Saturday, February 28, 2009
The Mashek story continued . . .
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"
"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"
Friday, February 27, 2009
A New World . . .
This is a story of the Mashek family who came to the United States in 1867. Joseph Mashek was one of my great-great-great grandfathers on the Robley side. The information was provided by Mrs William (Carol) Mashek . . . I am not sure how we are related.
"Long ago, in the country of Bohemia, on the continent of Europe, a boy child was born on March 17, 1837 and named Josef Masvek. He was baptised into the Catholic faith in, or near, the city of Prague (Pra'ha) Bohemia on the Vltava River. His parents were John Josef and Anna (Vodzezka) Masvek who were probably a farm family since he came to the United States with considerable farming skill which he practiced successfully throughout his long life.
After coming to the United States, all branches of the Masvek family Americanized the name. Josef Masvek changed the "ha check" which has the "sh" sound so the name became Mashek. Some cousins changed the name to Maschek, some to Mashak, and others to Mascheck. But it is possible that all persons in the United States bearing one of the derivations of this name are related seven to nine generations distant.
Joseph B. Mashek was married to Anna Skoda (born 1841) at Prague, Bohemia in 1857; Anna was 16 years old. A son Joseph B. was born to them in 1860; a daughter Katherina in 1862; and a son John J. in 1863. According to family legend a daughter Mollei was born in 1867 on the ship as they were sailing to America.
We do not know why Joseph Mashek was inspired to come to this country. We do know that during that period of time the continent of Europe was torn by wars. Four armies had crossed and recrossed Bohemia from 1850 to 1865. It was the custom for the peasant class to be pressed into military service for as long as seven years, for whichever country was currently victorious. Perhaps Joseph Mashek had seen such military service and did not want to serve again or was fearful that his sons would face such service in the future. Having the desire to own his land, he may have been inspired by the attractive advertising of American railroad companies, who after the Civil War lured tens of thousands of European peasants to American shores. Whatever the reason, the Mashek family came to the United States in 1867.
They traveled by way of Canada to Cleveland, Ohio. It is believed that Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mashek and children Joseph B., Katherina, and John J. were all that left Bohemia from the immediate family. Later Joseph's brother John, a nephew John, and a Mathias Mashek left Bohemia. Many Bohemian peasants left from Hamburg, Germany that year.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mashek and family settled in Cleveland, Ohio for a couple of years where they gained citizenship status. It is assumed that prior to 1870, Joseph and his family had begun their journey west. The trip using Cleveland, Ohio as a departure point, took a period of four to six months traveling by horse and wagon, or by waterways and wagon. Part of the trip may have been taken by train. They may have visited with their friends the Viktora family in Muscada, Wisconsin where there was a Bohemian settlement. For "wherever the Masheks went, the Viktoras followed---our family settled their way across Iowa and Dakota right behind them." Frank Viktora was half-cousin by marriage and was born in Muscada, Wisconsin.
In 1871 Joseph Mashek bought land in Spillville, Iowa from a gentleman who had already moved to California. It was also known that other Masheks had preceded him, buying land in 1868-1870. The move to Spillville was probably a family reunion. [Note: Spillville is in the northeast corner of Iowa and was primarily a Czech (Bohemian) settlement. For more on Spillville, including a neat picture of a water mill that was built before Joseph settled there go to http://www.spillville.org/Spillville/OldMill.html ]
At Spillville, the Joseph and Anna Mashek family was enlarged by the births of James 1871, Frances Bertha 1873, Frank 1874, and twins born August 12, 1875 with a girl Anna Belle being the only survivor. Not only did Joseph lose a child of this birth, but he also lost his beloved Anna four and one-half months later as a result of what must have been a traumatic birth. Anna Skoda Mashek died early in January 1876. She was buried in the church cemetery at Fort Atkinson, Iowa where the family had begun attending church. Fort Atkinson, Iowa was a military town two and one-half miles southwest of Spillville. [Note: Anna Belle Mashek, the surviving twin, is my great-great grandmother]
After the first farm was purchased at Spillville, Iowa, he bought several more farms to add to his first few acres of land. He had sons who were maturing and would soon need farms of their own. The area where he concentrated his land purchases in Sumner Township, is just south of the area called "Bohemian Creek" in Winneshiek County. One of the farms still has a small mill wheel attached to the side of the barn and a picturesque little creek which must have been used to grind flour for the Mashek family still flows there.
With the loss of their mother, 14 year old Katherina took care of the family, including baby Anna, with the aid of aunts and a hired girl.
