First Generation

1. Heinrich Ernst "Ernest" GABOWER Sr. was born about 1813 in Preussen (Prussia).^1,2,3 (His name was listed as "Ernst Gebauer" in the 1860 Census. It was listed as "Ernest Gabauer" in the Marriage Certificate for the marriage of his daughter Rose in 1885. The family name is also spelled "Gabauer" in the 1880 Census.)

. He emigrated on 16 September 1857 from Obershasdorf (??), Germany.^3,4 After emigrating, they lived in Germantown Township, Juneau County, WI. They moved to Oakdale Township in the early-1870's.

. He appeared in the census in 1860 in Germantown Township, Juneau County, WI.³ His household consisted of "Ernst," age 47, occupation "farmer," born in Prussia; his wife "Joanna," age 32, born in Prussia; their son August, age 4, born in Prussia; and their son "Fritz," age 2, born in Wisconsin.

His family was not included in the 1870 Census in Germantown Township. But he appears to have sold his farm to John Busack, the eventual husband of his wife Hannah. Living next to Henry Gabower in 1860 was the family of Charles DeWilliers, a physician; the same family was living next to John Busack in the 1870 Census.

In 1870, John Busack was still married to his first wife, Christina, but something must have happened to her, because he married Hannah about 1875, after her first husband, Henry, had drowned.

. After 1870 Ernest was a farmer in Oakdale Township, Monroe County, WI.^5,6,7

(He and his family could not be found in either the Germantown or Oakdale Township in the 1870 Census, so it is unknown where they lived.) He died about 1875 at the age of 62 in Juneau, Dodge County, WI.^1,5,8 He died by drowning in the Wisconsin River near Germantown Township, Juneau County, WI. His body was never recovered, but searchers did find his wooden leg.

Heinrich Ernst "Ernest" GABOWER Sr. and Johanna "Hannah" COUSE were married about 1855 in Germany.^2,5,9 According to the 1910 Census, she had 5 children, of whom 4 were living at the time. Johanna "Hannah" COUSE, daughter of Godlop COUSE and Johanna UNKNOWN (COUSE), was born in 1829 in Preussen (Prussia).^{1,2,3,10,11,12} (Her name "before marriage" was listed as "Hanna Gabauer" on the Marriage Certificate of her daughter Rose in 1885. That was probably a mistake, as her own Marriage Certificate listed her parents' surname as what appears to be "Couse.")

(This picture was taken in the late-1800's.) She emigrated on 16 September 1857 from Obershasdorf (??), Germany.⁴ She emigrated from the port of Bremen on the ship "Meridian." Her place of origin was listed as "Oberhasdorf." The ship's manifest includes Ernst "Gehbauer," age 44; Johanna, age 29; and her son, Friedrich, age 1. They are listed as passengers 91, 92 and 93, respectively. She appeared in the census in 1860 in Germantown Township, Juneau County, WI.³ Hannah appeared in the census in 1880 in Oakdale Township, Monroe County, WI.² She was living with her second husband, John Busack; his daughter, Annie; and her four children from her first marriage to Henry Gabower. She appeared in the census in 1910 in Tomah, Tomah Township, Monroe County, WI.⁹ She was living with her daughter Rose and her family. She was buried in 1912 in Oakdale Township, Monroe County, WI.^1,11 in the Oakdale Township Cemetery.

. Hannah died in 1912 at the age of 83.¹¹

Heinrich Ernst "Ernest" GABOWER Sr. and Johanna "Hannah" COUSE had the following children: