Justine and Justina Koberstein and the Great Sioux Indian Massacre of 1862

Justine and Justina


This is a most interesting example of obtaining genealogical information from a surprising source. This story was developed from an interest to know which of these two women is my great-grand aunt. This story will be told in narrative starting with Justina using facts derived from various accounts of the infamous Sioux Indian Massacre of 1862 in the state of Minnesota and some other records. It is still not absolutely sure I have deduced the correct identity for Justina, but this writing should help clarify the logic.

Not only is this a tale of two women with similar first names, Justine Koberstein and Justina Wendland, it is also a tale of two brothers, Michael and John Boelter. Not only did the women have husbands who were brothers in common but when one brother, John, and one woman, Justine, died, the survivors married. It appears the entire family of Michael Boelter was massacred. The husband John and all but two children of Justina were massacred. When Justina Boelter married Michael Boelter the two surviving children called Michael both Uncle and Step-father. In a sense the new children to this union could call the surviving children both cousin and sibling, cousin because they are the children of their uncle and sibling because they are the children of their mother.

Michael Boelter was born on 31 May 1831 in Reetz, Arnwalde, Germany. It seems likely his brother John Boelter was born there as well.

Justine Koberstein was born before 1838. Her younger siblings were born 1838 - 1852 in Colonie Brinsk, Strasburg, West Prussia. I would suspect she was born there as well. This is made more probable since her parents Ludwig Koberstein Sr. and Caroline Kapitski were married nearby in Lautenburg, Strasburg, West Prussia.

Justina Wendland left her home in 18546 for the promising opportunities of the new county of America. No doubt European land and opportunity was locked up in the nobility of the era and a risky trip to the other side of the world was the price of a better future. Her home was near Posen6 in the now vanished kingdom of Prussia. The vanished kingdom of Prussia which included Posen is now in the territorial boundaries of Poland. This vanishing act was a consequence of the human madness known as World War I. Leaving this area before this insanity occurred is a sign of good judgment. Her parents were Jacob Wendland and Caroline nee Cobitsche6. Caroline's maiden name is unusual and not found with this spelling in records viewed so far. A clerk's phonetic rendition of a misheard Koberstein, with a heavy German accent seems possible. Despite her parents being aged the attraction to a new world forced leaving them behind6 in the old world. Justina was the second child, an elder brother and a younger sister constituting the family6. The record is silent on their choice to go or stay, but it seems probable that some family would stay with their aged parents to see them through their turn on earth.
 
At the year of her immigration she was Twenty Two years of age and unmarried. Common sense would dictate that she must have traveled with others. The typical practice of the great Germanic migration of this time was to travel as family and/or friends. A great miracle of discovery led to the treasure of finding the European home of the Koberstein family that eventually ended up in Minnesota. They came from the village of Colonie Brinsk, West Prussia. Mentioned in the records of confirmations of this ancestral family are God-parents and among these are found Wendtlands, and its spelling variations. This is probably no coincident and would confirm her common sense in this travel. This travel adventure of Justina and family and/or friends was concluded in the year 1856 at the age of Twenty Two6, meaning she would have been born in the year 1834. This makes her contemporaneous to the older children of Ludwig Koberstein and Justine Koberstein in particular. They were probably friends if not even related.


The description of the travel of Justina notes that she spent a brief time in Buffalo, New York. This was typical of the travel of German immigrants during this time of great worldwide movement into the new lands of America. They would arrive in the great New York harbor, pass Ellis Island (immigrants would not be impressed by the Statue of Liberty until 1876). Before 1855, there was no immigrant processing center. The shipping company presented a passenger list to the Collector of Customs, and the immigrants made whatever Customs declaration was necessary and went on their way.

...From August 1, 1855 through April 18, 1890 they came through Castle Garden (also known as Castle Clinton). The State of New York opened the very first examining and processing center for immigrants on an island off the southwest tip of Manhattan (Castle Garden). Immigration remained purely an affair of State, not federal, government until 1882. 8

From the point of arrival in New York most made their way up the Erie Canal to Buffalo, New York where they would make preparations for their travel further inland, often to Wisconsin. Wisconsin, the land of Kettle and Moraine of the last ice age was a favorite destination. The farmers of the mound and depression landforms of the late ice age in Prussia gave them the experience needed to tame and farm the very similar land in Wisconsin. Justina in this grand tradition made her way on to Marquette county6 in this very state. This is the same travel route as the Koberstein family, spending two years in Buffalo then obtaining an original homestead claim in Marquette County. In fact a neighbor farm is that of Johann Wentland in section 10 of the township 17 called Newton. Johann (John) is probably related to Justina Wendland, taking into account to frequent spelling variations in last names.11
 
