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PIONEER HISTORY OF AUGUST ISAAK—AN EARLY MERCER COUNTY SETTLER

*The autobiography was dated February 21, 1926—written by August Isaak Jr.

I was born in South Russia in the year 1870 and my wife was born in the same country in 1871. I came with my parents to the United States in 1878 and my wife came with her parents in 1889. My parents took up land near Yankton, South Dakota, coming directly from Russia. My wife’s parents took up land near Scotland, South Dakota, in 1889. My Grandfather was born in Brandenburg, Germany, in 1790 and moved from Germany to Western Poland, and then to South Russia in 1815. (I have a full record of the family from the time of my Grandfather.)

The public school I went to in South Dakota was worth less than nothing; my teacher did not know a word of English and he did not know the A B C’s. He was about a sixth grade scholar in the German language. My father had a fairly good education in German so he taught us children. It was not mine or my parent’s fault, that I did not learn English. After I found it was up to me to learn it myself, I did the best I could. I am writing this in my own hand.

I was raised on the farm near what was afterwards Parkston, South Dakota. I grew to manhood on my father’s homestead, on which he still lives. He is now 93 years old and my mother is 92; they still take care of themselves. My wife and I were married in 1892 on April 30th; her name was Breitling. In 1894 we moved to North Dakota. We had two children at this time, David and Richard; both live in Mercer County. We came to Mercer County where in September 1894 I filed on the SW ¼ Sec. 30 T145 N H56W, about three miles north of the old John Gallagher place, which was then the Hazen post office. We moved from Parkston in a covered wagon. In 1894 there was no crop in that part of South Dakota, so I and my neighbor, John Hildebrand, agreed to look for land and a new home. We took along some extra horses. We started north west on July 25, passed through Aberdeen and Eureka, South Dakota, to Bismarck, North Dakota. When we crossed Emmons County, North Dakota, we stopped at old Williams Port and here we saw a scaffold where four Indians were hanged. We thought quite a bit about this scaffold and we were glad when we left it behind.

We lived mostly on prairie chickens and rabbits—no hotel for us. We crossed the Missouri River at Bismarck on the car ferry which was big enough for our wagons and teams. At Mandan we met a man by the name of Sprecher; he is now Doctor Sprecher. He was the first postmaster north of Knife River. He told us of some good land. We started for Stanton in Mercer County and followed the Missouri River all of the way. In Stanton we tried to buy some bread but we could not get any from William Strickler, the only man we saw. He said he had some flour though and we bought some. An appetite makes food taste good; Hildebrand said I was a good cook. I baked some biscuits and fixed prairie chicken. Across the Knife River was an abundance of wild fruit. Everything looked good when we got up on the flat. So I said to myself “this is your new home.”

Mr. Strickler told us all he could of how to get land. My partner also knew William Priebe from South Dakota. We found his place and they were so glad to see us come, for they were almost alone and it was lonesome for them so far from the railroad. Mr. Priebe was County Commissioner at the time. It was August and harvest time so we helped him harvest and stack his grain. Mr. Priebe then went with us to find a good homestead. I found the homestead I had spotted and filed on it right away. Carl Semmler was postmaster at Krem on his homestead and he was Clerk of the District Court for Mercer County. Many who had been living on their land for a long time had not filed. At the time I left South Dakota I was told to go to Wells County as that was a very fine county. But it was out of the way, and anyhow I was satisfied with Mercer County. I left my team and wagon in Mercer County and went to New Salem where I took the train to Parkston. I told my folks that I had found a home about 450 northwest. At the time my wife and I were living in the same house with my parents. I had left her and the boys there while Hildebrand and I went to look for a home. My father said, “We come ten thousand miles with you children from across the Atlantic Ocean and we found a good home here in the United States, even though it was on the wild prairie. I believe you are a good judge of land, so I’m sure you can make a good home. Good luck.”

So I got ready to take my family to the new home. I got another covered wagon ready and took along twenty head of cattle, mostly milk cows; four pigs and a dozen chickens and some household goods. I built a long body on the wagon. It was 8 feet by 16 feet with a rack to feed hay at the back. With the chickens and pigs under the rack, we started—I was 24 and my wife was 23—on September 21, 1894. My brother William and Gottfried Panko, who were young lads, went along with us. Our progress was very slow on account of the cattle. We were on the road for 28 days. When we came to Mercer County we stopped with George Kuch for about two weeks; his first wife was my father’s cousin. We got through the winter fine at the Old Christ Oster place near Henry Richter’s. The winter was mild. We brought a supply of flour along from Mandan and we had milk and butter and meat. That is good enough for anyone. In the spring of 1895, I built a sod house on my homestead. Jas. Unterseher and John Krukenberg helped me build. I raised a good crop that first year and in 1900 I proved up.

I moved to Mannhaven to get to a better school for my children. Here I bought grain for I.P. Baker and built a ferry boat. I also had a saw mill in company with Adam Sailer – “Pipe Adam.” He sold out his share to John Oster and after that I sold out to John Metzer. Then I moved on my farm on Sec. 20 T147 R85. I increased my land holdings from time to time and I still own it. I helped to build Mannhaven. Expansion was built by us farmers and managed by John Bloodgood of New Salem and Jas. Krukenberg. The management was a failure and we lost our town. We built a big boat at the river at Expansion. We hauled the lumber for this boat from New Salem. Most of it was 70 feet long. I with my hired man hauled the biggest load. We had 8 horses on the wagon and guessed the weight at 9000 pounds. We worked hard for our town but all for nothing. I helped build the mill at Krem. I sold 30 acres of right of way to the NP Railroad for $13.00 per acre along the Missouri River, but they never built there.

We all worked hard and made the best of it. We had ten children – 5 boys and 5 girls. The boys are David, Richard, Arthur, Frederick and Herbert; the girls are Lizzie, Emma, Anna, Esther, and Hilda.  Five of the children are married. All of them live in one neighborhood and belong to the same church. We all believe we have a good home in Mercer County.

~Submitted by great grandson, Fred S. Isaak
~Typed for posting here by Mrs. Richard Ziemann, the wife of another great grandson.