The ancestral home of this family is Westphalia, Prussia, village of Nettalestedt, where they were resident for many generations. This is an agricultural community and the fathers were usually farmers. Prior to 1750 the name was Meyer. The town records, which included birth, death and marriage dates, were destroyed by fire, which prevents more definite detail. The first of the family in direct line from Ernest Henry William Yostmeyer was Joseph Meyer, ancestor, during whose life the prefix Yost was added to the name, making it as it is now used, Yostmeyer. He was a native of Nettalestedt, married and reared a family.
(II) Johann Herman, son of Joseph Yostmeyer, was born in Nettalestedt, Westphalia, Germany, about 1765. He was a farmer; lived and died on the family homestead, which he cultivated as had his forefathers for between two and three centuries. He married, 1785, Emma E. Pohlmann, of the same town. They reached the ages of seventy, and left issue.
(III) Colon Johann Herman, son of Johann Herman and Emma E. (Pohlmann) Yostmeyer, was born at the homestead, Nettalestedt, Westphalia, October 10, 1809, died there March 12, 1862. He followed the family pursuit, agriculture, and cultivated the homestead farm. He married, April 15, 1827, Margaret Louise, born May 10, 1811, daughter of Johann Herman Nedderhof, of Nettalestedt, also of an old Westphalia family. Colon Johann Herman Yostmeyer served his time in the Prussian army, as had his father and grandfather. He had issue.
(IV) Heinrich Wilhelm, son of Colon Johann Herman and Margaret Louise (Nedderhof) Yostmeyer, was born at the family homestead in Nettalestedt, Westphalia, September 14, 1832, died March 26, 1865. He married, November 28, 1863, Marie Louise Siebe, born in Nettalestedt, January 16, 1843. They had an only son, Ernest Heinrich Wilhelm Yostmeyer, see forward. Mr. Yostmeyer only lived two years after marriage, and his widow married (second) Henry Moeller, a Westphalian farmer, who died December 13, 1909. The widow resides (1910) in Nettalestedt. Children by second marriage:
- Mary Louise Carolina, born October 6, 1867, died February 7, 1880.
- Louise Marie Carolina, May 28, 1869; married Frederick Tiemann; she is now deceased.
- Heinrich Frederick Wilhelm, April 5, 1874; still resides in Germany; cigar manufacturer.
- Frederick Wilhelm, September 20, 1876, cigar maker in Amsterdam, New York.
- Charles H., April 7, 1878; married and died in Germany, where his widow survives him.
- Johann G., May 9, 1880; married and lives in Germany.
- Marie Elizabeth, February 10, 1882; married Frederick Tiemann, first husband of Louise Marie Carolina.
- Carolina M. L., July 13, 1884; she is unmarried and lives with her mother in Nettalestedt.
(V) Ernest Heinrich Wilhelm, only son and child of Heinrich Wilhelm and Marie Louise (Siebe) Yostmeyer, was born in Nettalestedt, Westphalia, June 22, 1864. His father died when he was a mere infant. He was given a good practical education in the German schools. At the age of seventeen his ambition led him to emigrate to the United States. On March 13, 1881, he sailed from Bremen on the steamship, "Neckar," landing in New York on the 26th of the same month. He passed a year at Fort Hunter and then came to Amsterdam, New York, where he secured employment as a carpenter, later as a clerk at the "Farmers Hotel." Here he remained a short time, when he engaged in the same line for the late Ernest Kurlbaum, where he remained until September 16, 1885, then engaged in the same capacity for George Reich in his Main street cafe, remaining until January 9, 1893. On the following day, he purchased the business and became proprietor, changing the name of the "Farmers Hotel" to the "Yostmeyer." By close attention to the details of his business he has made it profitable, and he is recognized as one of the substantial Germans of the city, where he is well known and respected. He is not active in political affairs, independent in his own actions, but usually votes the Republican ticket. He is an active member of social and fraternal societies, being a member of the Amsterdam Lodge, No. 134, Independent Order of Odd Fellows; Star Encampment, No. 298; Oriental Degree, Knights of Pythias, Improved Order of Red Men, No. 149; Bronson Social Benevolent Association; Arion Singing Society; the Turn Verein; German American Alliance, of which he is treasurer; the two German Benevolent associations of the city, and others of similar character. In many of these he is an official member.
He married, November 18, 1886, Augusta F., born in Neiquacagn, Province of Pommern, Prussia, October 27, 1868, daughter of Ferdinand and Carolina (Balfenz) Buske, thrifty Germans, whose ancestors were native to Germany for a long term of years. They were of the Lutheran faith, as are the Yostmeyers, from the days of Martin Luther. Mr. and Mrs. Buske emigrated to the United States and both died in Amsterdam, aged, respectively, seventy-eight and seventy-six. Mr. and Mrs. Ernest H. W. Yostmeyer are active members and liberal supporters of the Amsterdam Lutheran Church. Their children, all born and educated in Amsterdam, where they all reside at home:
- Augusta Maria, September 29, 1887.
- Carolina Louise, June 7, 1889.
- Louise Alvina, April 2, 1891.
- Heinrich Wilhelm, April 29, 1893.
- Wilhelm Ferdinand, February 7, 1895.
- Mairs Gilchrist Ernest Leopold, July 31, 1897.