Not far from there is the same township of Newton (17th N 9th E) an original homestead was claimed by a John Boelter and issued on October 1st, 1858, just two years after the arrival of Justina Wendland. Justina married John Boelter whose name she bore.6


Wisconsin turned out to be a temporary way point on the trek further west. Three months before the massacre, John Boelter and his wife, Justina, with their little family, settled on a homestead claim on Beaver Creek, in Renville county.3

Just in the way the Polish nobility enticed the knowledgeable German farmers to migrate eastward to the lands of Poland that needed their advanced agricultural methods, so the American Government enticed the immigrants to go west by offering cheap or even free land to all takers that would settle and tame the land. It is recorded that Michael Boelter's brother John settled on the S.E. 1/4 of section 347 in Renville county, Minnesota This is clarified in the Land records wherein John claimed 70.77 acres with this land description: 1 N½NW 5TH PM No 112 N 26 W 3. This claim was issued on August 15th 1862.

An act passed by Congress in May 20, 1862 promising ownership of a 160-acre tract of public land to a citizen or head of a family who had resided on and cultivated the land for five years after the initial claim. Before the Civil War, the southern states had regularly voted against homestead legislation. After the southern states had seceded, homestead legislation was high on the Republican agenda. The Homestead Act of 1862 provided that any adult citizen (or person intending to become a citizen) who headed a family could qualify for a grant of 160 acres of public land by paying a small registration fee and living on the land continuously for five years. If the settler was willing to pay $1.25 an acre, he could obtain the land after only six months' residence.

John Boelter and new wife Justina obtained this claim just 3 months after the homestead act was passed and just 3 days before the Sioux Indian Massacre. One could claim that the homestead act killed many of these brave homesteaders by putting them in the path of the Sioux Nation that tried to use the diversion of the Civil war to drive the white people away for good. This attempt failed but many settlers died as a result.

The accounts of the awful Sioux Indian Massacre are a peculiar source of genealogical facts. It is with great difficulty of interpreting these accounts one tried to determine which of the two women, Justine or Justina had the maiden name of Koberstein and which was Wendland.

In June 1862, she, with her husband and three children removed to the county of Renville, in Minnesota, and settled on Beaver Creek, making a homestead claim on a hundred and sixty acres of land, secured to settlers by act of Congress known as the "Homestead Law." 6
 
The U.S. Federal Census of 1860 lists John Boelter (37) misspelled as Belter and his family, his wife is listed as Meena (which is presumed a nick name derived from Justina aged 27). Four children are listed: Frederick G. (8), Barty (6), Otello (4), and Augusta (1). At the date of this census, June 9th 1860, they were listed as living at Henderson, Sibley county, Minnesota. This is the very month they must have moved to their homestead in Renville county a distance of 55 miles due east from Henderson. Beaver creek is a tributary of the Minnesota River (near modern day Morton) and Middle creek either a tributary of Beaver Creek or the same under different name. The 1880 U.S. Federal Census (dated June 1st) adds one more child born before the massacre. Julius who was born in Wisconsin was listed as 19 years old giving a calculated birth year of 1861/2.10 It is unclear how he was born in Wisconsin in 1861/2 and the family was in the 1860 Minnesota census. One theory could be they moved back to Wisconsin for a while and she gave birth there.


This map with the Minnesota River flowing from upper left to lower right provides a basis to understand the narratives below. (http://www.birdingtrail.org/FallsRegionSouth.html )
 

It is assumed that Beaver Falls county park is near Beaver Creek.

Birch Coulee is a well known battle site during the Sioux Indian Massacre that Justina heard during her hiding. The battle at this site near the junction of Birch Coulee and the Minnesota River, about 16 miles northwest of Fort Ridgely and just opposite the Lower, or Redwood, Sioux Agency, marked the high tide of the Sioux during their 1862 revolt. After killing hundreds of settlers in the Minnesota River Valley and attacking Fort Ridgely and New Ulm, on September 2 Chief Little Crow's Santee Sioux surrounded a force of 170 Volunteers under Capt. Hiram P. Grant. Col. Henry Hastings Sibley had sent them ahead from Fort Ridgely to reconnoiter the Redwood Agency, which the Indians had attacked the previous month, and to bury the dead. Besieged for 31 hours, the soldiers lost 22 killed and 60 wounded before the arrival of Sibley and reinforcements on September 3. The Indians, who had few casualties, fled. (http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/soldier/sitec6.htm )

