The family tree of the Ziebarth-Fechner and Weier-Zebart forebears has now been structured as completely as possible without professional help. We have, over the years, accumulated an amazing amount of detailed and accurate information regarding these two family lines; far more than we could have dreamed of as being possible, when first the project was begun. Out main point of focus has been the relationship of all these persons to the Emerado Seebarts. However, as the search was intensified, we have gathered much detailed information about almost all of their relatives, Again, I pay tribute to the marvelous memory of my mother and to the research done by brother Ed. It would be splendid, indeed, if if were possible to include much more of hid extended writings, all done in his excellent longhand writing, and included in his 50 pages dealing with the above-stated sub-title. However, there are certain limitations which make this impracticable. (A copy of Ed's book is available to anyone who is interested in further research.) Historically, we have now reached the point where the Ziebarths have left their Minnesota homes and are headed out for the homesteads, tree claims, and pre-emptions of Dakota Territory and, specifically, the areas now embraced by Grand Forks and Nelson Counties. These two areas were tied together by the Fort Totten Trail which was not only the main drag but the only route of travel, outside of the Red River of the North, by which one could journey into the general area of Grand Forks. This trail gets its name from the Fort Totten Indian Reservation in Minnesota. In Grand Forks County particularly, it followed a major beach left by the great Lake Agassiz formed by the colossal ice sheet which covered all of the North American Continent millions of years ago; and which extended into the United States area as far as what we now call the southern states of the united States. These beaches of the retreating lake, composed of sand, gravel and small rock, are very prominent and easily distinguishable in the area west of Grand Forks. The Valley of the Red River of the North was formed by the run-off from the gradually melting glacier which formed Lake Agassiz. Old beaches were high land, and could be travelled with ease at any time of the year. Even the heavy winter snows were apt to be blown off of these hills, thereby helping to keep the trail passable.

Comment: (at this point, I have inserted a free-hand sketch map which shows the approximate course of the Fort Totten Trail in the Grand Forks and Nelson County areas of Dakota.)

The Fort Totten Trail skirted the northeast fringes of the village of Emerado and went right through the back lots of the "Emerado Seebarts" home place. (More details on this later.) Of course, the towns which are indicated on this map, with the exception of Grand Forks, were not there when the Ziebarths came into the Turtle River area in 1878. They are, for the most part, towns which are mentioned in this manuscript. They are indicated here so that the reader may readily refer back to this sketch-map when a question, such as "Now where was that?" arises as he reads. Towns such as Inkster, Fordville, and Parkriver will be of special interest only to the Aptos Seebarts. Most of these towns sprang up as marketing and trading centers following the coming of the railroad. The building of the Great Northern from Grand Forks west to Seattle took place following the year 1881. Gigantic grain elevators were their chief characteristic.

The Migration of the Ziebarths from Minnesota to the Turtle River Area

The exact date of the migration of the "Ziebarth Tribe" from Minnesota to the Turtle River area of northeast Dakota Territory is impossible to determine. Nevertheless, through the harmonizing and comparison of other well established dates and other events, it is possible to now say with assurance that the migration of the family, as a whole, took place in the year 1878. However, it has also been established that the family was preceded by one member, William Henry Ziebarth (twin brother of George Henry Ziebarth), who must have come into the territory in 1876-77. (More on his pioneering is detailed later.) It appears to have been Uncle Will who persuaded the August Ziebarths that there were wonderful opportunities in northeast Dakota Territory. It is not difficult to imagine his enthusiasm about the "free" rich, black, humus soil of the Red River Valley. It is the reasoned conclusion of this writer, that the Ziebarth family left Paynesville, Minnesota, in the early spring 1878. (Paynesville is approximately half-way between Minneapolis, Minnesota and Whapeton, North Dakota.) A Warranty Deed, drawn by John W. Blakeley to August Ziebarth, dated July 9, 1878; and, presumably, covering the 80 acres of August Ziebarth's home place on the Turtle River; is positive proof that they were in Dakota Territory by the summer of 1878. They were six weeks in making the migration. They came by ox-cart and by foot. (There were no horses and few mules in the country at that time.) Uncle Fred, a boy of about 13 years of age at that time, said that his job was to "drive the cattle." He said that he was barefoot and that his feet got almost "unbearably sore." Whether they came up on the Minnesota side or the North Dakota side is uncertain, but the probabilities are: that it was on the Dakota side; for Uncle Fred recalls the rather crude bridge across the Red River of the North at Fargo. It was probably at this point then, that they crossed from Minnesota into "Dakota Territory."

