|
|
Fred Leistiko, the son of Jan Fryderk and Luiza Leistiko, was born in 1873 in Konin, Prussia.
Augusta Theresa Bleich, daughter of Karl and Wilhelmeina Bleich, was born July 2, 1874 in Germany.
According to the recollections of his daughter, Emma Leistiko, Fred and Augusta Bleich were sweethearts in Germany. Fred immigrated in 1891, along with his older sister, Matilda and her husband John Henschel and their two sons Wilhelm and Carl, and his older brother John August Leistiko with his wife Matilda and their children Albert, Olga, and Marie. Also travelling with them was Matilda Leistiko's brother Jacob Daum. They travelled from Volhynia, Russia to Hamburg, Germany where they boarded the S.S. Rhaetia. They arrived at Ellis Island, New York, United States on February 29, 1892. (View the original manifest of the ship SS Rhaetia. For those who are interested in the history of Germans in Russia, and are looking for clues as to why the Leistiko's decided to immigrate, this web page contains some history, and gives references to many other relevant sources of information).
Augusta immigrated in 1892, and they were married the following January. On the way Augusta got stranded in London and had to work at washing dishes until she had enough money to finish the trip to the United States. Fred’s parents Jan Fryderk and Luiza (Rapsch) Leistiko and his sister Mary/Marie traveled with Augusta.
Prior to immigrating, the Leistiko’s were living on Russian land that had been deeded to the Germans. Fred's brother Adolph had spent 10 years in the Russian Army and Albert served 5 years. Fred slipped across the Russian border to avoid being drafted in the Russian army. Fred’s immigration path took him from Russia to Canada, to North Dakota, where he worked on the railroad and played his fiddle for dances in Grand Forks and Fargo. He was next listed in the 1900 census in Great Falls, along with his siblings John Adolph and Tina, Albert and Elizabeth, Mathilda and John Henschel, Otto and Mary. He worked in the Great Falls smelter for three years.
In 1901 Fred moved from Great Falls to a place on the banks of the Missouri River 25 miles out from Glasgow, Montana. He bought the squatters rights along with a 2-room house and barn. He added 3 rooms, and made it into a 5-room house. In 1908 benchland was opened up for homesteading and they bought 320 acres on the bench. Now they had 160 acres on the river and 320 acres on the bench. The bottomland by the river was sagebrush and when it was cleared it made nice grassland.
According to Emma, her father was not the best farmer as he had so many other things on his mind. He loved playing his violin. He started a lumber mill on the river with his Dad and sold lumber to the new settlers coming in. The logs were all cut from cottonwood trees by hand. Nothing was motorized. They had a pit over which the logs were placed. One man was in the pit and the other on top, on either end of a two-man saw. It was very hard work. Their home was made completely of cottonwood logs except for the hardwood floors.
Fred farmed from about 1910 until his stroke in 1941 or 42. He died in 1949 at age 77, and his son Ted took over the farm. Towards the end of her life, Augusta moved in with her daughter Bertha, who lived in Long Beach, California, and she died there May 7, 1967.
Another glimse of the life of Fred Leistiko is revealed in a short biography written by his son Fred Jr. for his daughter Carol, for her use in a school assignment.
Fred and Augusta and had 6 children. Two others, born between Otto and Emma, died as infants.:
| Otto Herman Leistiko | Born in 1893 in North Dakota. Died May 2, 1939. |
| Emma Leistiko | Born September 7, 1806, in 1896 in North Dakota. Married ??? Wolfe. Died March 19, 1982. |
| Fred Leistiko | Born January 2, 1902, near Glasgow, Montana. Died March 10, 1976. |
| Robert "Bob" Leistiko | Born in October 1904 near Glasgow, Montana. Died February 12, 1961. |
| Bertha Julia Leistiko | Born January 19, 1907 near Glasgow, Montana. |
| Theodore "Ted" Leistiko | Born December 17, 1907 in Anaconda, Montana. Died February 12, 1968. |
|
|
|
|
