Gustav Kositzky was the father of Edwin Paul Kositzky. August and Beata Schultz Kositzky were Edwin's paternal grandparents. He never knew these relatives.
Sources used for family information include: family letters including a letter by Josephine WENZLAFF KOSITZKY to Katherine Ellis KOSITZKY; G.G, WENZLAFF's book A Long and Well Spent Life; James Clarence (KOSITZKY) COE's booklet on the Kositzky family; and a copy of genealogical records written by Johann Christian WENZLAFF. Family
legends as told by the author will be designated by JAK.Gustav KOSITZKY'S parents were August and Beta (SCHULTZ) KOSCHITZKY. We do not have as much information on the KOSITZKY branch of the family tree as we do the WENZLAFF branch. Recent connections made with descendants of another German immigrant, Gottleib KOSITZKY, only adds to the challenge for further research.
August and Beata KOSCHITZKE (KOSCHITZKY) of Keris Meseriz Posinz--Provinz Posen Germany were the parents of eleven children, four of whom died when they were little. The second son was Karl Reinhold Gustav KOSITZKY, known in American as Gustav or Gus KOSITZKY.
The names of August's parents do not appear in any family information available to the author. J.C. COE wrote, August's father fought the French against Napoleon I's forces. Before that, he was forced to drive a supply wagon carrying French supplies, but he and other non-Frenchmen deserted before Napoleon's ill-fated campaign got very far into Russia. Later he was in BLUCHER's army. BLUCHER had just been defeated by NAPOLEON, but managed to escape with most of his forces. The Battle of Waterloo was going badly for WELLINGTON until BLUCHER and his Prussians arrived. In a few hours, NAPOLEON's forces were crushed--permanently."
August KOSCHITZKY was born 14 December 1810 in Strese
Provinz Posen and died at the age of 84 in Tirschtiegel, Germany. His wife, Beata SCHULTZ, was born on 14 May 1815 in Tirschtiegel, Provinz Posen. She died 19 October 1900 at the age of 86. August and Beata are known to have raised five sons and two daughters to maturity. The names of the children of August and Beta Koschitzky and the information available is as follows.Heinrich, the eldest son was born 1 January 1843 and died in 1915 at the age of 73. He inherited the family estate, known as the SCHULTZ estate and the hereditary title "von Tierschtiegel". He lived out his life there. Heinrich raised six boys and two girls namely; Richard born 9 September 1875; Otto in 1876, Gustav in 1877, Max in 1880, Alma in 1882, Olga in 1884 with two more boys born later. All six sons served in the German army in WW 1. One son was killed and Gustav was badly wounded.
(J.C. Coe believes that Gottleib Kositzky who came to America in the early 1900's is a son of Heinrich. This has not been substantiated by the author. JAK)The second son was baptized Karl Reinhold Gustav but used only the name Gustav. He was born 29 March 1845 and died 15 August 1930 at the age of 85. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1871. (Nov. ll ? JAK). Gustav worked as a builder in Chicago for about two years and arrived in Yankton in August of 1873. He and Josephine WENZLAFF, a Russian
German immigrant, were married 6 December 1874. Gustav and Josephine had twelve children, of whom eleven lived to adulthood. In order of birth they are: Carl Reinhold, Anna Emilie Alma, Gustav Adolph, Olga Julia Johanna, Otto Heinrich, Magdlene Josephine, Ralph Herbert, Edwin Paul (the author's father), Waldemar Wilhelm, Harold Wenzlaff, and James Clarence. Details of these families are told later.
Reinhold, the third son of August and Beata, was born 23 October 1847. He lived in Tirschtiegal where he raised seven children, namely: Herman, Ida, Berthold, Martha, Emil, Paul and Ernst. Ernst, the youngest, was born in 1888.
Anna was born in 1851 and died in 1905 at the age of 54. She married Ernst BAUM. Anna was Gustav's favorite and he spoke endearingly of her as long as he lived.
