Name/Title
Bohnsack family: Ernestina Sophia Bohnsack (Mrs. CW Fleischer), pioneer of Bohnsack Township, Traill County, DTEntry/Object ID
2025.19.1Description
This family history file folder contains numerous images and documents about the lives Ernestina Bohnsack (photo, left) and her husband, Charles William (CW) Fleischer. As briefly described on page 96 in the Grandin Centennial (1881-1981) book (below), Ernestina Bohnsack and CW Fleischer met in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin and married on 8 April 1858 and settled in Lansing, Minnesota, where CW operated a mill.
In 1878, CW Fleischer travelled from Lansing with Ernestina's brother, Johan Bohnsack, and nephew, William Bohnsack, to Traill County, Dakota Territory [info courtesy 1939 autobiography, William Bohnsack; see TCHS Catalogit entry 2023.359.1]. CW, Johan, and William crossed the Red River on a ferry at Hendrum, MN, and travelled up the Elm River. They staked land claims in what became known as Bohnsack Township in Traill County. They returned to Hendrum, and then to Moorhead, MN, and crossed the Red River to Fargo, DT, where they filed their claims at the Lands Office.
In 1879, CW Fleischer returned to his land claim in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, DT, with his wife Ernestina and family [page 96, below, from Grandin Centennial, 1881-1981, book]. CW had established a homestead located six miles west and two miles north of Grandin, ND [NE Qtr, Sect. 26, Bohnsack Township, 1892 Plat map, below]. Note that CW and Ernestina's son, Wm (Bill) Fleischer also owner land nearby in Sections 22 and 26.
As noted on page 96 in the Grandin Centennial book, after four years, CW went off to mine gold by Helena, Montana. He never returned. Although CW wrote letters to Ernestina in the late 1880s and early 1890s [see TCHS Catalogit entry 2025-12.1], by 1892 Ernestina (Bohnsack) Fleischer had taken ownership of the farm in Section 26 [see 1892 plat map]. CW Fleischer died in 1911 and was buried by Helena, MT.
After her husband CW Fleischer left the homestead in 1882 or 1883, Ernestina operated the farm with help from her older children, boys Charlie and Bill Fleischer and daughters, Molly and Anna Fleischer. From the 1892 Plat map, below, we know that Ernestina's son, Wm (Bill) Fleischer owned land in Sections 22 and 26. Bill Fleischer married Lizzie Johnson in 1889. They had six children on their Bohnsack Township farm: Clara, Grace, Chas Mabel, Helen and Wilma Fleischer. Their daughter Wilma married Lester Peterson, and they farmed Bill and Lizzie's land when they retired [see 1952 plat map, below]. Note that by 1952, Ernestina's two youngest children, Tillie and George Fleischer, farmed the homestead located in the NE Qtr. of Sect. 26.
Ernestina (Bohnsack) Fleischer passed away, age 87, on 1 August 1926 on her farm in Bohnsack Township [ND Death Certificate]. From information on her Death Certificate provided by Ernestina's daughter, Tillie Fleischer, Ernestina was "widowed" and a "Farmer" in Traill County for 47 years, that is, since 1879. Ernestina was interred in Riverside Cemetery by Hillsboro, ND [US FaG grave-marker, below].Acquisition
Accession
2025.19Source or Donor
Brian BohnsackLocation
* Untyped Location
Resource RoomBuilding
Plummer House