Comment: As I reach this point in the record, it is proper to insert the answer to a question which has plagued the "Emerado Seebarts" for many years; namely, "Did Ella Henrietta Weier, Ma, come to Dakota Territory with the Ziebarths?" The most telling piece of evidence relative to the year of her arrival is her own statement that she "was married to George Henry Ziebarth within a year after her arrival in Dakota Territory." Since Ella Henrietta's first child, George Herbert Ziebarth, was born in August, 1882, she must have been married in 1881; and, if she was married within a year after her arrival at Grand Forks, the probabilities are, that she arrived in Grand Forks in the year 1880. She often spoke of the slow progress of her train, especially to cross Minnesota, because the ground was saturated with water and "there was water standing all along the tracks." It sounds very much like the typical Spring "breakup" of the northern U.S., when the snow melts, the frost comes out of the ground; making it very "spongy," and "there is water everywhere." So, we have to conclude that her trip was made in the Spring of the year; and, in view of the fact that neither brother Ed nor I can recall that Ma ever told us any tales of her experiences in Minnesota; that she and her youngest brother Charlie came from New York to Grand Forks area in the Spring of 1880. If she came by rail to Grand Forks, she did not make the ox-cart trek with the Ziebarths. Her mention of "much water standing along the tracks between Fargo and Grand Forks," indicates that this was the way she came.

The Children of the Charleya August and Louisa (Fechner) Ziebarths

It seems appropriate to list at this point, in what appears to be the correct order of their birth, all the children of the August Ziebarths. Indicated, also, is the place of their birth (and death in some cases) and whether or not they were a part of the Turtle River settlement (many of the exact dates involved have been lost.)

Summarizing: The following children of the August Ziebarths came to the Turtle River area of Dakota Territory in the late 1870's: George Henry, William Henry, Herman, Edward August, Amelia Florence, Mattie Johanna, Frederick Bernard, Gustave August, and Emmett John. (Total: 9 children) A close examination of the above facts and figures appear to justify several important dates and conclusions stated elsewhere in this manuscript, such as: (1) the migration from Germany to America, about 1852; (2) about 12 years spent in the West Sand Lake area, New York; and about 14 years spent in Minnesota; before the migration to "Dakota Territory" took place. The fact that Edward August was the first child born to them in Minnesota, would indicate that Long Prairie, the place of his birth, may have been the point to which they moved after leaving New York. (Notation: Biographical sketches on each one of the Turtle River Ziebarths children will appear at a later point in this manuscript.)

Pioneering in Dakota Territory

Although they came at the end of the 19th Century, the Ziebarths were real PIONEERS. They came to an area of raw, native land; little changed by the Indians, the explorers, the fur traders, and the minute number of early settlers. True, the Fort Totten Trail was there, the buffalo bones and the buffalo chips. Much of the very best of what sparse timber there was along the creeks and rivers had been cut and utilized by those who had come before them; but these persons were in an essentially "new land." They had come with high hopes to get "free land": homesteads, tree-claims and pre-emptions or to buy, on the open market, rich land which could be had for $1.25 to $2.50 an acre. The following is an interesting quotation from Ed's book:

The land in this particular area where the Ziebarths settled was certainly a part of the choicest soil in the whole "Dakota Territory." It was the bottom-land of the great Lake Agassiz; left by the vast glacier of the Ice Age which as we have already stated covered North America and eventually melted and drained off to the north, from this portion of "Dakota Territory" by way of the Red River of the North. The rich black humus soil which the lake had deposited over millions of year was sometimes as much as three or four feet deep, especially in the area along the present rivers.

Reminiscing

As most of us well know, if these pioneer settlers had only an iota of the foresight which characterizes their hind-sight at a later date, every one of them could have been wealthy in their retirement years, and passed in to their children real fortunes. But the forest of difficulties, problems, struggle, hardships and sacrifices loomed so large for most of them that they were overwhelmed, and "could not see the trees for the forest." Life was very, very hard on the frontiers of our nation. There were floods, grasshoppers, drought, hail-storms, early and late frosts, horrible winters and hot summers. There was much sickness, with doctors many, many miles away (by horseback or horse and buggy). There were bad accidents and the ever-threatening shrouded figure of death. The day's work was from before sunrise to long after sunset in the "busy season" of the year. There were few machines and hardly any of today's wonderful tools. Almost all labor was predominantly "hand labor." Of course, there were oxen, later mules, and finally horses, to help share the heavy work-load. The Ziebarths were lucky in having the timber (most of it very poor quality) for fuel, fencing and rough sheds, bet later on they had to haul this timber for many, many miles; involving a long day for a single load. Their artificial lights were pine knots, candles, kerosene lamps, and the fireplace. Their water came not from pipes, but from wells which they had dug. or sometimes springs. In the summertime, they gathered had held rain water in barrels. In the wintertime, they gathered snow and cut ice from the ponds, which had to be melted; for their washing, bathing and sometimes cooking purposes; for well water was often too "hard." Environmental and economic circumstances often deprived them of a sufficient quantity of elemental foods for their subsistence. The Reverend Byron Burns, husband of Clara Mable Seebart (of the Emerado Seebarts), told me that hes family of "pioneers," living in the Lisbon, North Dakota area, had little more than corn meal mush and bread to love on for three winters in succession. No wonder that so many of these severely tested pioneers "threw in the sponge;" and moved to some place where life was easier for them and much more promising for their children than on the prairies of "Dakota Territory." Can anyone blame them for lack of faith and laic of vision? Certainly, I do not.

