|
|
John August Leistiko (he went by "August"), the son of Johan and Luiza (Rapsch) Leistikow, was born in Germany on June 1, 1864. He spent his youth working as a boatman up and down the Danube River. He later learned the trade of sausage making in Odessa, Russia.
August married Mathilde Augusta Daum on September 20, 1885 in Zhitomer Parish, Volhynia, Russia. August and Mathilde, and their three oldest children Albert, Helen, and Marie, immigrated in 1892, along with August's sister, Matilda and her husband John Henschel and their two sons Wilhelm and Carl, his brother Fred, and Mathilda 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).
The family stopped first in Winnipeg, Canada, then moved to North Dakota, where John worked first as a section hand, then as a section foreman, for the Northern Pacific Railway. The family then moved to Montana, settling in the Great Falls area. Mathilde died quite young.
John and Mathilde had 5 children:
| Albert Leistiko | Born October 11, 1886, in Poland. Married Ruth Mueller. |
| Helen Olga Leistiko | Born July 1, 1888, in Poland. Married Richard Rapsch in Anaconda, Montana. |
| Marie Leistiko | Born February 9, 1891, in Poland. Married Herbert Flood. |
| Frederick Leistiko | Born in Grand Forks, North Dakota, on April 4,1893. Frederick died young at age 11. |
| Louise Matilda Leistiko | Born on July 20, 1897, in Winnipeg. Married Elmer Tombull in 1920. |
Hedwig Rayter, daughter of Pawel and Katarzyna (Jazownik) Rajtar, was born May 20, 1879, in Skowierzyn, Poland. She was christened May 24, 1879, in the Zaleszany Parish in Skowierzyn. She moved to Austria with her parents when she was 4 years old. At about 10 years of age she was sent to Romania to work for her uncle as a nurse girl. In 1895, at age 16, she came to Winnipeg, Canada with a girlfriend from her village seeking a better life. She worked in a hotel and saved enough money in three years to send for her family.
She was married at the age of 21 to John Henry Koll, on August 13, 1900, at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The family then moved to Great Falls, where John worked at the smelter. They had a home on the Missouri riverbank.
John and Hedwig had 4 children:
| Kathryn Koll | Born September 12, 1901 in Canada. |
| Peter Koll | Born April 27, 1902, in Great Falls, Montana. |
| Helen Koll | Born September 24, 1903, in Great Falls, Montana. |
| Ann Marie Koll | Born April 17, 1908, in Great Falls, Montana. |
About 1905 a dam broke on the Missouri River and she lost her home in the flood. She then moved to an area in town known as Leistiko Square. (Several Leistiko families had small houses and shared water from a well in the center). A short time later Hedwig obtained a large 2-story house located at 505 5th Avenue S. that was made into a boarding house. She cooked and washed clothes for 40 plus boarders. The beds were upstairs (with a pot for every bed). There were three long tables in the dining room. John Koll and Hedwig were divorced in 1908.
 |
When Matilda passed away August Leistiko came to live at Hedwig Koll's boarding house, as his four children were mostly grown. August and Hedwig courted, and were married in February 4, 1910. (The 1910 census, dated 7 July, shows August, Hedwig, the three Koll children, three of Hedwig's sisters, and many boarders, living in the home).
August homesteaded land near Power, Montana in 1916. He had to live on the land for two years before he could receive title to it. Hedwig stayed in town and carried the heavy load of managing the boarding house, milking the cows, selling milk, and raising the children. Bill, their oldest son, had to be the man of the house and had great responsibilities in the care of the coal furnaces and delivering milk at a young age. Eventually Hedwig gave up the boarding house and moved to Power where she and August continued in the struggle to win the battle of homesteading on the Montana prairie.
During the depression they made their living raising chickens, milking cows and making sausage. When butchering time came in the fall, August made many different kinds of sausage, smoked hams, bacon and pork chops which were put in a crock. They made butter-lard with cracklings, which was good for lunches for school. They were able to double the money made on meat sales because August made sausage, using the trade skills he had learned in Russia. Everyone loved his sausage.
They had steady customers who were glad to get homemade food. They delivered in town every Friday, selling butter, eggs, cottage cheese and sweet cream. They never ate their turkeys. They were for cash money but occasionally they would eat a chicken. Life was extremely difficult and everyone had to work long, hard hours. Dry land farming is hard and dependent on the weather. The land had to be plowed. Water was hauled with a horse and wagon, in barrels from a small creek a quarter of a mile away. In 1929, in a disastrous fire which hit just at harvest time, August and Hedwig lost their home, granaries, chicken coops and all small buildings. Even the trunk that held their pictures and valuable memories was lost.
Neighbors worked together to survive and help in times of trouble and a benefit was held for them at Power. When neighbors got together for social occasions, the men would play cards and the ladies would just visit. On Sunday's August and Hedwig's family would attend both the local Lutheran and Catholic Church. Lutheran for August and Catholic for Hedwig. August played both the violin and accordion. They had a piano at the boarding house and on the ranch.
August died of a heart attack in June 27, 1943. Hedwig felt sad that August didn't live long enough to see good crops finally come to the home ranch.
August and Hedwig had three children:
| William Paul Leistiko | Born in 1910 in Great Falls, Montana. |
| Leona Hedwig Leistiko | Born in 1913 in Great Falls, Montana. |
| Eugene Francis Leistiko | Born in 1915 in Great Falls, Montana. |
Hedwig sold the ranch in 1944 and moved to Great Falls. She spent her last 7 years with her daughter Leona. Hedwig died June 11, 1966 in Great Falls. She worked very hard throughout her life but was a cheerful person to be around. She lived a long, full, life and was witness to the marvels of our modern world. Her granddaughter June remembers one remark made, late in life, in her Polish accent, "This modern world is so crazy! They used to cook in the house and go to the bathroom outside---now they cook outside on the barbecue and go to the bathroom inside the house".