I have no memories of Ernestine. She was my husband's birth great-grandmother, and was known to many as Tina or Astina. She was twice married. Her 2nd husband was William Carl Ferdinand Gustmann. I don't know if Wilhelm Friedrich Koepnick died or if they divorced, but I'm leaning toward the latter. and I say that because I found Wilhelm living in Buffalo, NY without Tina on an Erie Co, NY census dated 1992. He was living with two men in an apartment next door to his and Tina's son, August, and his family, Tina wasn't living with their son and his family either;
When I finally located Tina, it was quite by accident. She was listed on the 1900 Lamoure Co., ND census with her 2nd husband William Gustman. Living in the Gustman home were two of Tina's Koepnick children, Charles age 21, and Alvina age 17. Both of them were using their stepfather's Gustman surname on the census record, but they were identified as stepchildren. Also living in Lamoure Co, ND at that time was Tina and William Kopenick's son August and wife Mary "Mollie" Grace Reibling and their children, one being my husband's birth father, who was two years old in 1900. Once I found them there, I was sure I'd found Ernestine, although I never knew she went by Tina or Astina. There was no Koepnick surname tied to her or her children in the Gustman home, so for a while I was confused, even though the Gustmans were living beside a Winklemann family.
William and Astina would immigrate to CN sometime in the early 1900s. They ended up in Claresholm, BC, CN, and it appears that is where both of them died. They are buried in a cemetery in Saskatchewan, BC.
When I finally located Tina, it was quite by accident. She was listed on the 1900 Lamoure Co., ND census with her 2nd husband William Gustman. Living in the Gustman home were two of Tina's Koepnick children, Charles age 21, and Alvina age 17. Both of them were using their stepfather's Gustman surname on the census record, but they were identified as stepchildren. Also living in Lamoure Co, ND at that time was Tina and William Kopenick's son August and wife Mary "Mollie" Grace Reibling and their children, one being my husband's birth father, who was two years old in 1900. Once I found them there, I was sure I'd found Ernestine, although I never knew she went by Tina or Astina. There was no Koepnick surname tied to her or her children in the Gustman home, so for a while I was confused, even though the Gustmans were living beside a Winklemann family.
William and Astina would immigrate to CN sometime in the early 1900s. They ended up in Claresholm, BC, CN, and it appears that is where both of them died. They are buried in a cemetery in Saskatchewan, BC.
