinois, United States of America
Born: 25 Nov 1891
Died: Jun 1978
State (Year) SSN issued: Illinois (1973 )
This is confusing as my records show she died 9 Nov 1921 in Benton County, Oregon. But the birth year fits my Quetscke.
Need to figure this one out.
Anna family in 1910 census attached. Note Illinois birth location for younger children, which may be part of above issue.
Found on http://homepages.utoledo.edu/spawlow/eng/grpf305.html
Husband: Ernest Koberstein
Born:
Married: 1912
Died:
Father:
Mother:
Spouses:
Wife: Annie C. Quetschke
Born: 14 AUG 1890
in Burlingame, Kansas
Died: 1917
Father: William Ben Quetschke
Mother: Wilhelmina (meier) Meyer
Spouses:
and the whole family
Husband: William Ben Quetschke
Born: 17 JUN 1857
in Germany
Married:
Died:
Father:
Mother:
Spouses:
Wife: Wilhelmina (meier) Meyer
Born: 21 FEB 1863
in Dortmund, Germany
Died: 17 JAN 1927
in Philomath, Benton County, Oregon
Father:
Mother:
Spouses:
Children
01 (F): Charlotte Lottie Quetschke
Born: 28 AUG 1895
in Burlingame, Kansas
Died: 29 NOV 1977
in Benton County, Oregon
Spouses: Erb L. Kisor
02 (M): John Quetschke
Born: 19 OCT 1887
in Burlingame, Kansas
Died: 04 AUG 1969
in Philomath, Benton County, Oregon
Spouses: Julia Schweitz
03 (F): Rudolph Quetschke
Born: 28 MAR 1902
in Toluca, Illinois
Died: 06 JUN 1950
in Oregon
Spouses:
04 (M): William (Jr.) Quetschke
Born: 24 APR 1898
in Elgin, Illinois
Died: 06 APR 1980
in Oregon
Spouses: Estella Belle Dutton
05 (F): Lena Quetschke
Born: 20 JUN 1886
in Burlinggame, Kansas
Died: 1919
Spouses: William Schröder
06 (F): Annie C. Quetschke
Born: 14 AUG 1890
in Burlingame, Kansas
Died: 1917
Spouses: Ernest Koberstein
07 (F): Julie Quetschke
Born: 10 OCT 1891
in Burlingame, Kansas
Died:
Spouses:
08 (M): Henry Quetschke
Born: 25 FEB 1900
Died: 07 JUN 1931
Spouses: