Name/Title
Fleischer family: William C. (Bill) and Lizzie (Johnson) Fleischer, 1880s settlers, Bohnsack Township, Traill County, DTEntry/Object ID
2025.20.1Description
This family history folder describes the lives of William C. (Bill) and Lizzie (Johnson) Fleischer who homesteaded in Bohnsack Township in Traill County in the early 1880s. William Charles (Bill) Fleischer (photo, left) was born on 29 August 1862 in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin to parents Charles William (CW) and Ernestina (Bohnsack) Fleischer. CW and Ernestina Homesteaded in Bohnsack Township in 1879 (see TCHS Catalogit Family History entry 2025.12.1).
From profiles in Jackie (Ausk) Baumgartner's "Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree", a Public Member Tree in Ancestry.com, we know that Bill Fleischer was the second of six children born to CW and Ernestina Fleischer. Bill Fleischer was first raised on a farm in Wisconsin, but his family later moved to Ohio and then Minnesota before homesteading in Bohnsack Township in 1879. In the 1870 US Census, Wm Fleischer was 7 years old and he was with his family in Redwood Falls, MN, where his father operated a Mill.
As a young in his late teens and early twenties, William (Wm or Bill) Fleischer soon claimed and farmed lands in the SE Qtr. of Sect. 22, the SW Qtr. of Sect. 26, and the NW Qtr. of Sect. 36 in Bohnsack Township [see 1892 plat map, below]. Note that Wm Fleischer's land was located near the home farm in the N-half of Sect. 26, which by 1892 was owned by his mother, Mrs. Ernestina (Bohnsack) Fleischer, as her husband, CW Fleischer, had gone to mine gold in Helena, MT (see TCHS Catalogit Family History entry 2025.12.1).
On 14 March 1889, William Charles Fleischer, age 26, married Lisa Oliane (Lizzie) Johnson, age 21, of Hillsboro at the home of William's mother, Mrs. CW Fleischer, in Bohnsack Township [news, Hillsboro Banner, 22 Mar. 1889]. Lizzie Johnson was born on 12 January 1868.
Wm and Lizzie Fleischer had six children, one boy, Chas William Fleischer, and five girls, Clara, Grace, Mabel, Helen and Wilma Fleischer [family tree, below]. Their lives are briefly described below, but for details, explore their profiles in Jackie Baumgartner's Ancestry.com Public Member Tree titled: Ackerman/Kneip/Fleischer/Hagen Family Tree.
For about ten years after they married, Wm and Lizzie Fleischer farmed their land and raised their children at their homestead in the SW Qtr. of Section 26 [see 1892 Plat map, below]. But on 2 September 1899, William Charles Fleischer died unexpectedly, age 37, at the home of his mother, Ernestina (Bohnsack) Fleischer in Bohnsack Township [obit, below, Hillsboro Banner, 8 September 1899].
Five years after her husband's passing in 1899, in December 1905, Lizzie (Johnson) Fleischer, age 36, married Bohnsack Township neighbor, Christopher (Chris) Krohn, age 36 [news, Hillsboro Banner, 29 Dec. 1905]. Chris Krohn was born on 15 September 1869 in Norway. Chris and Lizzie not only raised her six children with Wm Fleischer, but they had three children: Hannah Bolitta Krohn (b. 20 Feb. 1906; m. Harry Ludwig; d. age 94, 21 Mar. 2000), Alice Pearl Krohn (b. 20 Sep. 1908; m. Walter Bohnsack; d. age 84, 16 May 1993), and John Oliver Krohn (b. 24 Jun. 1911; m. Virginia Gardner; d. age 92, 27 Jan. 2004).
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's first daughter, Clara, was born on 13 Dec 1889 on her parent's farm in Bohnsack Township, where she was raised. Clara was baptized in 1890 at St John Lutheran Church located in Bohnsack Township. At age 24, Clara Fleischer married Conrad Griesbach, age 26, at the Chris Krohn home in Bohnsack Township. Clara lived to the age of 55, passing away on 20 March 1945.
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's second daughter Grace was born on 4 August 1891 in Bohnsack Township on her parent's farm where she was raised. Grace Fleischer married David Dally on 21 December 1911. Grace lived to the age of 79, passing away on 15 September 1970 at her home in Stutsman County, ND. Grace was interred at the Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Jamestown, ND.
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's only son, Charles William (Chas) Fleischer was born on 7 January 1893 on the family farm in Bohnsack Township in Traill County, where he was raised. Chas did not marry and at the time his death on 22 May 1931, at age 38, he resided in San Francisco, California. Chas was interred back at Riverside Cemetery in Hillsboro, ND.
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's third daughter, Mabel Lillian Fleischer, was born on 10 May 1895 in Hillsboro, ND. Mabel was raised on her parent's farm in Bohnsack Township. At age 19, Mabel Lilliam Fleischer married Mellius Manger, age 25, of Traill County in 1914. Mabel only lived to the age of 37, passing away on 19 January 1933 in Fargo, ND.
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's fourth daughter, Helen, was born on 7 May 1898 in Bohnsack Township. As noted above, Helen's father William Fleischer died in 1899 when she was only one, and her mother Lizzie (Johnson) Fleischer had married Chris Krohn and they lived in McIntosh, Minnesota. On 25 June 1905, at age 7, Helen was baptized into Trinity Lutheran Church in McIntosh [ELCA Church Rec.]. At the age of 22, Helen Fleischer married Torbjorn H. Olsen, age 26, by a Minister in Chinook, Blaine County, Montana [MT Marriage Certif.]. Helen lived to the age of 90, passing away on 22 October 1988 in Hillsboro, where she was interred in Cemetery No. 1.
Bill and Lizzie Fleischer's fifth daughter and last child, Wilma Fleischer, was born in Bohnsack Township on 3 December 1899, about two months after her father William Fleischer died on 2 September 1899. After her mother, Lizzie (Johnson) Fleischer married Chris Krohn in about 1905, Wilma lived with her family in McIntosh County, Minnesota. At age 5, Wilma was baptized on 25 June 1905 into Trinity Lutheran Church in McIntosh [ELCA Church Rec.]. At age 20, on 18 December 1920, Wilma Fleischer married Lester A. Peterson, age 19, of Bohnsack Township. Lester was born on 22 March 1901 in Traill County. Lester and Wilma farmed some of the original land owned by Wilma's father, William Fleischer [compare the 1892 plat map with the 1952 plat map]. Lester's brother, Dale C. Peterson farmed nearby. Wilma lived to the grand age of 97, passing away on 29 September 1997 at the hospital in Hillsboro. Wilma was interred at the Riverside Cemetery in Hillsboro.
Lizzie (Johnson-Fleischer) Krohn and her husband Chris Krohn farmed in Bohnsack Township for many years [1915 ND Census, 1920 & 1930 US Census]. On 2 April 1931, Chris O. Krohn passed away, age 61, on the farm in Bohnsack Township, and was interred in Cemetery No. 1 in Hillsboro [US FaG grave-marker, below]. Lizzie Krohn lived another 8 years, passing away on 22 July 1939, and was buried next to Chris in Cemetery No. 1 in Hillsboro [US FaG grave-marker, below].Acquisition
Accession
2025.20Source or Donor
Jackie (Ausk) BaumgartnerLocation
* Untyped Location
Resource RoomBuilding
Plummer House