Comment: At the "Emerado Seebarts" family reunion of 1953, I had an opportunity to go with brother Ed and my sisters and brothers in attendance, to the site of the 80-acre "homestead place" of the August Ziebarth family. As my "sketch map" shows, it is located a few miles north and west of Emerado, between McKinnock and Arvilla. It was a beautiful spot. Since it was the month of June, all nature was at its best. The fragrance of lilacs, the grasses, and the odor of the shower-refreshed soil permeated the air. there was an atmosphere of peace, tranquility and even prosperity about the place. The old log and frame house in which Grandfather Ziebarth lives was still standing; but there was a newer frame house standing near it-- the residence of the present owners. It was rather difficult to realize that life had ever been HARD, discouraging and frustrating on the "homestead" farm. That it was is well portrayed by brother Ed in his book, page 54 and following. Here are a few quotations from his notes written down while Uncle Fred conversed:

Comment: The "dug-out" was a temporary shelter, constructed my many of the pioneers when thy first moved onto their "claims." It was the quickest, cheapest and warmest kind of a shelter that could be built. the constructor dug deeply into a creekside of riverside bank; then used small logs, covered with sod, to put a roof over the structure. The front rooms protruded out of the bank, at least in part. In this front room there was the door, the windows, the chimney for the stove. Its sides were made of logs or lumber. if it was made of limber, it would be tar-papered on the outside, and lined with newspapers on the inside, to keep the wind and frost out of the habitation. The "cave-room" was used for storage and as a bedroom. A well-built cave-house was really very comfortable both in winter and summer; warm in the winter and cook in the summer.

Many such cave-houses were built and occupied by pioneer settlers where conditions were favorable for such a type of construction. Here the family lived while a better house, made of logs or lumber of a combination of both, was being constructed. Where conditions did not favor the building of a cave-house, the people built lumber shacks, called "shanties" which again, were papered outside and inside and which invariably had sod roofs on them. Sometimes sod was laid all around the outside, stacked to the eaves. Sometimes there was just the barest king of a framework (mostly to support the roof) and the house was, primarily, a sod house. The paragraphs above give one some idea of the hardships which the early "Dakota Territory" settlers endured, and increases one's admiration for them.

Beginning of the Emerado Seebarts Family

The house which Uncle Will built on hie homestead (adjoining the homestead of Grandfather August Ziebarth) was a fairly elaborate affair for those times. The lower portion of it was made of logs and the second story was made of milled lumber, with a shingle roof. The lower portion was used for the housing of the animals in the wintertime when they had to be kept inside to keep them from freezing; and the second story were the "house-keeping" quarters. It was into these quarters where George Henry (Uncle Will's twin brother) and his bride Ella Henrietta (Weier) moved when they were married in 1880-81. (Uncle Will was their "boarder and roomer.") The reason for this arrangement was that George Henry had lost the land on which he had file probably through in ability due to sickness or otherwise; of failure to "prove up" on his "claim." After losing this land, he bought a "pre-emption claim" and some land from his gather (Grandfather August Ziebarth), bet he had not yet built a house on the property. Following his marriage he, assisted by Uncle Will, did build a good house on the property; but they did not move into it until after August 26, 1882, for George Herbert, their first child, was born in Uncle Will's house.

Sidelights on a Romantic Rivalry

The marriage of Ella Henrietta to George Henry ended a romantic rivalry of long standing. Bith of the twins (George Henry and William Henry) had been vying for the "hand" of Ellie for many months. She rejected neither one of them. Both of them kept on courting and hoping. Ellie was in a great quandary for she loved both of them. What tipped the balance in favor of Henry (that was the name by which she always referred to my father), we do not know. the decision was probably made not too long before their marriage. The fact that Uncle will (Bill) never married; and the fact that he spent long periods of time at the home of Hank and Ellie; seems to indicate that Ellie was his one and only "love." He came to visit her when she was in a wheelchair during the last years of her life at Emerado. A couple of my sisters were also there, visiting; and the had really prettied her up for this visit from Uncle Will. The he came in the door and saw her, he went to her with arms outstretched saying , "Oh Ellie, Ellie," put his arms around her and embraced her. My sisters said: this greeting and their visit together , clearly showed that the old flame of genuine love had never really died. (This was many, many years after George Henry had passes away.)