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The story of Vincenc Luk as appeared on page 154 of Amerikan Narodni Kalendar, Chicago, Illinois, Volume 9, 1886 and translated by Dr. Zdenek Hruban of Chicago, in 1991, the audio-tape in possession of Luk’s great grandaughter, Velma Luke Norris.

Story by Vincenc Luk of Oxford Junction, Iowa:

In the year 1854 we arrived in vehicles to Iowa City because there was no railroad. It cost us a lot of money and hardship before we reached this place. From there we traveled farther to the countryside.

Here our coachman deposited us under an oak tree where we stayed for 3 months without help and without shelter. At that time were heavy rains and storms and we were very often drenched wet so that even the feathers in our feather beds did not remain dry. The water was up to one foot high under our feet for those 3 months. I had shaking fever and when the fever went down and I got wet again the shaking fever returned. Sometimes I hid myself in a haystack and there I did not get much drenched.

We didn’t have any horses or oxen and therefore had to carry on my back flour from a distance of 9 miles. Then we built a hut from branches and grass but that soon after [went] down and we see that many of our property and then we have nothing. Other immigrants made their huts from wood which grew nearby and which we had to carry because there was no oxen. Because there was no shingles, they made thatch or grass roofs on the houses. I was very weak and couldn’t help myself to such a cottage.

In November, to one countryman a little boy was born and because there was no space because in the hut lived 3 families, this woman had to go to another hut 9 miles away with the child where only 2 families lived. The farmer’s wife died there after the delivery and the child remained alive so my wife took it and cared for it and nursed it for 21 weeks. For that she was paid 9 hens and 5 pounds of smoked meat.

In the winter I cut down some trees and when spring came I built also such a hut. In the spring all Czechs received work from a farmer sewing or planting corn. I received daily 50 cents, and for this money I bought 5 oxen, 2 years old, and 1 cow. That farmer, who have to all the Czechs, his name was Solomon Prutz [Pence].

I also wanted to break through (till) 8 acres. I also had to have money for wheat to be planted. The next winter was very very hard and at the end of December when we were [thrashing?] for the farmer we hardly could profit. In the spring I had wheat sown on those 8 acres, but in the summer came hails and they damaged it so much that again I had nothing. We all again had to work hard for nothing. Our employers put us off as they wished.

I worked also for one Czech named Jan Ludvik and he told me that I am eating too much and drinking too much coffee. In the winter I worked for a farmer for $14 monthly. The same winter there was a lot of snow here and they made big snowdrifts. Then it rained into this and it froze so that the entire prairie looked like one large mirror. The horses had to have their legs bandaged, and even so they were hurt by the ice. At home we had nothing to eat and nothing to make fire with, so my feet got frostbite. Even farmers couldn’t go to the mill. We had to grind the wheat in a coffee grinder. My wife, so she’d have something to make a fire with, had to cut an old oak from the river.

Next summer I broke down the prairie, a couple [inaudible] of prairie for farmers. One didn’t have any money so he gave me a piece of the land. Sometimes I had up to 3 years to wait for money for the breaking the prairie.

There was also a lot of harmful insects and snakes so that one of them bit my shoe. It was my luck that the shoes were made from thick hide and he didn’t bite through. One summer again bad, all the hay in the haystack [used] so that in the winter we didn’t have anything to feed the cattle.

The names of the countrymen which came with me are: Vaclav Pavelka, Frantisek Kaspar, Frantisek Kadidlo, Josef Dostal, Frantisek Pazourek. But they all already died. Only myself is alive. I and Frantisek Kadidlo work together planting the prairie and we do not remember how many hundreds of acres we cultivated. The money at that time was hard to keep. The whole year we had to save for taxes.

Now we all are doing better and our future is safeguarded.

Notes re: Vincenc Luk story and his fellow travelers

Amerikan Narodni Kalendar was published annually from 1878 to 1958. Some articles were stories and/or interviews of their Czechs readers and some, like Luk’s, were submissions of personal stories. Luk may have written his story a few years prior to the 1886 issue’s release.