Pauline married Karl VOGT and was about 60 years old when she died. A daughter of Pauline's was named Marie HAPKE. She died in 1932 and her son Herbert HAPKE sent the American relatives a picture of Pauline beside the tomb of her grandparents, August and Beata.
Herman was killed by a falling tree when he was 14 years old. Adolph was born in 1855. He too immigrated to America, settled in Butte, Montana where he worked in a mine. He married a woman who was a nurse. They had no children.
Four other children of August and Beata died when they were little.
THE STORY OF KARL REINHOLD GUSTAV KOSCHITZKI
(KOSHITZKE-KOSITZKY)
As a child, Gustav was a towhead with light gray eyes and a ruddy complexion. He did not have the high cheek bones characteristic of those of slavic ancestry. His nose and chin were typically Teutonic. His erect stance emphasized his six-foot height. What was noted most were his extremely broad shoulders. His stride was decisive and almost military in its cadence. Even at eight-five, his stride and voice were firm. He was strong, energetic and fast moving for a man of his size. (J.C. Coe)
Following the death of Gustav in 1930 his brother in-law, G.G. WENZLAFF, wrote a memorial booklet about him. Following are excerpts from "A Long and Well Spent Life."
August 15, 1930 was the day when Gustav KOSITZKY crossed the shadowy boundary that marks the close of life. He lived more than 85 years. And how he lived! He was born on March 29, 1842 in the village of Tirschtiegel on the sandy plains of Posen, Germany, and was christened Karl Reinhold Gustav.
The house of his birth was a plain but substantial stone structure. This was the same one in which his mother, Beata SCHULZ, had been born and to which she as a bride had brought her young husband August KOSCHITZKE. August was a native of the same wind swept stretches of Posen.
(Posen, settle by German speaking people, was once part of the Polish Empire and was later recovered from Poland by Frederick the Great, King of Prussia. J.C. COE)Although there was little significance in the locality, much significance lay in the young husband's being here. His ancestors had come hither as refugees. Rather than renounce their faith at the behests of an intolerant ecclesiastics, they chose to leave everything behind in their native land--only not conscience. They
migrated to Prussia, then the haven of Europe's oppressed and persecuted. Homes, lands, herds, --all counted for naught, and hence were lost. But conscience and indomitable will remained to become the priceless heritage of posterity.It was in this home that the boy, together with brothers and sisters, received his earliest instructions in the art of living. From here he directed his steps to the village school. But as there is no virtue in sandy acres, except it be to insure a remembrance of the ancient curse; "In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,"
the parents with their limited means could not hope to see their children receive more than the bare rudiments of learning. Yet religious instruction in school and church, as well as in the home, was prominent. The lessons learned then, and the hymns and scripture passages memorized there, remained with Gustav as an inspiration and solace to the very end.
Gustav, like most lads of his time and place, was put to work early on the maternal acres. For a time he drove the small herd afield and he sang full force to himself. Oh, how he loved to sing! Then he was apprenticed to the owner of a flour mill in Frankfurt-in-the-Oder. The wide-awake youth soon had acquired the intricacies of the craft, and he became a master-miller. In those days this implied the acquisition of certain mechanical skill as
well as the art of grinding grain.At the proper age he was called to the colors. Then the destiny of Prussia and the rest of the German states too, lay in the brains of BISMARK. This leader clearly saw that the only way to reunite these separated states was through the leadership of one of these states in which were men, patriotism, and invincible purpose. Prussia was that state. First came armed strife between Prussia and
Austria. Then France declared war on Prussia. When peace came, a United States of Germany, the official name of the empire, was a reality. When KOSCHITZKE enlisted he was a strong, vigorous, straight-upstanding young man. In addition, he possessed a strong voice, ready speech, a clear sense of duty, and decisive character. He was made an officer, and at once entered a school for officers. In this school he found educational advantages that modest Tirschtiegel could not afford.
KOSCHITZKE participated in both the war between Prussia and Austria (Oestereichm-1866), and the war with France (1870-1871). Before reaching Paris, however, he was severely wounded by a fragment of a shell. For a time he lay in a hospital. Then he was sent to Hamburg to convalesce.
