Jacob "Jake" Ast was born in Illischestie, Bukovina, Austria on March 27, 1862 to Jacob Ast & Katharina (Wendling) Ast.

Jake was a farmer & shoemaker by trade. He also did some logging, and ran a tavern in Washington at some time.

On April 7, 1885 in Illischestie, he was married to
Regina Sabolta, daughter of Wenzel and Marie (Ney) Sabolta. The wedding was a double wedding shared with Jake's sister Elizabeth and her first husband Johann Roos.

Nine months later, while still living in Illischestie, Jake and Regina had a son Franz "Frank" (findagrave memorial # 68893211) on January 1, 1886.

Later in 1886, the three left Illischestie and emigrated to the US. They arrived in NYC on June 26, 1886 aboard the ship Werra, which had sailed from Bremen, Germany. Jake's brother Philipp and his family, as well as other members of Jake's family accompanied them on their voyage.

Upon arrival, they all went directly to Ellis, KS. Jake and Regina stayed there for a year. While they were there, they had a daughter - Emma, who was born in June, 1887. (Emma AKA Emmy Lou Thomas died in 1982 in Santa Cruz, CA - see Find-A-Grave memorial 164482070.)

Soon after Emma's birth, Jake, Regina, Frank and Emma moved to Pe Ell, in Lewis County, Washington. There they had
two more daughters: Ella (born in October 1890 - she never married, and died in 1910) and Margaret M. "Minnie" (born in January 1892. Minnie later married first Dobbin D. Irwin, and moved with him to Oregon. They eventually divorced, and she later married Clifford Arthur Ray.

Jake became a US citizen October 14, 1892. Tragically, a couple of months later, in December 1892, Regina died as a result of being crushed against the side of a stall by a frightened horse.

On January 14, 1893, Jake married Margaretta "Maggie" Koerber, who had been born in Germany on October 11, 1876 to John and Hannah (Pruner) Koerber. (The Koerbers emigrated to the US in 1884.)

Jake and Maggie had eight children:
Rosa (1895),
(my grandfather) William John (1897),
Margaret Elizabeth (1899),
Ernest (1902),
Ida L. (1904),
Henrietta (1905),
and twins Jacob Ludwig & Minna Louisa (1908).

Unfortunately, of the eight - only Rosa, William, Elizabeth, & Ida survived to adulthood.

In the early 1900's the family changed their surname from Ast to Aust, to make it easier to pronounce.

In April of 1913, the family moved back to Ellis County, KS, settling in Hays. Two weeks after they arrived, Jake passed away within hours of suffering a severe stroke on the street in Hays.