Cetoraz Vaceks in Illinois

Over the years, many of the Vaceks left Cetoraz to pursue opportunities elsewhere; some within Bohemia, some in America.  This is the story of František Vacek (1850-1912) who, with his family, emigrated to Illinois in the late 19th century.

Cetoraz Root

St. Václav Roman Catholic church in Cetoraz

František Vacek was born on 20 Oct 1850, the third of sixteen children born to Martin Vacek, a farmer from Cetoraz no.24, and his wife Marie nee Zajícová from Bedřichov no. 7.   A few years later in Cetoraz, Marie Vacková, a daughter of Marie Vašečková was born on 20 May 1859 to Václav Vašeček (a farmer from Cetoraz no. 1) and his wife Josefa nee Čekalová from Obrataň no. 29.

On 1 Aug 1876, František married Marie in the St. Václav Roman Catholic church in Cetoraz.  Marie Vašečková was only 17 years old when she married František.  At that time marriages of such young girls was officially banned.   Most were at least 21 years old and required the permission of their father.  The parish marriage record states František was 25 years old and that Marie was 22.   Pavel Jareš speculates, “I suppose a wedding priest was very liberal and he was sympathetic to the young couple and he wrote down in the parish records that Marie Vašečková was 22 years old.” 

Move to Janov

Soon after the wedding the young couple moved to Janov u Mladé Vožice.  They lived in house no. 9.  It is a small village about 17 km (10 miles) northwest of Cetoraz.  Janov translates to Genoa.  Today there are 18 houses with a population of less than 50.   Pavel Jareš comments on possible reasons for moving from Cetoraz to Janov:

“I don´t know exactly why they left Cetoraz immediately after their marriage but there could be two possible reasons: 

1st     František had many brothers and sisters and he had no place where to live in Cetoraz. According to a tradition a family house usually kept the oldest or the most capable son who could look after family property well. This tradition was the most of all aristocratic privilege, aristocratic large property wasn´t divided at all. 

2nd   František and Marie didn´t want to make problems with the wedding priest´s "cheating" in records and they would rather moved away.

... but both points are only my surmises.”

According to Janov parish records František was an innkeeper.   He and Marie lived in Janov no. 9 from about 1877 until 1891.  According to church records, seven children were born to them while they were there:

1st     Anna Vacková        6 Jul 1877

2nd   Marie Vacková        13 Jan 1879

3rd    Petronila Vacková   25 May 1881

4th    Jan Vacek               21 Dec 1884

5th    Josefa Vacková       9 Mar 1887

6th    František Vacek      19 Jan 1889, he died on 28 Dec 1889

7th    Alžběta Vacková     28 Oct 1890

Pavel Jareš reports, “After Vaceks emigration to the U.S, the house no. 9 was bought by the Dobeš (Dobesh) family, which later moved to Prague.  The Dobeš family corresponded with the Vacek family in the USA.   The Macháčeks family now lives in no. 9 (2012).”

Emigration to the U.S.

Two relatives of František preceded him in moving to the U.S.  His  brother Jan and family emigrated to the United States in 28 July 1879.  They left from the port in Bremen, Germany and landed at Baltimore.    From there they travelled on to Iowa.  Then in 1882,  František’s  second cousin, František, his wife, Marie, and their six children emigrated  They departed Hamburg Germany on 26 April 1882 in second class accommodations on the steam ship Westphalia owned by Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellshaft under the flag of Germany with Herr Schwensen as captain.  They landed in New York NY and then travelled to Minnesota.

František and Marie emigrated to the United States in 1892.  They travelled to the port at Hamburg, Germany.  There they boarded the Steamship Russia under the command of Herr Schmidt.  The ship was owned by the Hamburg-Ameridanische Packetfahrt-Actien-Gesellschaft.  Their Accommodations were in zwischendeck (steerage).  The ship’s manifest listed the family as being from Janov, Österreich:

Franz Vacek           42     (1850)      a Tischler (cabinet maker)

Marie Vacek          33     (1859)      wife

Marie Vacek          11     (1881)      daughter

Petronella Vacek   9     (1883)      daughter

Jan Vacek                  7     (1885)      son

Josefa Vacek           5     (1887)      daughter

Alzbeta Vacek         1     (1891)      daughter

Anna, age 15 and Marie, age 13, are not listed.  Also, the ages of daughters Marie and Petronella are misstated.  Marie should be 13 (1879) and Petronella should be 11 (1881).  The errors for the two girls were continued throughout the emigration process.

They set sail on 13 Aug 1892, were at sea for 18 days, and landed in Baltimore.  The Port of Baltimore recorded that the family was from Janof, Bohemia; arrived on the steamship Russia on 31 Aug 1892; and had Illinois as their final destination.