KOSITZKY seldom talked about his war experiences, for he had seen war in its horrid reality. Yet when he spoke of his few weeks in Hamburg, and the loving care given him by the folks at whose house he was quartered, and the feasts set before him, his voice changed involuntarily, indicating the depth of his gratitude. He recovered his strength quickly and then rejoined his regiment marching
on to Paris.Peace came soon, and with gladness in his heart and the Iron Cross of Valor on his breast he returned with the victorious army to Berlin and to his own Tirschtiegel. What should he do now? He thought of America. To migrate thither seemed the logical step to take. Bidding all farewell, in 1871 he left the fair shores of the
country that with his blood he had helped to found and sailed for the fairer shores of the United States. (He bought passage on an English ship bound for New York. Rations were slim and he found he needed to barter his personal possessions for food. He arrived November 11 1871.)
Although at that time the journey seemed long, the step was short--a mere exchange of old Teutonic associations for new Nordic opportunities. Spiritually and culturally and almost linguistically he, like others from over there, found America the same, and it suited him completely.
Chicago lay in ashes. Here he put his mechanical skills to use. In 1873 came the call of the "Far West," as the upper Missouri country was designated, to which a tide of immigration was flowing, particularly from the German Colonies of Ukrania. They came in large numbers, wave after wave, and Kositzky soon found himself with them
out west. He came to Yankton, the capital of Dakota Territory, an important port for river navigation and the proposed terminal of the Dakota Southern Railroad. (He went by train to St. Louis then river boat to Yankton arriving in August of 1873. JAK)
Gustav again participated in empire building, not with needle-gun but with hammer, square, and saw. Among the many buildings that he constructed was the church in the "Odessa" settlement in Yankton County. Its high white spire was a conspicuous landmark for half a century until a few years ago when a destructive tornado swept over it. (prior to 1930- JAK)
Judge BURLEIGH, an Indian Agent and entrepreneur wanted to develop the area on North Broadway. He gave KOSITZKY a lot on the condition that he build a new two story house here. So in his spare time KOSITZKY built a house for himself. (Before 1875, the citizens of Yankton assumed the greater part of the burden of directing the German-Russian immigrants to Dakota. They provided temporary care of the newcomers upon their arrival over the Dakota Southern Railroad and subsidized the activities of private immigration agents. Merchants on business trips to the East frequently met in-coming steamships, hoping to induce immigrants from Russia to settle in Dakota Territory. Shell, History of South Dakota, p 117)
So it was that Gustav was there when the train arrived on this eventful day of May 18, 1874. The only immigrants to arrive that day were Johann Christian WENZLAFF and his family, a party of 14. Without much ado KOSITZKY greeted the new arrivals and bade them welcome into the fast-growing band of pioneers. His cordial words and open countenance at once won for him the confidence of WENZLAFF. It then so happened that the young man helped in conveying the luggage of the new arrivals up town.
Here began a new chapter in the life of the young ex-officer and also in that of Josephine, the oldest unmarried daughter of the family, now 18. They were married the sixth day of the following December. (by W. OEHLER, Pastor, Evangelical Congregation); They moved into the house that KOSITZKY had built for himself on the
hill. (Footnote for WENZLAFF Long and Well Spent Life) (Insert the picture of the house on North Broadway and
their wedding picture)
(When North Broadway was widened, this house was
demolished or moved. JAK)
(Gustav worked for the WILCOX Brothers lumber yard in Yankton and later in partnership with them in the Niobrara, Nebraska lumber yard. Between Gustav and E.P. WILCOX, the senior member of the firm, there developed an abiding respect and friendship that only death terminated. Gustav's son, Edwin Paul, was named after this man. JAK)
One occasion that caused considerable excitement in Yankton in 1873 was the arrival on the Dakota Southern Railroad of the Seventh Regiment of the United States Cavalry, commanded by General George A. CUSTER. (on several trains on or about April 9-10, 1873)
The soldiers encamped on the flat northwest of town, eight-hundred strong with about seven hundred horses and two hundred mules, forty laundresses and some families of the soldiers. The entire command was under canvas. The regiment had been in camp for about a week when a severe blizzard suddenly struck, isolating the camp by huge snowdrifts during the fury of the thirty-six hour storm.