The Lower Sioux agency Historic Site is referred to as the "agency". The Lower Sioux Agency is at the site of the first organized Indian attack in the 1862 U.S.-Dakota War. (http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/lsa/ )

Fort Ridgely State Park is where soldiers were stationed to protect this area. Yielding to pressure from the U.S. government in 1851, the Eastern Dakota (Eastern Sioux) sold 35 million acres of their land across southern and western Minnesota. The Dakota moved onto a small reservation along the Minnesota River, stretching from just north of New Ulm to today's South Dakota border. In 1853, the U.S. military started construction on Fort Ridgely, near the southern border of the new reservation and northwest of the German settlement of New Ulm. The fort was designed as a police station to keep peace as settlers poured into the former Dakota lands. Nine years later, unkept promises by the U.S. government, nefarious practices by fur traders and crop failure all helped create tensions that erupted into the U.S.-Dakota war in August 1862. Dakota forces attacked the fort twice-on Aug. 20 and Aug. 22. The fort that had been a training base and staging ground for Civil War volunteers suddenly became one of the few military forts west of the Mississippi to withstand a direct assault. Fort Ridgely's 280 military and civilian defenders held out until Army reinforcements ended the siege. (http://www.mnhs.org/places/sites/fr/)

Here the sad story is told from Michael's perspective. "Michael Boelter, on the S.W. 1/4 of section 35 was joined by his brother John on the S.E. 1/4 of section 34, and with them lived their father Gottlieb and wife. On the morning of the 18th, Michael and Emiel Grundman and August Frass, who lived beyond at Sacred-Heart, were on the way to the Agency for supplies at about 11 o'clock, when they discovered the bodies of a woman and two children (Mrs. Ernest Hauf and children.) They visited several homes finding only the dead: they then hurried to their homes with the awful news. Reaching home, Michael found his mother and his three children mutilated, at the house. On calling to the field where his wife, father and brother had been at work, he was answered by Indian yells, and beat a hasty retreat. These three were killed in the field, and it is likely that John Boelter is the man who bit the thumb of Cut Nose nearly off in a death struggle. Michael had warned John's wife, Justina, of danger, and running to the house, he picked up the baby boy Julius, and told Justina to follow him. She took the other two children and started, but hearing the Indians coming, hid in the underbrush and they passed by her. For nearly nine weeks they stayed in this hiding place living on herbs and some raw vegetables from the field. One of the children, Emilia, died from exposure and hunger, in the fourth week. The poor woman was terribly frightened by the shooting about her; first by Indians then by the searching parties; she undoubtedly heard the battle at Birch Coulie, and for several days the hostile camp was just across the Minnesota river. She finally resolved to die in her own home and managed to reach it with the remaining child, and was there when discovered by two soldiers of a searching party. This on Monday, just nine weeks from the day she left it. The condition of the woman and child was so pitiful that the soldiers were moved to tears. Her history is remarkable. Later she married her brother-in-law Michael, by whom she bore several children; she was alive in a fair mental condition as late as 1919." 7

In another account: The Massacre started on August 18th, 1862. John was massacred at Middle Creek. The wife fled to the woods with two infant daughters; the youngest died of starvation and exposure. Another child was carried to safety by Michael Boelter, a brother-in-law. Mrs. Michael Boelter and children were killed at Middle Creek. The face of the oldest was shot away, one was shot and thrown into a pit. The youngest was beaten to death by pounding it over something.2 This account make is appear Mrs. Michael Boelter nee Koberstein had only three children.

In the account entiltled, "Captured By The Indians Reminiscences of Pioneer Life in Minnesota" by Minnie Buce Carrigan this ugly scene is described again. "We saw three of the children lying among some logs between the house and the well. The right cheek of the oldest girl was shot away clear to the bone. They had thrown some clothes over the body of the second girl. My brother went to remove them but the Indians called him back. I think they had taken the youngest child by the feet and beaten her over a log for her dress was unfastened and her back was bare and was all black and blue.1 This account sounds like there may have been more than three children.