In 1878, two years after the death of his wife Anna, a trip to town changed Joseph's life. He was driving a young team, which he had newly broken to pull a wagon. As he entered the tiny village the team ran away, taking out the front fence from the home of a young widow. It was difficult to get the team stopped, but harder still was the tongue lashing Joseph received from the widow who assumed he was drunk at 11 o'clock in the morning! Assuring the young woman he was not drunk did not pacify her. He finally agreed that he would rebuild her fence. [Note: I should hope so!] As the fence repair began, and continued through the summer, it was obvious to the family that a romance blossomed in that yard that summer. Joseph began serious courting through the winter of 1878-1879. Joseph Mashek and Anna Stepan Riha were united in marriage in her family church at Spillville on May12, 1879.
Anna Stepan (Stef'on) Riha, born in 1845, had come to the United States in 1867 as a young wife and mother with her husband James Michael Riha and their daughters Mary and Anna, Anna's parents the Frank Stepans, and her brother Michael Stepan and his family. While she and Joseph were courting they found that they had both been born in Prague and had both come to the States in the same year. Anna's husband James M. Riha was a carpenter-farmer who came to Fort Atkinson to do carpentry for the government fort there and died March 1878 in a construction accident. Anna and James Riha had four children - Mary 1865; Anna 1867-1871; James 1873, and Albert 1876.
After their marriage, Joseph and Anna's combined families were a total of 13 living children. Their combined farmland was enough to support this large family but their farmhouse south of Bohemian Creek must have been crowded. The family size did not decrease with this marriage as Joseph and Anna had their first child Rosa, born on May 1, 1880.
Earlier in March of 1880, Joseph Mashek and his sons loaded a wagon and started on an adventure west to see the land which had just been opened up in what had been Indian land. The 1870's had been a decade of depression, drought, and hard times. The opportunity for free virgin land seemed too good to be true. When he arrived in Brule County, Dakota Territory Joseph could not believe what he saw - level land which had not a tree or a tree root needing to be grubbed out - free land, which Uncle Sam would give you just for living on it. The reader can envision how good this offer seemed to a man with six sons and the possibility of more to come! He filed a claim, built a claim shanty to establish residence, and returned home in time for the birth of his daughter Rosa. He had new land, a new family, and bright prospects for the future!"
To be continued . . .
"Long ago, in the country of Bohemia, on the continent of Europe, a boy child was born on March 17, 1837 and named Josef Masvek. He was baptised into the Catholic faith in, or near, the city of Prague (Pra'ha) Bohemia on the Vltava River. His parents were John Josef and Anna (Vodzezka) Masvek who were probably a farm family since he came to the United States with considerable farming skill which he practiced successfully throughout his long life.
After coming to the United States, all branches of the Masvek family Americanized the name. Josef Masvek changed the "ha check" which has the "sh" sound so the name became Mashek. Some cousins changed the name to Maschek, some to Mashak, and others to Mascheck. But it is possible that all persons in the United States bearing one of the derivations of this name are related seven to nine generations distant.
Joseph B. Mashek was married to Anna Skoda (born 1841) at Prague, Bohemia in 1857; Anna was 16 years old. A son Joseph B. was born to them in 1860; a daughter Katherina in 1862; and a son John J. in 1863. According to family legend a daughter Mollei was born in 1867 on the ship as they were sailing to America.
We do not know why Joseph Mashek was inspired to come to this country. We do know that during that period of time the continent of Europe was torn by wars. Four armies had crossed and recrossed Bohemia from 1850 to 1865. It was the custom for the peasant class to be pressed into military service for as long as seven years, for whichever country was currently victorious. Perhaps Joseph Mashek had seen such military service and did not want to serve again or was fearful that his sons would face such service in the future. Having the desire to own his land, he may have been inspired by the attractive advertising of American railroad companies, who after the Civil War lured tens of thousands of European peasants to American shores. Whatever the reason, the Mashek family came to the United States in 1867.
They traveled by way of Canada to Cleveland, Ohio. It is believed that Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mashek and children Joseph B., Katherina, and John J. were all that left Bohemia from the immediate family. Later Joseph's brother John, a nephew John, and a Mathias Mashek left Bohemia. Many Bohemian peasants left from Hamburg, Germany that year.
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Mashek and family settled in Cleveland, Ohio for a couple of years where they gained citizenship status. It is assumed that prior to 1870, Joseph and his family had begun their journey west. The trip using Cleveland, Ohio as a departure point, took a period of four to six months traveling by horse and wagon, or by waterways and wagon. Part of the trip may have been taken by train. They may have visited with their friends the Viktora family in Muscada, Wisconsin where there was a Bohemian settlement. For "wherever the Masheks went, the Viktoras followed---our family settled their way across Iowa and Dakota right behind them." Frank Viktora was half-cousin by marriage and was born in Muscada, Wisconsin.
