Carl August Trost was born near Berlin, Germany in 1834; he was married and had four sons, who were all born in Germany. They were:
John Wilhelm, Carl, Herman, and Rudolph. He passed away in 1916.
Carl's first wife passed away in Germany and he married, Augusta, born in 1846 and passed away in 1935. They all came to America in 1881 to Valley City, Dakota Territory, homesteading on a farm about 10 miles northwest of what is now Cooperstown (NE quarter of Section 31 Tyrol Township). Valley City and Sanborn were the closest towns at that time; where they went for supplies until Cooperstown was founded.
Bernard Zimprichs are now living on the Trost Homestead. The Trosts moved into Cooperstown in the early 1900s, their house being the one George McCullochs now live in.
Carl and Augusta had two daughters; Helen (Mrs. Otto Barfuss) and Elizabeth (Mrs. Peter Michels) both deceased.
Herman and Rudolph farmed just east of the original Carl A. Trost Homestead (NW quarter of Section 32). Neither married.
Carl (Charlie) married Annie Toats and moved to Binford, North Dakota. They had two children, Arthur and Emma (Mrs. Chester Elsaas).
John Wilhem, known as Bill Trost, was born in 1860 and passed away in 1930. He homesteaded in 1881 south of what is now Jessie, North Dakota in Addie Township. He married Sophia Michaelis in 1895 at her parents home, Edward Michaelis's. She passed away in 1948. In 1903, they moved just a mile east of the Homestead place, now the Frank Heinz place. It remained in the Trost Family until 1955.
They had six sons and a daughter. William born in 1896, passed away in 1974. Albert, born in 1897, is a retired Pastor and lived in Kearney, Nebraska. Edward born in 1899, passed away in 1974. Herman born in 1901 lives in Bothell, Washington. Sophia born in 1902 was married to Thomas Dahl, now deceased. She lives in Valley City, North Dakota Frederick born in 1905, married Lillian Bardahl in 1948. They now live in Cooperstown. Their youngest, Bernard, was born in 1912 and is living one mile east of Jessie on the old Jack Ressler Farm.
We all attended grade school in Jessie. There were about 40 pupils at the time. There was one teacher and she had all eight grades. My first teacher was Belle Wahl. Most of the time we walked to school, a distance of about one mile.
After the passing away of Dad in 1930, just at the start of the depression, left Mother, Bernard, and I to carry on the farming. In those drought years, Bernard and I unloaded coal and delivered around Jessie for the Farmers Elevator for the whole sum of 250 a ton. There were some pretty tough years. In 1932, the crop was fairly good, but price was way down to nothing. We sold wheat for 220 a bushel. Oats were needed for feed for our horses, because that was our power for farm work. We always managed to have enough feed for our livestock, except in 1936, we hauled some straw from Northwood, North Dakota About all the cash money we had was from cream and eggs.
In 1948, I got married and farmed on the home place until the fall of 1955; we had an auction sale and moved into Jessie. I worked as a farm laborer and what have you. In the spring of 1968, we moved to Cooperstown, where we now live.
Edward Trost, 76, died Friday, September 27 in Cooperstown. The funeral was in Trinity Lutheran Church of Hope, Monday. Reverend Ronald Nichols officiating. Burial was in the Hope Cemetery.
Edward Carl Trost was born January 25, 1898, at Jessie, North Dakota, son of the late William and Sophie Michaelis Trost. He grew up near Jessie, where his parents farmed, and received his education at the Jessie School.
Source: Griggs County History 1879 - 1976 Page 465