A great amount of detail is given in this account from Justina Boelter nee Wendland's viewpoint. "The morning of the 18th of August, 1862, found the family situated in a comfortable log cabin. The yard was surrounded by a fence and filled with a garden, both of vegetables and flowers. The family was at breakfast. The delightful morning air which belongs to Minnesota even in the hottest months, poured in through the open door and windows. The sun was just high enough to have driven away the chilliness left by the shadows of the night. Suddenly the little family at the breakfast table was startled by the entrance of a squaw with an ax in her hand. She looked around hurriedly, and ran back to the road, rejoining some other squaws. Surprised at the circumstance, Mrs. Boelter stepped to the door to watch their movements, and was alarmed to hear a succession of shots in the direction of Mr. Reef's house. Informing her husband of the fact, he at once went out to look after his cattle, which he suspected were in danger. As soon as he was gone, three squaws and four Indians entered the house, remained a few moments, and left. A moment later Mrs. Boelter's brother-in-law came running in, and exclaimed, "The report is that the Indians are killing the whites." He then ran on to a field where his father had been at work, to warn him, but failing to find him, started back. It was afterward ascertained that the old man had already been killed.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Boelter, in her fright, took a pan of bread from the stove, and, carefully wrapping the pan up in a cloth, laid it away in the cupboard, and placing the loaves of bread in the dish-pan proceeded to wash them. Without observing her blunder she hung the bread up on a nail and seizing her three children, started down the road. She shortly met her brother-in-law, and begged him to call her husband. At that moment a scream reached their ears. Looking toward Reef's house, they discovered Indians in the act of killing Mrs. Reef and her children who were out in the yard. The piercing screams continued for a moment and then all was still. Her brother-in-law snatched up the baby, and started off on a run. Such was his haste that Mrs. Boelter and her two children were unable to keep up, and soon lost sight of him. At this point in her story Mrs. Boelter makes the following touching note: "I never saw nor heard of my husband after he left on the morning of the 18th of August to look after the cattle."


The mother and her two children sought refuge in the woods. For several days they lingered in the locality, subsisting on some raw potatoes, which she found in the cellar of a house which had been plundered. On Friday Mrs. Boelter ventured to the house of her brother-in-law. She was shocked to discover his mother lying on the floor, her head severed from her body, the house plundered, and the furniture and bedding strewn around the yard in wild confusion. In one corner of the yard lay the corpses of five children. Without losing her presence of mind, Mrs. Boelter ran into the garden, hastily dug up some potatoes with her fingers, gathered some cucumbers, and hurried back to her children in the woods.

The unhappy woman remained in the wilderness week after week completely bewildered. Heavy rains set in, and in the fifth week the eldest child died from exposure and starvation. Cold, wet, and starving, the mother sat in the rain, watching the body of her dead child for four days. She and the living child subsisted on grape leaves. The corpse now became offensive and was covered with multitudes of flies. The mother attempted to remove but found herself too weak to crawl a foot. After many trials she succeeded in crawling away about fifty yards. At this time a heavy frost came and killed the grape leaves. The mother, somewhat stronger, crawled through the woods to find some sheltered vine, which the frost had not reached. In this she succeeded and gathered some leaves; but having left her child behind, and her intellect being affected, she could not find it. Though the light of reason flickered feebly in its socket, the instinct of motherhood remained strong. After groping around for a day and a half, the wretched woman was overjoyed to find her child.

Further subsistence upon foliage being impossible, the mother again attempted to crawl to the garden of her brother-in-law's house. She was six hours in traversing the quarter of a mile. She found a few potatoes and a small pumpkin. Unable to carry both at once, she carried the pumpkin some distance and then returned for the potatoes. By alternate stages she finally reached the spot where she had left her child. The trip to the garden, one quarter of a mile away, had taken a day and a half.

A new horror awaited her return. Multitudes of snakes, large and small, had surrounded and covered her child. When she herself came up they crawled over her and covered her. She says in her story, "I found that they did me no harm, and they soon ceased to be an annoyance; indeed, their company became agreeable in my lonely condition after I became accustomed to their presence."

Mrs. Boelter remained where she was another week. It was now the middle of October. The cold became severe. Giving up all hope of being rescued, a dull purpose came into her head to return to her own home. By alternately pushing and dragging her child, she made her way back with infinite trouble to the desolated abode. Shortly afterward a relief party of soldiers pushed open the door of the house, and discovered lying on some rags in the corner what seemed to be a skeleton covered with a yellow parchment. On the breast of this form lay another, much smaller and possessing rather more flesh. The soldiers went up gently to the rude pallet, and found that the two emaciated forms were human beings, almost but not quite dead. The woman raised her eyes, and something like a whisper came from her mouth. A weak broth was hastily prepared. After being nursed for two days the mother and her child gained sufficient strength to be taken to the camp of the soldiers. This was on October 27th, just eight weeks after the massacre. Mrs. Boelter was subsequently removed to Fort Ridgley, and in some degree recovered her health and strength."2
 
Of course there is narrative from neither Justine Boelter nee Koberstein's perspective nor John Boelter's perspective as they both were murdered by Sioux warriors. What happened to them and how they reacted can only be surmised from the accounts of others.