In 1871 Joseph Mashek bought land in Spillville, Iowa from a gentleman who had already moved to California. It was also known that other Masheks had preceded him, buying land in 1868-1870. The move to Spillville was probably a family reunion. [Note: Spillville is in the northeast corner of Iowa and was primarily a Czech (Bohemian) settlement. For more on Spillville, including a neat picture of a water mill that was built before Joseph settled there go to http://www.spillville.org/Spillville/OldMill.html ]
At Spillville, the Joseph and Anna Mashek family was enlarged by the births of James 1871, Frances Bertha 1873, Frank 1874, and twins born August 12, 1875 with a girl Anna Belle being the only survivor. Not only did Joseph lose a child of this birth, but he also lost his beloved Anna four and one-half months later as a result of what must have been a traumatic birth. Anna Skoda Mashek died early in January 1876. She was buried in the church cemetery at Fort Atkinson, Iowa where the family had begun attending church. Fort Atkinson, Iowa was a military town two and one-half miles southwest of Spillville. [Note: Anna Belle Mashek, the surviving twin, is my great-great grandmother]
After the first farm was purchased at Spillville, Iowa, he bought several more farms to add to his first few acres of land. He had sons who were maturing and would soon need farms of their own. The area where he concentrated his land purchases in Sumner Township, is just south of the area called "Bohemian Creek" in Winneshiek County. One of the farms still has a small mill wheel attached to the side of the barn and a picturesque little creek which must have been used to grind flour for the Mashek family still flows there.
With the loss of their mother, 14 year old Katherina took care of the family, including baby Anna, with the aid of aunts and a hired girl.
In 1878, two years after the death of his wife Anna, a trip to town changed Joseph's life. He was driving a young team, which he had newly broken to pull a wagon. As he entered the tiny village the team ran away, taking out the front fence from the home of a young widow. It was difficult to get the team stopped, but harder still was the tongue lashing Joseph received from the widow who assumed he was drunk at 11 o'clock in the morning! Assuring the young woman he was not drunk did not pacify her. He finally agreed that he would rebuild her fence. [Note: I should hope so!] As the fence repair began, and continued through the summer, it was obvious to the family that a romance blossomed in that yard that summer. Joseph began serious courting through the winter of 1878-1879. Joseph Mashek and Anna Stepan Riha were united in marriage in her family church at Spillville on May12, 1879.
Anna Stepan (Stef'on) Riha, born in 1845, had come to the United States in 1867 as a young wife and mother with her husband James Michael Riha and their daughters Mary and Anna, Anna's parents the Frank Stepans, and her brother Michael Stepan and his family. While she and Joseph were courting they found that they had both been born in Prague and had both come to the States in the same year. Anna's husband James M. Riha was a carpenter-farmer who came to Fort Atkinson to do carpentry for the government fort there and died March 1878 in a construction accident. Anna and James Riha had four children - Mary 1865; Anna 1867-1871; James 1873, and Albert 1876.
After their marriage, Joseph and Anna's combined families were a total of 13 living children. Their combined farmland was enough to support this large family but their farmhouse south of Bohemian Creek must have been crowded. The family size did not decrease with this marriage as Joseph and Anna had their first child Rosa, born on May 1, 1880.
Earlier in March of 1880, Joseph Mashek and his sons loaded a wagon and started on an adventure west to see the land which had just been opened up in what had been Indian land. The 1870's had been a decade of depression, drought, and hard times. The opportunity for free virgin land seemed too good to be true. When he arrived in Brule County, Dakota Territory Joseph could not believe what he saw - level land which had not a tree or a tree root needing to be grubbed out - free land, which Uncle Sam would give you just for living on it. The reader can envision how good this offer seemed to a man with six sons and the possibility of more to come! He filed a claim, built a claim shanty to establish residence, and returned home in time for the birth of his daughter Rosa. He had new land, a new family, and bright prospects for the future!"
To be continued . . .
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Sixteen going on seventeen . . .
Yes . . . my grandmother has a bit of tomboy in her. :)
Dorothy Love April 14, 1947
Dorothy Love April 27, 1947
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Future Partners in Crime
Myself and my cousin Josh
1970s
OK . . . so yes I may have attempted to put the blame on my partner a time or two. Such as when I wrote my signature backward J in lipstick in my grandma's closet (I was not too smart back then). Nevertheless I have many fond memories of getting into mischief with my little cuz.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
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