Born in Hannover, Germany on 1 Feb 1860 to Daniel Heinrich Ernst & Sophie Dorothee Fredericke (née Schultz) Cohrs; August was baptized 26 Feb 1860 at Evangelische Kirche Addenbüttel in Gifhorn Parish. [Source: Mikrofilm Sammlung. Familysearch.org]. August and his parents, Ernst & Friedericke emigrated to the United States in 1870. They departed Bremen, Germany, on the Republic on May 3, 1870 and arrived in New York, New York, on June 20, 1870. [Sources: New York Passenger Lists, Roll M237, 1820-1897, Roll 330. Departures of Emigration Passages, http://212.227.236.244/auswanderung/abfahrtsdaten/passagen.php?s=s&v=Republic⟨=en.]

Family history tells us around 1872, diphtheria struck August's family hard killing 6 children. However, Nicollet County, Minnesota Records show 4 Cohrs children died from diphtheria in September of 1872 within 10 days of each other - Emma on (~age 8) September 18, Louise (age 3) on September 23, Olivia (~age 1) on September 26, and August (age 12) on September 27. [Copies of these death records are in the possession of DeAnn Peterson Cohrs]. Other information on these deaths is scarce. Minnesota law didn't require the recording of deaths until 1870, but compliance and enforcement was sporadic during the early years, per the Minnesota History Center.

Family history further tells us that all these children are all buried in the old cemetery at St Peter; however, that information has not yet been supported by documentation as records from those early years are scarce. According to historians at Nicollet County Historical Society, there is no known cemetery called "the old cemetery at St. Peter" and given the extremely contagious nature of their cause of death and limited resources, the children were most likely buried on the farm or in a cemetery that may no longer exist.

August Cohrs (1860-1872) was the eldest child of Ernst Cohrs (1821-1881) and Friedericke Schultz Cohrs Lange (1833-1916). He had six older half siblings and seven younger siblings.