Yankton citizens were concerned especially because of the presence of Mrs. Custer and other women and children, who were unprepared for the severe cold. The men banded together, braving the blinding storm, to bring the women and children to the nearest residences and to provide food and blankets for the men.
The Custer command remained in Yankton until May 12,
of 1873 during which time there was considerable entertaining among officers and the officials of the Territory. Citizens of note tendered a reception to the entire regiment in Yankton's Stone Hall. (DAKOTA PANORAMA pg 218) In an article written by James Clarence, the youngest son of Gustav and Josephine, he relates stories of early Yankton. He describes this storm and CUSTER's difficulties and he goes on to say, "Eventually the river boat was equipped and the troops started their trek along the river to Fort Lincoln. That is, most of the troops,
because before that day my mother saw two of them go "over the hill". Their actions and furtive looks back were evidence of their intentions. Whatever may have happened to them, at least they didn't get scalped."A clipping from a San Diego paper written in Dec. 1929 at the time of the KOSITZKY's 55th wedding anniversary states, "Mr. KOSITZKY says that they were living in Dakota Territory when General CUSTER was encamped there shortly before the Indian massacre and they saw General CUSTER and his men."
The author has been unable to find verification for this family legend. According to Josephine's letter to Katherine, Gustav arrived in Yankton in Aug. of 1873 and she and her parents arrived on 18 May 1874. Both dates were after the date given in DAKOTA PANORAMA for the departure of Custer and his men. (May 12, 1873)
Josephine's older sister, Sophia WENZLAFF MAX left Odessa, Russia a year or so before her parents so it is
possible that she was in Yankton when General CUSTER and his party camped there.The difficulties the 7th Calvary experienced in the Dakota blizzard made a great impression on the people in Yankton. CUSTER experienced problems with deserters while in Yankton and also in Ft. Lincoln, where the 7th Calvary were stationed until their annihilation at the Battle of Little Big Horn June 26, l876. It is possible that Josephine could have seen a deserter as he made his way
down the river. (JAK)
Other detailed and interesting stories telling of the 7th cavalry's stay in Yankton are included in Boots and Saddles or Life in Dakota with General Custer by Elizabeth Custer and Custer Passed Our Way by Fred S. Kaufman. Both books mention the large number of desertions by members of the 7th Cavalry during their stay in Yankton.
Three children were born to Gustav and Josephine KOSITZKY during their first years in Yankton. As translated from the family Bible: " Yankton, Dakota Territory, 1876 on April 7th, Saturday evening (9:00
o'clock) God gave us a son pleasing us and named Karl Reinhold; on the 7th of August, 1877 afternoon was given to us a daughter, bringing joy to the house and named Anna Emilie Alma in Yankton D.T. Gustav Adolph, born the , Saturday. FORT RANDALL CHAPEL include a photo here
One of the buildings constructed during the time Gustav was working for the WILCOX Bro. was the chapel at Fort Randall, up stream from Yankton. Ralph COE wrote the following, "The Fort Randall church was built for the U.S. fifth Calvary with rock picked up, for the most part, in Randall creek. The Niobrara chalk rock that was used was quarried across the river a short distance below the site of the church. The chalk rock was sawn by hand into slabs about 4 inches thick and the outer walls were veneered with these chalk rock slabs.
"Building supplies came by steam boat, one of the Coulson Line, from Yankton. The lumber was northern white pine furnished by the E.P. WILCOX Lumber Co, located on the river docks in Yankton, SD. Gustav was the checker for the lumber company."
(check where the story that tells of his building the windows and arches etc.)
JAMESVILLE 1879-1886 Wenzlaff--Long...