The "vehicles" the Luk party arrived in were probably stage coaches as he makes reference to a coachman. They had no horses or oxen which were needed for a covered wagon/prairie wagon/prairie schooner. For the trip from Iowa City to (what became) Oxford Township, they might have hired a wagon and driver as it is doubtful that their destination was on an established stage coach route, but it might have been as Higley Stagecoach Service had a route connecting Iowa City and Dubuque in 1846.

Lacking the emigrant ship’s passenger list that included Luk and would reveal his port of arrival, we don’t know his route from the ship to Iowa City. In 1852 there were two railroads with tracks from the east coast to Chicago. The first rail line in Iowa was built in 1854 and the first locomotive in Iowa was at Davenport. From those facts we can assume that Luk’s party traveled by train at least to Chicago and possibly farther west to Davenport. We don’t know what month prior to November that they arrived in Iowa City (he talks of rain, not snow, suggesting March to October which is usually dry). The heavy rains he describes suggest spring or summer. The obituary of a son of his friend Vaclav Pavelka says they arrived on September 13, 1854. Studying the obits of all their party (see below re: countrymen) might tell us more about the arrival time. The railroad line from Davenport to Iowa City might have been finished, but we are left to wonder if their wagon travel began in Chicago or Davenport or Iowa City or from some place in between Chicago and Iowa City other than Davenport.

Oak trees growing in Iowa are of the Beech tree family of hardwoods and are the official tree of Iowa. It was not determined for these notes whether an Oak could live 150 + years, but there are (in 2003) Oak trees on the old Luk farm in section 11. Burr Oaks can live to 200, a tough oak with deeply lobed leaves and huge-capped acorns, growing fast and deep. There is a dead but not decayed Oak tree in the hollow, south of the farmhouse that is on the Luk hill. After Luk/Luke, Joe Balichek lived there, and in 2003 Lynn & Karen Sterk (5694 30th Ave.), the first place on the east side of the road, now 30th Ave. which is the first road to the south, off 60th St., and east of Slouha’s farm, east of Hwy 136. Luk’s first land purchase as registered in Jones County records was for 40 acres, the sw ¼ of the nw ¼ of section 11, township 83 north, range one west, $100.00 from James & Elizabeth Kenton. Since Luk makes no mention of moving from their original camping ground and delays in filing land purchases were common, we assume that we have located Luk’s original piece of prairie. If he built here on the hill northeast of the villages, he had a marvelous vista to the south.

Our subject had "the shaking fever". Descendant Velma Norris said he had malaria which was called ague. From a book on pioneers of the Midwest "In ca. 1840 malaria raged throughout the Mississippi Valley."

Luk carried flour 9 miles from his source. That was probably Toronto, earlier Thornton’s Mill. The mill at Oxford Mills wasn’t built until 1857.

The "wood which grew nearby" was the timber approx. ½ mile northeast and/or the timber 1 ½ miles east.

The thatch or grass used for roofs on the early houses was no doubt from prairie grass. See article on prairie grass which covered Iowa and was significant to the pioneers.

Luk said that the wife of a Czech man ("countryman") from his area died shortly after giving birth to a son, and that Luk’s wife cared for the child for 21 weeks. There are no Iowa death records from that early, but a researcher wanting to learn who it was would consider which Czech farmers were in the township in 1854 to 59, check church records (Baldwin Catholic? Toronto Catholic?) for a death record of November or December, 1854 to 59?), and examine the 1870 Federal Census (if the 1860 does not list wives) for a man with no wife, a wife of fewer years than the age of other children, inquire of genealogists of the Czech surnames in the township early, etc. It would be interesting to learn the identity of the baby boy, too. In 1860 the child would have been age 2 to 6. In 1870, age 12 to 16. Mrs. Luk was lactating in 1855 to ‘57? after the birth of her son Frank, and again in 1859 to ‘61? after the birth of Vince Jr. Probably not in 1858.

