Find A Grave Friday

Karl Bachmeier

Karl Bachmeier was my 2nd great grandfather. He is buried at St. Bernard Catholic Cemetery in Emmons County, North Dakota. His Find A Grave memorial can be viewed here.

Karl Bachmeier was born 15 March 1858 in Krasna, Odessa, Ukraine. He was one of the Germans from Russia. His grandparents were some of the Black Sea Germans who fled from Germany to Russia in 1803 after the Napoleonic Wars had devastated their German homeland. Karl was the second generation of his family to be born in the new Russian settlement of Krasna.

Karl married Anna Maria Steiert 22 October 1879 in Krasna. They had children: Michael (b 1879), Amelia (b 1884), Kasper Karl (b 1886), Reinhold (b/d 1888), and Aurora (b 1889). Anna Maria died of tuberculosis nine days after the birth of Aurora.

Karl Bachmeier married Faustina Ternes on 10 September 1890 at St Joseph’s Catholic Church in Krasna. There was a 14 year age difference between them. They had children: Irena (b 1891), Reinhold (b 1892), Melchoir (b 1894/d 1895), Lagada (b 1895), Trazen (b/d 1897), and Romanus (b 1900) before immigrating to the US through Ellis Island on 27 February 1901.

The family settled near Strasburg, North Dakota where previous family members had already settled. Karl Bachmeier was granted Homestead Certificate 10091 in 1908 for 160 acres. The family built a sod house to meet the homesteading requirement of a habitable home of at least 12 x 14, living on the property full time within 6 months, and remain on the land at least 5 years. Sod was usually cut in 12 x 24 inch strips. The grass side was laid upside down and the strips were stacked side by side touching on the 24 inch side so that the walls would be approximately 2 feet thick.

After their settlement in Strasburg, the couple would begin farming and add the following children to their family: John Karl (b 1901), Emmerenz (b 1903), and Marian (b 1905), Carl (b 1907), Andrew (b 1910), Monica (b 1912), Eva (b 1914), and Peter (b 1919).  Karl Bachmeier was the father of 19 known children, 12 of whom lived to adulthood.

In 1918, Karl Bachmeier was arraigned for first degree murder at Emmons County. He shot and killed Jakob Schumacher who – along with Frank Scherr and Frank Jahner – was attempting to steal wine from the root cellar on the Bachmeier property. On 27 September, Karl was held to answer a charge of manslaughter in the second degree. Bond was set at $2000 and paid by Andreas Richter and Mathias Roehrich. The Grand Jury dismissed the charge on 15 Oct 1918 with a vote of 20 yeas to 1 nay.

Karl died on 16 April 1926. He was 68 years old.