KOSTIZKY remained with the WILCOX Lumber Yard until 1879, when he and his father-in-law, Johann Christian WENZLAFF; his sister-in-law, Emilie KIENER (later DEDLOW); and a friend, Edward SPERBER; organized the Jamesville Mill Company. The grist mill was located at Jamesville, eighteen miles north of Yankton, where a
bridge spanned the James River and where were located a Star Route post office and country store.To obtain the water rights for the power was no small matter. However the surveyor and civil engineer, Edward PALMER, did a fine piece of work, and Attorney Oliver SHANNON attended to the legal aspect of the undertaking to the entire satisfaction of the mill company. When SHANNON presented his bill, for the first time in his practice, as he declared, he was paid more than he asked. And this was because the company felt it was just.
insert picture of the mill here
James Clarence wrote, "This was the first flour mill
and feed mill in Dakota Territory. Turbines hadn't been developed so the grinding was done with old fashioned grinding stones powered by water wheels, like those on a paddle boat. One of the original millstones was recovered and is in Banton Park in Yankton, a spot we used to refer to as Foresters Grove."In the book that Anna Owen, Lena Nollkamper and Clarence Coe wrote about their mother, Anna recorded her memories of the seven years in Jamesville.
We moved to Jamesville in the fall of 1879; there were three children, Carl, Anna and Gustav. We lived in a little frame house not far from the mill. The mill was a three story building. I remember seeing large, revolving round stones in it. The grain and corn was put into hoppers and then ground between these stones. The stones had to be roughened whenever they were worn smooth. Father
did all this with sharp steel implements when the mill was not running. It was a tedious, disagreeable task and the dust was very hard on his eyes.Once in a great while, as a special treat, we were allowed to go with father into the room under the mill where the stream of swiftly flowing water from the dam, turned the large water wheel.
During the winter of 1880 and 1881, much snow fell which did not melt until early spring. The water in the river rose higher and higher. One night we children were awakened. Father and some men were at the door with row boats. The water was up to the steps of our house. Carl, a little fellow nearly five, was told to dress in a hurry but wanted the situation explained to him in detail first.
Only a spanking stopped his many questions and brought about the necessary speed.I remember being wrapped in a large woolen shawl and put into a boat by a man wearing rubber hip boots. We were taken to the mill where the necessary furniture had been moved. Beds and stoves were put up and temporary living quarters were made for a number of people who had also been forced out of their homes on account of high
water. One family by the name of HAIER, who conducted a store and post office, were among these. We children thought it was all a great lark, playing in the mill and bouncing on the beds. Our house floated down the river several miles but the mill had been secured by ropes tied to a large tree and it stayed on its high foundation. Edward SPERBER, one of the mill partners, while trying to help some people who were drowning, was himself drowned. He left a wife and infant son who afterwards stayed with us for awhile."(At the same time that the family was experiencing the high water in Jamesville on the James River, Josephine's sister Johanne and her husband Henry BAISCH, were living in Niobrara, NB near the Missouri River. This town was also flooded and later the town was moved to higher ground.)
When the water receded, we three children and mother were taken to Scotland where mother's sister, Aunt Sophie MAX, took us into her home.
There came a day when all noise was hushed. The doctor came and stayed a long time. We were told our dear mother was very ill. Later we were shown a tiny new sister, Olga Julia, born 8 April 1881. Later in the spring when we returned to Jamesville with mother and the new baby, father had a new home for us a mile from the mill but on higher ground. One lovely Sunday that summer, the whole family took an outing in a big farmer wagon. The older children rode in the back part of the wagon, much to their delight. We drove to the
house which had been our home. We brought back magazines and other articles which had been through "the flood".(At the time of the Jamesville flood people were unaware that the flooding was wide spread. In the publication Yankton County in Dakota Territory Centennial Year 1861-1960 is a description of the events that culminated in this extensive flood. It reads as follows: That a flood might be in the making was evident with the blizzard which struck Dakota Territory, October l5, 1880. This was a harbinger of more similar storms during the ensuing five months, with the result that snow from the first onslaught was still deep at the time of the normal spring breakup of ice in the rivers. Then, in an
unusual event, ice in the upper reaches of the Missouri broke more than three weeks prior to the time that the breakup at Yankton and environs occurred.
