Name/Title
Fleischer family: Charles William (Charlie) and Maria (Stephan) Fleischer, 1879 pioneers in Bohnsack Township, Traill County, NTEntry/Object ID
2022.358.1Description
This family history file folder contains numerous images and documents about the lives of Charles William (Charlie) Fleischer and his wife, Maria (Stephan) Fleischer (photo, left), who in 1879 were pioneering settlers in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, ND (also see Catalogit Family History entry 2025.12.1).
In July 2002, Mrs. Nysveen of the TCHS received a letter from Karen (Fleischer) Ackerman, who grew up in Traill County, about her great grandparents, Charlie and Maria Fleischer. Karen described how Charles William (Charlie) Fleischer and Maria (or Mary) Stephan married on 5 March 1884 in Greenbush, Wisconsin, and settled on a farmstead in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, where Charlie's father, Charles William (CW) Fleischer had first claimed land in 1878 and settled there in 1879 with his family, including Charlie, and along with his uncle Johan Bohnsack and first cousins Philip, Charles and William Bohnsack (see their family history entries). Karen described how Charlie Fleischer died in 1888 and Mary (Stephan) Fleicher married Gustav Herman Kruger (photo, below) on 17 November 1889 at St John Lutheran Church, then located in Bohnsack Township. Karen (Fleischer) Ackerman had researched and compiled photographs and documents on her ancestors before her untimely passing, age 75, on 11 March 2020.
In 2025, Karen (Fleischer) Ackerman's granddaughter, Jackie (Ausk) Baumgartner, began the process of contributing Karen's family history images and documents to the TCHS, as well as providing additional information, such as in her Ancestry.com Public Member "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree".
From Jackie's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree", we know that Charles William (Charlie) Fleischer was one of seven children born to Charles William (CW) Fleischer Sr. and Ernestina Bohnsack (see TCHS Catalogit entry 2025.12.1). Charlie Fleischer was born on 8 Jun 1859 in Joliet in Will County, Illinois, where his parents had established a home after marrying in 1858 in Joliet; CW Fleischer had arrived there from Germany in 1855 and Ernestina Bohnsack had arrived from Germany in 1854.
From profiles in Jackie's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree", we know that in the 1860s, CW and Ernestina Fleischer and family moved to Wisconsin, but by 1870 [US Census] they had established a home in Redwood Falls, Minnesota. Then, as noted above, as a young man, Charlie Fleischer helped his parents establish a homestead in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, Dakota Territory. Then on 5 March 1884, Charlie Fleischer married Maria (or Mary) Stephan in Greenbush, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. Charlie and Mary returned to a homestead the Charlie had established in Bohnsack Township. Mary Stephan was born on 7 January 1863 in the State of New York before moving to Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, with her parents and siblings, where Mary Stephan met and married Charlie Fleischer.
Charlie and Mary (Stephan) Fleischer had two sons, Harry and Frank. Harry William Fleischer (photo, below) was born on 27 December 1884 at the home farm in Bohnsack Township, where he was raised and schooled. From profiles in Jackie Baumgartner's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree", we know that after his father, Charlie Fleischer, died in 1888, Harry was raised by his mother, Mary, and stepfather, Gustav Kruger. In 1898, Harry Fleischer was confirmed in St John Lutheran Church, at that time located in Bohnsack Township (later located in Hillsboro, ND).
On 17 January 1907, Harry William Fleischer married Mary Amelia Hertwig at Leaf Valley in Douglas County, MN. Harry and Mary farmed near Gardner in Cass County, ND, where they raised six children, Walter (Walt), Edward (Ed), Herbert (Herb) Bernardt (Bennie), Clarence and Harriet Fleischer (for additional information on these six children, see profiles in Jackie Baumgartner's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree", an Ancestry.com Public Member Tree). Harry and Mary (Hertwig) Fleischer's granddaughter, Karen (Fleischer) Ackerman collected family photographs over the years and also researched her family history. Karen's family photographs have been complied into a photobook by her granddaughter, Jackie (Ausk) Baumgartner (cover, below). This photobook is available for viewing in a "Fleischer, Charlie" manila-folder on the family history shelf at the TCHS Plummer House Museum in Hillsboro, ND.
Charlie and Mary Fleischer's second son, Frank J. Fleischer (photo, below), was born on 1 June 1887 on the family farm in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, DT. Frank was only a one-year-old when his father, Charlie Fleischer, died in 1888 (profile information, Jackie Baumgartner's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree"). Frank was raised on a farm by his mother, Mary, and stepfather, Gustav Kruger. In early 1910, Frank Fleischer came to Alexandria, Minnesota, with his parents, where he unexpectedly died at age 22 on 4 April 1910 [obit, Alexandria Post News, 7 April 1910].
As noted above, Charlie William Fleischer died on 11 November 1888 at the age of only 29 [US Find-a-Grave]. He was interred at a community cemetery near Grandin, ND.
Also, as noted above, after Charlie Fleischer passed in 1888, Mary (Stephan) Fleischer married Gustav Herman Kruger on 17 November 1889 in Bohnsack Township. Gustav and Mary had a son, Albert Herman Kruger on 9 June 1894, who they raised, along with Harry and Frank Fleischer, on the family farm in Bohnsack Township.
Mary (Stephan Fleischer) Kruger passed away, age 80, on 4 January 1944 in Becker County, MN., where she was interred in the Lakeside Cemetery. Gustav Kruger lived to the age of 95, passing on 8 August 1956. He was interred at Lakeside Cemtery in Becker County, MN.Cataloged By
John (Jack) LudwigAcquisition
Accession
2022.358Source or Donor
Karen (Fleischer) AckermanLocation
Location
* Untyped Location
Resource RoomBuilding
Plummer HouseCategory
Exhibit