Solomon Pence hired Czechs for farm labor on his many acres: in section 1 and 2 in 1867;
360 acres in Oxford Twp. in 1877, and 280 in Wyoming Township, just north of Oxford Twp the same year. Pence’s land became known as Pence Ridge and includes a cemetery named after him. Perhaps other "employers" Luk mentioned were the English earlier owners of land in the township.

Luk wrote of breaking the prairie and suggests that he and Kadidlo cultivated hundreds of acres of prairie. See prairie grass article (Tallgrass Prairie) which describes the difficulty in plowing through the prairie grass and its deep, tangled roots.

The Czech Jan (John) Ludvik was not a land owner on the 1867 plat, and not found on 1877‘s. The censuses could be searched for him. Some pioneers continued on to Nebraska and Kansas, later South Dakota. In the 1870 Federal Census there is a John F. Ludwig, born Prussia (Germany) in Bremer Co., Sumner Twp., age 64. The other 4 John Ludviks of various spellings in the ‘70 census seem too young to have been hiring laborers in the 1850s.

The harsh winter conditions were probably in December of 1856 when there was a blizzard for 3 days followed by an ice storm which made a thick crust on the snow. Much game was lost to the weather that winter.

Mrs. Luk "cut an old oak from the river". There is no river in section 11, but there was a creek, perhaps wider then, just north of Luk’s, and one about one mile south southwest. The nearest actual river was the Wapsipinicon, about 3 miles south.

Luk’s land purchases as found in the Jones County land transfer records by Velma Luke Norris were: 40 acres in the sw ¼ of the nw ¼ of section 11, recorded April 13, 1860, $100; 10 acres off the n.side of the ne ¼ of the sw ¼ of section 11, recorded Sept. 29, 1860, $50 (for 3 ½ months’ work); 80 acres in the w ½ of the sw ¼ of section 12, recorded Mar. 18, 1862, $800.; and more in 1875 and 1889. The "piece of land" that Luk received for breaking prairie was probably the 10 acres recorded in Sept. of ‘60.

