George Scharf was the son of Johann Scharf (1846-1878) and Rosine Schlenker (b. 1850). His line of the Scharf family can trace its roots back to Burgstall, Germany (near Stuttgart, Germany). His fourth great grandfather was Michael Scharf (1704-1748) who died in Burgstall.

Later generations of the Scharf family moved to Poland and German colonies in Bessarabia, South Russia. It was here where George was born in the town of Wittenberg in 1874.

George had one other sibling that is known. Her name was Anna Maria (b. 1876) and she later married Frederich Schlenker in 1895. Records show she had at least four sons.

George married his wife Dorothea Stickel in 1895 and immigrated with her to the United States in 1899. They traveled in the fall of that year on the S.S. Kensington from Antwerp, Belgium to New York City. After processing through in Ellis Island, George and Dorothea boarded a train for Kulm, North Dakota to live for a time with George’s uncle Gottleib Scharf (Find a Grave Memorial No. 62271087). They later relocated to a farm outside of Wishek, North Dakota.

George was listed as a Farm Laborer in the Twelfth Census of the United States in 1900. In 1918 he worked for the Soo Line Railroad. He could read and write German/Russian but not English and had perhaps four years of formal schooling for his entire life.

Besides the children listed here, George and Dorothea may have had four other children while still living in Wittenberg (family members recall them talking about two sets of twins) but these siblings apparently died while quite young. Two stillborn children were recorded in 1928 and 1930.

George died in Wishek on July 16, 1936 at age 62. Immediate cause of death was listed as apoplexy or stroke.