Please see previous post for the 1st part of the Masheks' journey.
"In June of 1880, a month after Rosa was born, with all their Iowa property sold, Joseph and Anna with their family, daughter Katherina and husband Mike Svoboda, Joseph's brother John and his son John and family, and several others who were either relatives or neighbors, formed a wagon train and set out for Dakota Territory. It is believed they took the military road which follows the present Highway No. 9 across Iowa, crossing Spirit Lake, swerving slightly north to Sioux Falls, and continuing west to Brule County. This trail had been used by early trappers in the last century and before that had been a well-used Indian trail.
The first man to prove up his claim was Joseph Mashek in the NW 1/4 of section 18, Richland Township, Brule County, and final proof was made March 8, 1882. It was located eight miles southwest of Kimball. All the branches of the Mashek families in Spillville, Iowa lost children to the "west" and "Free Land Fever" was catching. The whole section of Brule County became a "Bohemian Colony". In between the two farms of Joseph Mashek and his son John, a small plot of land was given to build a frame Catholic Church, St. Precopious Church was built in 1890 and services are still held in the building yet today (1980).
The first home of the Mashek family was a frame claim shanty built into a sod house and two canvas tents made out of wagon covers. A sod barn was built for the animals. A frame house was completed just in time for the birth of the second child of Joseph and Anna, Rozanne Elizabeth in 1882. She was joined by Charles August in 1884, Helen Alice in 1889, and Lidia Mae in 1890. [Note: Anna would have been about 45 when she had Lidia Mae. Altogether Joseph had 8 surviving children with Anna Skoda, Anna had 4 surviving children with Michael Riha and Joseph and Anna together had 5 children . . . altogether 17 children. Not quite enough to beat the Duggars but wow!]
Joseph's older children growing up and they were being married; his second son Joh J. grew to love his step-sister Ann Riha and they were married in 1886 at Kimball. John moved with his family to Gregory County n 1892-1893. He did not like the new country and they returned to Brule County. Joseph's eldest daughtr Katherina and husband Mike Svoboda left Brule County after a bad scare with roving Indians and returned to farm near Cresco, Iowa. They left over 150 descendents at their passing. Joseph's oldest son Joseph B. was married to his stepmother's niece Theresa (Tracy) Stepan on May 10, 1893 by the priest from White Lake who was serving at the church in Kimball. Joseph was 27 and Tracy was 17 as recorded from their marriage certificate. They farmed in Brule County until moving with their parents and family to Fairfax Township, Gregory County, where they homesteaded on 160 acres in section 10 filed in Tracy Mashek's name.
In 1892 Joseph Mashek heard about the land opening west of the Missouri River. He was a man of 57, hardly young enough to begin homesteading again. But with more sons needing land, he decided to explore the possibilities of homesteading the free land Uncle Sam was giving away to hardy pioneers willing to brave the rigors of proving up a claim. He went again and staked out a claim in Fairfax Township. Part of the family lived in a claim shanty until the move in 1893. The final test of endurance came in 1893 when the year brought drought and depression in Brule County. With his crops withering before his eyes, Joseph was convinced that he should move the family and begin again in Gregory County. Joseph had staked a claim six miles southof the Wheeler Crossing, just three miles from the new town of Fairfax being built, and which was to become the County Seat.
The family spirits rose from depression to optimism. Joesph and his boys built a two-room sod house in the 1892-1893 period in anticipation of the move to Gregory County in late August or early September of 1893.
The trip from Brule County to Fairfax Township, Gregory County is recalled by Rose Mashek (Helenbolt) who was 13 years old at the time of the move: "I remember the trip from Brule to our new place well. Mother had baked for two weeks and we had two lumber wagons which Papa covered with tarp and tied down at the corners. We packed all the furniture we needed in one wagon and the other was filled with clothing, bedding, huge picnic baskets and boxes of food. We kids walked to herd the cows. Frank and Jim helped Papa drive the wagons; and another brother and hired man on horseback herded the livestock along. Mother rode in Papa's wagon with the little girls in the wagon with her. Slowly we moved along by way of Bijou Hills. We camped there one night and by Academy. It took so long because of those dumb cows. When we arrived at Wheeler the Missouri River was too high and rough to cross with cows on the ferry. We camped three days by the water. Our fun stopped the night the water calmed down. The ferryman came and hurried to move the 3-4 loads of cows across before it got dark. With four or five cows on the ferry, the children sat around the edges hanging on for dear life. It was their job to see that none of the cows jumped off before they made it to the west side. The wagons and the horses came over on the last trip and we camped on the west side of the river that night. I can still see the lone lantern on the west landing, getting bigger and bigger as we crossed the black water in the dark. We went over the hills to our new claim the next day.
