Baptized Auguste Emma Pauline, Gustie was born in Montgomery, where her father operated a farm machinery business and had served in the state legislature a few years prior. Around 1898 she began her schooling at Sherman School, which was on the south side of Ash, between 2nd and 3rd streets. In her school books she kept a record of the Civil War songs her grandpa Richter sang to her. Gustie followed her family to live on a farm at nearby Doyle, Minnesota in late 1905, shortly after her grandfather's death, and attended School District No. 24 there. Around 1909 she moved to Rose Township outside of St. Paul to work at the U of M Agricultural School's dining hall as a waitress, where her cousin Anna was the matron, and her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Lee Alexander, would transfer to the plant breeding staff. It was there she met Nicholas Thilgen, who was working as a farm hand. They married in 1914 and set up a home on Fulham, not far from campus. Their daughter Marie was born prematurely in 1915, but thankfully survived. The family relocated to Shakopee in 1920, on the grounds of the state reformatory for women. The inmates wrote about Gustie and other members of the Thilgen family in their newspaper. They regularly complimented her on her flowers. When her husband fell ill several times in the late 1940s and 1950s, Gustie worked out a deal to fill in for him. She obviously was at ease instructing the inmates on what farm chores needed to be done. She and Nick retired in town for a brief time before dying of cancer in 1959.
Baptized Auguste Emma Pauline, Gustie was born in Montgomery, where her father operated a farm machinery business and had served in the state legislature a few years prior. Around 1898 she began her schooling at Sherman School, which was on the south side of Ash, between 2nd and 3rd streets. In her school books she kept a record of the Civil War songs her grandpa Richter sang to her. Gustie followed her family to live on a farm at nearby Doyle, Minnesota in late 1905, shortly after her grandfather's death, and attended School District No. 24 there. Around 1909 she moved to Rose Township outside of St. Paul to work at the U of M Agricultural School's dining hall as a waitress, where her cousin Anna was the matron, and her soon-to-be brother-in-law, Lee Alexander, would transfer to the plant breeding staff. It was there she met Nicholas Thilgen, who was working as a farm hand. They married in 1914 and set up a home on Fulham, not far from campus. Their daughter Marie was born prematurely in 1915, but thankfully survived. The family relocated to Shakopee in 1920, on the grounds of the state reformatory for women. The inmates wrote about Gustie and other members of the Thilgen family in their newspaper. They regularly complimented her on her flowers. When her husband fell ill several times in the late 1940s and 1950s, Gustie worked out a deal to fill in for him. She obviously was at ease instructing the inmates on what farm chores needed to be done. She and Nick retired in town for a brief time before dying of cancer in 1959.
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