 Names and ages listed:

Franticek          42     (1850)

Maria               33     (1859)

Marie               11     (1881)

Petronila            9     (1883)

Jan                    7     (1885)

Josefa                5     (1887)

Elizabeth            1     (1891) 

The spelling of several of the names was changed from the way they were listed on the ship’s manifest.  The ages of all were in agreement between the two lists.

After landing the family had to go through immigration where they were examined to ensure they were in good health and physical condition.  František declared that he was bringing $450.00 into the country.  The amount was relatively large – all others listed on the same page declared $25.00 or less; some as little as $2.00.   In the 1890’s a common laborer was lucky to receive a dollar a day.  The average annual income for a family of four in 1890 was $380.  Four-hundred-fifty dollars would be more than a year’s wages.    As a finish carpenter, a cabinet maker, František was a craftsman and probably earned more than a dollar a day.  Nonetheless he had at least six months wages in his pocket; $30-50k in today’s terms.

Franticek Vacek           42     (1850)

Maria                           33     (1859)

Marie                           11     (1881)

Petronila                         9     (1883)

Jan                                 7     (1885)

Josefa                             5     (1887)

Elizabeth                         1     (1891)

The names and ages agree with the those in the Baltimore Port records.

Chicago, Illinois

By the turn of the century, Chicago had a population of about 100,000 Bohemians.  This made it the third-largest Czech city in the world, after Prague and Vienna.   Within Chicago there was "a city within a city" where about forty-five thousand of the Bohemians lived.  The colony was in named in honor of the second largest city of Bohemia Pilzen, or Pilsen.

I could not find any further record of the family until the 1900 U.S. Federal Census.  The family was listed as living in Chicago Ward 29, Cook County, Illinois.  By now František was known as Frank; and Maria as Mary.   And the children had all “Americanized” their names as well:

Frank                                50     (1850)

Mary                                 41     (1859)

Mary                                 21     (1879)

Tonie                                19     (1881)

John                                  15     (1885)

Josie                                 13     (1887)

Beddie                               9     (1891)

The ages of Petronella, now Tonie, and Alžběta, now Beddie, are correct; they agree with the original church records in Janov, Czech Republic.  One curious thing; the census indicates that she had 4 living children, yet 5 are listed for the family – was one adopted?  I don’t know!

The next public record of this family plays a sad note.  On 8 Sep 1906, John (Jan) died in Chicago, Cook County, Illinois.  He was a trained machinist and only 21 years old.  He was living with his parents at 4613 Robey Street in Chicago.  He was not married and left no known heirs.  The record doesn’t say how he died, but I found a post on Ancestry.com from Jaclyn Jimison that might explain it. 

“Hello, I have written down that their parents, Mary Vasecka Vacek and Frank Vacek were from Cetora, Kraj Tabor Czechoslovakia. I am the great-grandaughter of Josephine Vacek Nelson, who was Anna Vacek Pechota's sister. had other siblings named Mary Vacek Kuhn, Antonette Vacek Noy, Betty Vacek Pekoe, and Frank Vacek Jr, who died relatively young while being robbed.“

The names given by Jaclyn Jimison correlate with the emigration and census records:

Josephine Vacek Nelson               Josefa, Josie

Anna Vacek Pechota                    Anna (not on emigration list with family; did she join the family later?)

Mary Vacek Kuhn                       Mary, Marie, Maria

Antonette Vacek Noy                  Petronella, Tonie

Betty Vacek Pekoe                     Alžběta, Elizabeth, Beddie

Frank, Jr                                  Must mean Jan as “Little Frank” after his father; Frank died in infancy.

Frank died on 23 Apr 1912 when at the age of 61.  He lived with his wife Mary at 41613 Robey St. in Cook County, Illinois.  He was buried along with his son in the Bohemian National Cemetery.

After Frank died, Mary went to live with her daughter Elizabeth according to the 1930 Federal census.  Elizabeth married Joseph Pekoe and they had two daughters Florence born abt. 1915 and Dorothy, born abt. 1923.  Joseph was born in Illinois of Bohemian parents, but never learned to speak Bohemian.  Elizabeth and her mom could though.

Mary died on 5 Jan 1939 when she was 79.  On the 9^th, she was buried in the Bohemian National Cemetery in North Chicago where her husband, Frank, and their son, John, were buried.  The Bohemian National Cemetery founded in 1877 as a cemetery for freethinkers and remains in existence today.

With the death of Jan and Frank, the Vacek name disappeared from this Vacek line.  And so today, the blood and the spirit of Cetoraz lives on in families such as Nelson, Pechota, Kuhn, Noy, and Pekoe.