Warmed by the chinook which broke the ice in the upper areas, the ice melted, adding much water to the river's flow. Rising rapidly downstream, the water finally burst its ice cap at Yankton in the afternoon of March 28.
Tremendous chunks of the steel-hard ice were broken off, to be swirled about in the now fast-flowing stream, pounding into each other and into anything in their path with thunderous roars, while the water continued to rise.
Trapped in the onslaught of the ice were more than a half-dozen riverboats tied up here in winter anchorage for repairs and renovation. It was less than an hour before the steamer WESTERN sank because of a twenty-foot gash in its stern-end side. Men manning the pumps made a valiant effort to prevent the boat's sinking but their efforts were futile. Some of the finishings of the craft were salvaged, but the boat went down, with the ice continuing to beat it. This was the most disastrous event in the history of Yankton. The Missouri rose over thirty feet, damaging or sinking eight steamboats, including the gigantic NELLIE PECK and PENINAH which were carried up on the bank. Over 900 people were left homeless. The cause of the major flood trouble in Yankton was the gorge of ice which formed on the third day.
(Consider inserting a picture of the boat from Ralph Coe.
They are similar to the views pictured on page l8 of the
Dakota Centennial book. The "P" suspended from a line
above one boat would indicate it could be the PENINAH. )
Returning to the story by Anna OWEN.
Mother loved flowers, trees and the beautiful in nature. She always planted trees and flowers wherever we lived. In my mind's eye I can see a lovely spot near the house on the gently sloping hillside. A fence enclosed a plot of ground with trees all around it. Many fancy flower beds were filled with all kinds of beautiful
blossoms. Sunken paths led to an arbor entirely covered with wild grape vines and many bunches of purple grapes. Mother was happy.Katherine KOSITZKY wrote the following about Josephine, her mother-in-law. "She knew little book English when she came to America and marrying at the early age of 18, she had little time to learn it. It wasn't until the days at Jamesville that she set about teaching herself the language in earnest. She was alone in the
country much of the time. The notorious James Brothers had hidden in the vicinity many times and when a stranger came to the door to make inquiries she was often afraid because she couldn't understand them. When her oldest son, Carl, started to school she required him to bring home his book and teach her what he had learned at school
that day. She required this of each succeeding child, and propping the open primer or third reader beside the dishpan or over the washboard, she started teaching herself the language."
Returning to the story as told by Anna
Walking the distance from our home to the rural school was considered too great so during the year 1884 and 1885 I (Anna) was sent to school in Yankton and stayed with mother's sister, Emilie DEDLOW. When I came home in the spring a cross on the hill marked the spot where little Olga now lay. On her fourth birthday she played all day with the new toys father had brought her from Yankton.
Four days later she was dead with diphtheria, the dread disease of childhood. We were twelve miles from the nearest physician. Medical aid came too late.(Olga died on April 8, 1885; in 1915 her remains were removed and reburied in the family plot in Yankton. In some family stories the word CROUP was used to describe this disease. JAK)
Seven months before the death of Olga another baby sister had arrived. (Magdalene Josephine was born !~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!.) Lena was a very active, beautiful child. She showed musical talent from babyhood on. While still in her crib she amused herself by blowing the mouth organ. A few years later a regular part of her daily play was "practicing on the organ." The organ was a chair with Lena sitting on a stool before it.
END ANNA'S QUOTE The shock of loosing a child and the unavailability of medical aid, which might have prevented Olga's death, resulted in Josephine's determination to move back to Yankton. In 1885, the mill was sold to a Mennonite or Hutterite group and the family returned to Yankton where Gustav again became associated with the WILCOX Lumber Yards.