The countrymen (fellow Czechs -- Czechs used this term) who came with Luk are named and we recognize them from the early plats and census. We don’t know if he meant that they all traveled together from the same part of Bohemia but we know this about the men:
               Vaclav Pavelka (also Pawelka and Powelka) was born 27th of ?, 1797 in Bohemia. The place is illegible on his gravestone in the Mayflower Cem’y. He married there and had 4 children: Vaclav/Wentzel Jr. b. ca. 1818 and Fanny?, John?, Anna? He remarried to Katerina, having 3 more children: Anna b. ca. 1841 who m. in 1869 to John Dolezal (not matched to known Dolezals in O.J.), lived at Tama; Joseph b. in 1841 or 43 at Kostelec nad Orlici, d. 1919 at O.J., m. Otilla Moravec in 1863 or 66; and Antone b. ca. 1844-47, d. by 1910, m. Anna. Vaclav (Sr.) arrived in Iowa City on Sept. 13, 1854 per the Rootsweb biography of his son Joseph, in 1854 per the 1900 census, ca. 1850 per Joseph’s obit, was in Oxford Twp. by 1870’s census enumeration. He purchased 40 acres in section 2 and remained on that farm in n.e. Oxford Twp.per Rootsweb, though the 1867 plat has his 80 acres in section 11. The family probably came from Kostelec nad Orlici in n.e. Bohemia. Vaclav died Mar. 11, 1871. Continued research would check for Catholic church death record.
               Frantisek Kaspar was b. ca. 1808 in Bohemia per the 1856 state census of Oxford Twp. In household #59 a female Frances b. ca. 1834 is either his wife and perhaps b. ca. 1814 if her age is a typo, or Frances was his daughter. It is spelled Casper there and states that he has been in Iowa for 2 yrs. The 1860 agricultural census has Frant. Caspar farming. He owned in secion 3 per the 1867 plat. He was still in Oxford Twp. in 1870 per the Federal census. He was deceased by 1883-86 when Luk wrote his story, and does not appear in the index of the Mayflower Cem‘y.
               Frantisek Kadidlo might have been the Francis Cogla living with Dostals in household #69 in the 1856 state census of Iowa. Francis Cogla b. ca. 1814 in Bohemia, wife mary b. ca. 1818, daughter Anna b. ca. 1845, & dau. Frances b. ca. 1846. They had been in Iowa for 2 years. Kadidlo died Jan. 8, 1865 at 59 per the Mayflower index so b. ca. 1806. Both sources are subject to error. Neither Kadidlo nor Cogla was found in the 1870 Federal Census index. Luk said that he and Kadidlo "work together" which was probably correctly "worked" since Luk was in his 70s when he wrote his story and Kadidlo already dead.
                Josef Dostal was b. ca. 1810 and married Anna, b. ca. 1820. The 1856 census says they were born in Bohemia and had been in Iowa for 2 years. Their sons: John b. ca. 1838, Joseph b.1846, and Wencil b. ca. 1847 "at sea" (implying emigration in 1847), though ages in census are often incorrect. In 1860 Joseph is farming and the 1867 plat has him in section 13, but in 1870 he does not appear, though an Anna Dostal (his widow?) has a farm worth $4000. Joseph does not appear in the Mayflower index. Wenzel/Vince Willimack Sr.’s wife died in 1878, the same year that an Anna Dustal m. a Wenzel Willimack at Anamosa. Wenzel Jr. m. Anna Stupka hence the assumption that Sr. m. the widow Anna Dostal. Joseph Dostal Jr.’s obit in 1931 says that he was b. in Bohemia in 1846 and came to this country with his parents, settling in Jones County, when he was 8 (1854).
                Frantisek Pazourek is Francis Passorick in the 1856 state census. He was b. ca. 1800 in Bohemia and in Iowa for 2 years. His wife Anna was b. ca. 1802. Son John b. ca. 1839 (obit says 1837-1905) & dau. Fanney (Frances?) b. ca. 1844. Frantisek is probably the Francis Possek in the 1860 agricultural census. The 1867 plat has him in section 11 as Poserak. Buried in the Mayflower, he d. Dec. 11, 1882 at 82 yrs. and 25 days (b. ca. Nov. 1800). No obit was found.

Vincenc Luk (later Luke) was born August 20, 1813 in Bohemia and died Feb. 20, 1895, buried in the Mayflower Cemetery, lot 3. He m. Anna Bernk (Beranek??) who was b. July 18, 1827 & died Mar.31, 1890. In the 1860 census there is a Barbara Barron 14 and Bawfort Barron 65 living in the Luk household. In 1870 there is a Baron Laport , probably Laport /Bawfort Baron/Barron ,78 with them. Mr. Baron was possibly Anna’s father. They came to Oxford Township in 1854 per Luk’s story and apparently as a couple with no children (yet). They are household 67 in the 1856 state census. Their farm n.e. of Oxford Jct. worth $600 in the 1860 agricultural census. He signed his will of Jan. 1895 with an X but lack of education didn‘t prevent success through hard work. Evidently he specialized in custom farm work -- breaking prairie for other area farmers which required the right plow, oxen or horses, and a strong back. Vincenc and Anna’s children were: Frank b. ca. 1855 in Iowa; Vencil/Vincent Jr. b. 1855 to 59 (various sources) in Iowa, d. Aug. 6 1929, m. Mary Vrchota and had 9 children including James (Vince?) father of Velma Luke Norris who provided the Luk story; Anna b. 1860/61 who m. a Woodraska; Emma b. ca. 1862 & m. Joseph Kostichek?; Edward 1865-1946 who m. Josephine and moved to Marion, Iowa; and Ludwig who d. Nov. 17, 1869 at 3 weeks. Vincenc had a blacksmith shop in section 11 showing us the versatility of this amazing American pioneer.

Luk’s neighbors were the 5 "countrymen" discussed above, and the other early settlers in the n.e. part of the township: Wosoba, Willimack, Beranek, Prokop, Pavlista, Slouha, Lasack, Vrchota, Pegorick, Jilek, Beck, and others.

End. J. Nelson, May 2004