The place that Dad homesteaded was where Matt and Anna Viktora live today (1980). That first winter we lived in a sod house. It was not a bad place but the chimney smoked no matter what we did. The next spring the boys whip-sawed some board and siding from the grove at the old military fort at Randall. They hauled them by wagon, trip after trip. After the logs had dried a couple of months Rose helped her father and brothers frame up the house. This was the first frame house in the township and was built west of the sod house. Both houses were used until some of the children left home."
There was no church in the area until St Anthony's was founded in about 1902. Until then the local congregation met once or twice in the lodge hall for Mass held by a traveling priest. Sometime after 1925 the parish was given a new priest. This man of the cloth was fresh from the battlegrounds of the East, where a war was in progress in the fraternal lodges. The priest was also of Irish descent and did not understand the Bohemian language, customs, and most important the ZCBJ Lodge. The new priest of St Anthony's drew the line. To be a member of the Catholic Church meant you could not be a member of the Lodge. It was as simple as that. A lodge was a lodge, fraternal or insurance, made no difference. This confused the Bohemian families and the Masheks, along with many of the other Bohemian families, while remaining Catholic, stopped attending church.
It was not until Emil Mashek, grandson of Joseph Mashek, was a young man in high school that religion began to play a part in the life of the family. The German Baptist church purchased the old Lutheran Church building and moved out of the town opera house into their own church building. A spirit-filled young pastor and several dedicated laymen started an interdenominational Bible Study class on Sunday mornings for the many young men of the community who were not churched. Emil joined the class which became a social outlet for these young men in the hard times of the era, and Emil soon began to show leadership qualities. He was converted. Because of Emil, the Mashek family became church attenders once again.
In 1963 Emil Mashek's funeral in the Calvary Baptist Church of Fairfax had the largest attendance of any service held in the building.
Joseph Mashek and his family prospered on his farm after moving to Fairfax township. In the spring of 1905 Anna Stepan Riha Mashek became ill and died June 18. She was buried in St Anthony's Cemetery north of Fairfax. The children had grown, married and had children of their own, and were spreading out. Some of Joseph's children had died, but Grandfather Joseph lived on. His death came August 4, 1930; he was the oldest resident of Gregory County at the age of 93. Joseph Mashek had come to America when he was 30 years old with three children and very little else. He left this world having given life to more than 650 descendants who bear the family name or are descendantsof who has born the family name.
The children of Joseph and Anna (Skoda) Mashek were: Joseph B. (1860-1898) married Theresa (Tracy) Stepan (1876-1955) and they had three children - George, Emma, and Frank. One day Joseph did not come back from hunting and was found with a gunshot wound, dead. They lived in a sod house west of Jim Mashek's claim. Tracy was only 23 years old and had to be both father and mother to her youngsters. It was providential that a neighbor, and a son of a family friend, Frank Viktora lived nearby. Frank began calling on the young widow and a year and a half later they eloped in a horse-drawn buggy to Kimball, S.D. and were married there in the church. They became the parents of 8 children: James, Rosa, Henry, Mathias, John Louis, William and Veina. Katherina (1862-1951) married Mike Svoboda and they had 12 children: Frank, Joseph, Mary Elizabeth, John W., James, Raymond, Irene, Gertrude, James, Mary Ann, Agnes, and Adolph. Katherina was 18 years old when she was married to mr. Svoboda in 1880 at the church in Ft Atkinson. They settled on a farm Mike's father had purchased for them from Joseph Mashek - near the time of their marriage. John Mashek (1863-1944) married his step-sister Anna Riha (1870-1933) in 1886 in Brule County. John Mashek was a farmer like his father. When the family homesteaded in Brule County in 1880, John was not yet 21 years old and held down his own homestead. He was a large powerful man who loved children. When his father moved the family to Fairfax, John stayed and worked his father's homestead as well. John J. was nearly sixteen when when nine year old Anna Riha came into her step-father's house. John hired