The mill did not continue in operation for very many years. The dam, which impounded the water needed for operation, was blown up, perhaps more than once. Family legend says that Norwegian settlers along the "Jim" river were the perpetrators. The dam did not have a fish ladder and fish were unable to swim up the river and the protesting settlers needed the fish for food. I don't know if I want to include the following in the
book.
"Approximately one hundred Hutterite families arrived
in Yankton from Russia between 1874 and 1879.---Later in
1874 another group of Hutterites arrived and settled about
12 miles west of Freeman. Under the leadership of Daius
WALTER they established Wolf Creek colony.---The period
from 1878 to 1913 was a time of increase in the number of
colonies in South Dakota. By the process of branch
colonization, the three mother colonies established
daughter colonies along the James River. ---by 1913,
---Wolf Creek (mother colony of the Darius Leut) had
produced five daughters including old Jamesville.
----Strong sentiment against the Hutterites' German
culture and conscientious objection to war along with
proceedings to annul their corporation charters created a
difficult situation for the Hutterites in South Dakota
during World War I. As a result, 12 colonies left the
state for Canada in 1918. Four more colonies had followed
by 1934. --in 1935 the Legislature passed a law allowing
communal societies to incorporate and in 1936 a colony
returned to South Dakota from Canada. Jamesville (Colony
JAK) returned from Canada in 1937 to its present site near
Utica. DAKOTA PANORAMA p 132-133
From Shell-HISTORY OF S.D. P 116
The first Mennonite settlers came in the fall of 1873, a
small group lead by Daniel UNRUH, which settled in
Childstown Township, Turner County. The following year at
least two hundred Mennonite families totaling probably one
thousand souls reached southern Dakota. Many others
followed during the next few years.
The Hutterian Brethren. or Hutterites, also migrated from
Russia to the Dakota prairies. This sect, closely related
to the Mennonite in some of its religious beliefs,
practiced a form of religious communism, living in
colonies and holding all goods and property in common in
accordance with a strict interpretation of early Christian
teachings. A group of forty families established the
first colony, or Bruderhof, in Bon Homme Country in 1874.
In the same year a second group established a colony at
Wolf Creek in the southern part of Hutchison County. In
1877 the Elm Spring colony was organized. From these
three original communities, through a process of natural
growth and branch colonization, the Hutterites expanded
within the course of half a century to a total of
seventeen colonies, all of them except for the mother
colony at Bon Homme located along the James River or its
tributaries. In their search for unimproved lands where
they might form compact communities with minimum
infiltration by other nationalities, the Mennonites
advanced beyond the line of settlement along the Missouri
and the Big Sioux. The course taken by the Mennonite
settlers usually led upon the James River into Hutchison
and Turner counties, with the heaviest concentration in
the vicinity of Freeman. p 117
In discussion of the resettlement program during the
1930's p 294-95 "There was an earlier attempt in 1934 to
set up a subsistence homestead project at Jamesville some
twenty miles northwest of Yankton on the site of an
abandoned Hutterite colony, whose title had been acquired
by the rural credit board. Since the seventeen-hundred-
acre tract with its large apartment buildings and numerous
outbuildings readily lent itself to an agricultural
community organization, the State Relief Administration
decided to utilize it as a rehabilitation center for
transient relief families especially selected for their
farming background. Approximately fifty families took
part in the project, which was abandoned in April 1935,
after a year's operation." Shell Hist. S.D.
The author does not know the exact location of the
family home during this period of residence in Yankton.
Johann and Johanna WENZLAFF lived on the corner of 4th and
Locust and their daughter, Lena MAX and her family lived
two doors north. Two of Josephine's sisters were married
to MAX men who were cousins. The MAX family ran a grocery
store on Broadway. (Still can viewed I understand)
Two more sons were born to Gustav and Josephine
KOSITZKY during their years in Yankton. Otto Heinrich was
born 18 January 1887, and Ralph Herbert on 19 December
1888. The seven oldest of the eleven children were born
in Dakota Territory, before its division into South Dakota
and North Dakota in 1889.