"Michael Boelter escaped to Fort Ridgeley taking with [p.17] him a baby belonging to his sister-in-law, Justina Boelter".1 This quote indicates that Michael escaped, but no narrative of the path and obstacles has been found. The distance between Fort Ridgeley and Beaver Creek is about 20 miles and it would be a hard task to walk that far, make all the harder by the need to hid from savages intent on killing you and with an infant in arm.

The army eventually prevailed against the Sioux Nation. After available testimony was obtained 38 Sioux were hanged at one time, the largest mass hanging in the history of the United States of America. President Lincoln had a personal hand in preventing the retribution from exceeding the available testimony. Obviously the feelings were deep with so many settlers killed. Only the spirit of the God given commandment to forgive could ever mend such an event as this.

The next record of this reformed family is given in the 1880 U.S. Federal Census. Michael Boelter is listed with wife Justina. Children given are; Julius (19), Johannes (15), Elizabeth (14), William (10), Henry (12), George (8), Simon (6), and Lydia (2). Julius is the son of Justina that was rescued by Michael during the Indian Massacre. This family is listed with Ludwig and Caroline Koberstein. Ludwig is listed as the Father-in-law. At first glance this would seem to mean that Justina was Ludwig's daughter, however, in the unusual case where Justina married her brother-in-law, Michael could be son-in-law through his deceased wife, Justine Koberstein and his current wife could be Justina Wendland. The other surviving child, a daughter named Ottilie is listed on a tombstone with this inscription "Daughter of John and Justine. Step daughter of Michael. Accidental gunshot wound reported March 31, 1880". She died March 26th, 1880 and was buried March 26th in the Evangelical Cemetery in Wheeling Township, Rice County, Minnesota. This is the same Cemetery that Ludwig and Caroline are buried in.

The 1900 U.S. Federal Census also lists Michel Boelter and wife Justina C. with children; George (26), and Lydia (21). Ludwig misspelled as Ludwick (photo on right) was still living with them and listed as Father-in-law, however Grandmother Caroline is gone. Caroline died in 1880 but Ludwig survived until 1907, both were buried in Wheeling Township, Rice County, Minnesota.

The 1910 census lists Michael (78) and Justina (77) with no children. Michael died October 2, 1914 in Holden, Goodhue, Minnesota. Justina Boelter nee Wendland died February 15, 1919 in Goodhue County, Minnesota.

Thus ends the saga of two families, Michael and Justine nee Koberstein Boelter along with three daughters and John and Justina nee Wendland Boelter and at least five children. Justine and all her children were killed in the 1862 Sioux Indian Massacre. John and all but two of his children also died. The surviving adults remarry and have an additional seven children by 1880, living in Holden, Goodhue county just 18 years after the tragic events. They both live long productive lives. It shows the resiliency of the human character. Despite the tragedy that can come to us, we can go on and prosper.



1 Captured By The Indians Reminiscences of Pioneer Life in Minnesota by Minnie Buce Carrigan

2 The History of Renville County, Volume 2

3 Chapter XXVI THE TRAGEDY OF MINNESOTA Page 2

4 Renville County Martyrs The History of Renville County, Volume 2 Compiled by Franklyn Curtiss-Wedge Chapter XLIII p. 1347-1350

5 METIS CULTURE 1862 THE DAKOTA SIOUX DECLARE WAR ON THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

6 Indian Massacre in Minnesota by Charles S. Bryant and Abel B. Murch as published in 1864

7 Massacres in the settlements Film # 1671601

8 http://members.tripod.com/~L_Alfano/immig.htm

9 http://www.answers.com/topic/homestead-act

10 The 1900 census gives the month of birth. Julius is listed living in Kenyon, with December 1862 as the birth date. This cannot be correct since he could not be the baby rescued (as stated below) in the August 18th massacre if he wasn't born until December.

11 Name: John Wendland

Land Office: STEVENS POINT

Sequence #: 1

Document Number: 10499

Total Acres: 40

Signature: Yes

Canceled Document: No

Issue Date: 1 Oct 1858

Mineral Rights Reserved: No

Metes and Bounds: No

Statutory Reference: 3 Stat. 566

Multiple Warantee Names: No

Act or Treaty: April 24, 1820

Multiple Patentee Names: No

Entry Classification: Sale-Cash Entries

Land Description: 1 SENE 4TH PM - 1831 MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN No 17 N 9 E 1