out to work and did not live at home much. But he and 16 year old Anna fell in love and were married in 1886. The became the parents of 12 children: Louis, George, James, Tillie, Helen, William, John, Anna, Charles, Frances, Edward (deceased at birth) and Joseph (deceased at birth). Mollei mashek (1867-1950) married Peter Lilley. Mr Lilley was a bank teller in Detroit for some years and later was employed by the Ford Motor Co. They had no children. James Mashek (1871-1959). James followed his family to Fairfax Township in Gregory County. He homesteaded the W1/2 of NW1/4 and W1/2 of SW1/4 of section 11 in Fairfax Township which was located three and one-half miles northeast of Fairfax, South Dakota and is now owned by Martha Mashek. He did not marry. Frances Bertha Mashek (1873) married A. P. Kuni and they had one son. Frank Mashek (1874-1958) followed his family to Gregory County and homesteaded near his brother James. He did not marry but enjoyed his brother's children and cared for his sisters. Anna Belle Mashek (1876-1957) was a twin and her sister died at birth. Anna married Myron E. Burgess who was photographer at the time of the railroad. After their marriage at Wheeler in 1895, they ran a hotel at Edgerton (renamed Wheeler after the railroad executive) until the railroad was completed to Rapid City. He worked for the Chicago, Minneapolis, and St. Paul road until his death in 1925 at Hornick, Iowa. They had four children - Roy, Itha, Muriel and Eileen. [Note: Muriel is my great-grandmother]
The children of Anna Stepan Riha brought into the family of Joseph Mashek by their marriage were: Mary Riha (1861-1951) married Joseph Mashek, a nephew of Joseph. She homesteaded the E1/2 of SE1/4 of section 10, and E1/2 of NE1/4 of section 15, Fairfax Township. They had two children - Rose and Janette. Anna Riha (1869) married her stepbrother John J. Mashek and they had 12 children. James Riha, Jr. (1873-1966) homesteaded the W1/2 of W1/2 of section 11, Fairfax Township. He married Anna Humpal in 1899 and they had six children - Adolph, Agnes, James Jr., Mildred, Alla Lorraine, and Edward. Albert Riha (1876-1961) married Mary Pistulka (1881-1941) in 1889. They had three children - George, Tillie, and Roy John.
The children of the union of Joseph Mashek and Anna (Stepan) Riha were: Rosa (1880-1978) married "Doc" Lyman A. Helenbolt. Rosa left home about 1895-1896 and she, Rosa worked for her sister Anna Burgess in their hotel at Edgerton (Wheeler). While trying to prove-up her claim, Rosa met "Doc", they went for a buggy ride, eloped to Kimball, South Dakota, and were married in the church there. They had seven children: Mary Geneva, Albert, Joseph (1905-1927), Lyman M., Ethel, Charles, and Elbert. Rozanne Elizabeth Riha (1882-1911) was the second child of Joseph and Anna (Stepan) Mashek. She was the prettiest of the girls. She graduated from Nursing School in Nebraska and when home on vacation the summer of 1911, suffered a ruptured appendix in Fairfax and died within two days on August 6, 1911. Charles August Mashek (1884-1951) married Flora Slechta and they had three children - Alice, Emil and Elsie. Charles homesteaded the SW1/4 of section 14, in Fairfax Township and Flora claimed the NE1/4 of section 14 and the N1/2 of S1/2 of section 13. Helen Alice Mashek (1899-1960) married John R. Tichacek. Helen was four years old when her family moved to Gregory County. She worked as a hired girl and cared for her mother until her death, and helped her sister Rosa with her young family. She worked her farm alone after her husband's death in 1939. They had two children - Neva and John Edward. Lidia Mae Mashek (1890-1976) (Americanized to Lydia) marrried Charles Conway in 1911. They lived for a time in Fairfax but moved west and settled at Sturgis, South Dakota. they had two children - Ivan and Charles.
Charles August Mashek was born November 1, 1884 in Brule County, Dakota Territory near Kimball. He was eight years old when his family moved to Fairfax Township. He was born to farming and livestock rasing and was good at it. He attended school in Fairfax. Charles met Flora Slechta in Niobrara, Nebraska. Flora came to visit a friend and she met Charles at a social community event. They were engaged in 1904 and the marriage took place in Niobrara on October 7, 1905. Flora Slechta was born December 26, 1885 in Bohemia and died July 8, 1959 at Fairfax, South Dakota. Charles homesteaded the SW1/4 of section 14 and Flora claimed the NE1/4 of section 14, and N1/2 of S1/2 of section 13 in Fairfax Township. They became the parents of three children: Alice 1906-1908; Emil August 1909-1963; and Elsie 1911-1965.
