Jan Ciml and the Grapevines of Oxford Jct.
Jan Ciml (John Cimel) was one of many emigrants who left the peasantry of South Bohemia to join the growing Czech population of Oxford Junction, Iowa. His story is typical of his countrymen’s, yet it is unique in that he left a legacy in the town — the grapevines that he planted and advised others in planting and maintaining. Per Ciml’s obituary, after coming to O.J. he: “…. soon found employment as a gardener, a line of work in which he was highly trained, having made vineyard work a specialty.” Many grapevines still grow in O. J., having provided thousands of grapes for eating fresh, for juice and jelly, for pie and even for wine. …………….
The essay that begins as above has too many photos to publish here. If you can open Works (.wps) documents, I will e-mail it to you, JudyNelson08@gmail.com. It includes genealogy of Ciml, Kropik, and Koranda, as well as describing the emigration out of Europe in the 19th century, and gives you more on grapes than you’d ever want. The 2010 version of this essay had an incorrect location of Hrdlorezy 19. The farmstead is on the southwest edge of the village.