After Charles' mother's death in 1905 Flora took the place of Charles's mother in the family home and made a home for Joseph Mashek until he moved to Fairfax in 1908.
In 1919 Charles and Flora Mashek built a large home on the edge of Fairfax and moved into town. The size and design of the "Prairie School Architecture" Charles had seen while on a stock sales trip to Chicago, Illinois seemed very modern and costly to the conservative town. Charles continued to operate his stock business from the new home by buying calves, fattening, and reselling them. He also dabbled in the Board of Trade, but not always with the blessing of Flora.
Charles and his father, Joseph were avid fisherman and he continued the sport after his father's death. He kept a series of fish traps in the Missouri River and enjoyed fishing expeditions with his friends. As an avid sportsman, Charles was first in the area to use live decoys. A grandson Bill Mashek once said, "Grandpa told us about his old goose he had called 'Old Honker'. He would set the geese out for a decoy and call 'Old Honker'. That old bird just honked those geese right in." When live decoys became illegal, Charles was the first to introduce the use of life-like wooden decoys in local hunting. Charles was a good card player and enjoyed a part in community life. He contributed to community projects and helped to get the depot and grain elevator built in Fairfax.
The Mashek house still stands today as a monument to the revolutionary new style of architecture coming from the Louis Sullivan School, and to the influence of the family in the community. Just as the famous Frank Floyd Wright [I'm assuming it should be Frank Lloyd Wright] became a showman for Louis Sullivan's teaching ability, the Mashek house with five large bedrooms, a beautiful built-in buffet and China closet, and the solid oak woodwork makes the home a showplace in Fairfax today.
Flora Mashek's life revolved around her family but she was a good member of the community and belonged to the Bridge Club, the Royal Neighbors, and the Women's Club. Charles Mashek died May 8, 1951 and Flora Slechta Mashek passed away July 8, 1959.
Emil August Mashek was the only son of Charles and Flora Mashek. He was born June 16, 1909 in Fairfax, South Dakota and died November 24, 1963. He was married to Martha M. Haisch, August 10, 1933 at Martha's father's ranch, the Mulehead north of Bonesteel, South Dakota. They settled in a little house in Fairfax, across the yard from the big house. Here three children were born to them: Harold, James and William. A farm northeast of town, where a cousin Arthur Martin was farming, became available to them. A few years later the town house was moved out and combined to the original farmhouse. The four bedroom ranch-style house became a comfortable home for the couple and their six children: Harold married Mary Jane Shaw; three children - Julie, Joel and Jane. James married Jenith Stine; four children - Diana, James, Leroy, and Susan. William married Carol Ann Martin; three children - Theresa, Tarence and Timothy. Rosalie married Ames Clinton Smith; one son, Eric. Garry Lee married Karen Hensel; four children Tamara, Kimberly, Kevin, and Toby. Douglas Mashek was born in 1955.
Emil August Mashek died November 25, 1963; Martha still lives to see and enjoy the growing family of six children and ten grandchildren. Info. by Mrs. William (Carol) Mashek"
The epitaph for my great-great grandfather reads:
Left to right: Dorothy Love, Jack Deroin and Betty Love
I love my furry friends and these two characters look bright and full of energy. I never met these two but if you have any stories please add them to the post. :)
In this second picture it looks like Bingo is just a puppy.
Back Row: Anne Sophie b. 1865, Edward b. 1869, Reier Anton b. 1867 and Carl Johan b. 1863
This picture was taken May 18, 1939 at my grandmother's school. My grandmother is the shortest girl . . . she is somewhat in the middle of the picture. Along with my grandmother is her sister Irene (I believe the girl furthest to the left), her sister Mabel (furthest to the right?) and her brothers Ira and James (not sure on those 2). 
Jumping ahead to the present here is a pic from last years Robley Family Reunion in July at the lake in Pelican Rapids MN. It is 11 degrees in South Dakota at the moment so this pic really makes me long for summer. The reunion was held on a perfect summer day . . . not hot and a nice breeze off the lake. Just for some more weather envy here is a pic of the view:
