Czech Letters

I've collected some old Czech letters and documents. Unfortunately I don't read Czech! I would greatly appreciate any help in transcribing and translating these! Also see the Posekany and Chaloupek pages. This page has become very long, so I started a new page, Czech Letters part 2.

Click twice to see larger images.

1909 Letter from Frank M. Posekany to Marie

Translation:

This letter was found in the possessions of Václav and Marie (Posekany) Pistulka. Their descendants are described on the Posekany Branches page. I believe the author is the same Frank M. Posekany who is the subject of this page. How many Frank M. Posekanys could there have been in Chelsea, Iowa? The "meri" to whom it is written must be Marie (Posekany) Pistulka, since it was found in her belongings. This establishes a relationship between Frank and Marie, and thus between what I have called the Václav Branch and the František Branch. But how were Frank and Marie related? Records indicate that he was about 19 years older, but that may be in error. Were they brother and sister? Uncle and niece? Cousins? I suspect that they were uncle and niece, so that Václav, Marie's father, would be František's brother.

The letter mentions Charlie, which would be Frank's son, just turned 25, and just past his first wedding anniversary. He must have gotten well, as he lived until 1941. It also mentions John, who is Marie's brother.

It was not uncommon for farmers to move to town when they retired. The living was easier, and medical help was nearby. As we learn from this letter, Frank and his wife, also named Marie, planned to attend church every day. Both passed away in 1914, so they lived 5 years in Chelsea.

Thanks to Denny Slehofr for translating this letter. No envelope survives; just two sides of one sheet of paper. If anyone wants to see images of the original, or Denny's transcription before translation, please email me. Thanks also to Tessa Parisek for sending me the original images.

František Posekany obituary from March 1914, translated from Czech

The obituary of my gg-grandfather, František M. Posekany, b. 16 Oct 1840, d. 5 Mar 1914. I don't know the name of the newspaper. The must have been a Czech language newspaper in Iowa. The death date of 5 Mar 1914 is confirmed. The birth date of 1841 is close enough to 16 Oct 1840, which appears on other records. Thanks to Denny Slehofr for the translation. If anyone wants to see the original, in Czech, please email me at haloupek at gmail dot com.

This obituary was printed in a Czech language newspaper, somewhere in Iowa. The death date of 5 Mar 1914 is confirmed. The birth date of 1841 is close enough to 16 Oct 1840, which appears on other records. It also gives the birth place as Cetoraz, which is the same small town where two other Posekany branches originate. More evidence of a connection!

Thanks to Denny Slehofr for the translation, and Tessa Parisek for the image of the clipping. If anyone wants to see the original clipping, in Czech, or Denny's transcription before translation, please email me at haloupek at gmail dot com.

Four-page Chaloupek Letter from 1922

This is an old Chaloupek letter. The top image has pages 1 and 4, and the bottom has 2 and 3.

Translation:

From the translator, Denny Slehofr

There is nowhere in it mentioned any family name (Chaloupek), but letter accounts for five persons (3 in Bohemia and 2 in the US) of which four are literally referred to as brothers:

- Mates [Matěj] from Dolní Hradiště who wrote the letter

- Václav who is selling a farm and about to move to Čistá (not called a brother in the letter but handled like one)

- Pepík [Josef] probably oldest one, living in Kopidlo (referred to as Kopidla in the letter)

- Francek [František] who lives in the US

- ???? in the US whom the letter was sent to

Please note that Kopidlo was/is the offical name of the village and Kopidla is till now the name used for it by locals.

This letter doesn't mention the name Chaloupek, and the envelope has been lost. However, it was found among the Haloupek possessions, and the names of the brothers mentioned in the letter match up with the sons of Matĕj and Katerina (Holzknectova) Chaloupek. The Czech language must be very subtle, if it allows forms of names that indicate sibling relationship.

The date at the top reads 18y/-22, which means 18 July 1922.

Recall the list of children of Matĕj and Katerina, from Kopidlo, Plzeň, Bohemia:

Josef b: 24 Jul 1838 in Kopidlo; sever 20, d: 14 Aug 1838 in Kopidlo; sever 20

Marie b: 09 Jan 1842 in Kopidlo; sever 20

Josef b: 05 Jul 1844 in Kopidlo

František "Frank" Louis b: 20 Nov 1852 in Kopidlo, d: 20 May 1929 in Belle Plaine, Benton, IA

Vencil Václav "James" b: 14 Dec 1849 in Kopidlo, d: 28 Dec 1932 in Elberon, Tama, IA

Anna b: 04 Sep 1858 in Kopidlo, d: 19 Sep 1858 in Kopidlo

Matĕj b: 19 Feb 1863 in Kopidlo

The first child, Josef, died in infancy, and they reused the name for the third child. Anna also died in infancy. That leaves four brothers: Josef (78), František (69), Vencil (72) and Matĕj (59), and possibly a sister, Marie (80).

Matĕj, the author of the letter, was the youngest. He was writing from Dolní Hradiště, a small town just 4 km SE of Kopidlo.

We know that Vencil, who immigrated to the US in 1871-2, had visited Bohemia in 1921 and again in 1923. So when the letter says "Immediately after your departure" it seems to be referring to Vencil. The letter also asks to give greetings to Frank, who was living not far from Vencil, in Iowa. So it seems likely that this letter was sent from Matĕj in Dolní Hradiště, Bohemia, to Vencil in Elberon, Iowa.

The brother Josef is also mentioned, but Marie is not. She may also have died in childhood. At least we know that the four brothers were alive in 1922. The family seems to have been doing reasonably well financially.

I don't know who Václav is, or Šiml.

1900 Letter to Frank Chaloupek in Belle Plaine, Iowa, from his mother, Katerina Holzknechtova.

A letter from 1900, addressed to my gg-grandfather, Frank Chaloupek, in Belle Plaine, Iowa, from Bohemia. May be missing the first page, since this is marked 2. The envelope is shown below.

The back of the envelope has a real four-leaf clover on it!

Translation:

This letter was written by Katerina (Holzknechtova) Chaloupek, in Bohemia, to her son, František "Frank" Chaloupek, in Belle Plaine, Iowa. The postmark is from the post office in Plasy (or Plass, in German), which is the closest larger town to Kopidlo. Other records indicate that Katerina was born 22 Nov 1820, so she was just about to have her 80th birthday. However, other records also indicate that she died in 1894, which is impossible if she wrote this letter in 1900. So the 1894 date will have to be revised.

The letter confirms that the Chaloupeks were friends with the Deimls, a Jewish family from Kopidlo. Katerina's son Vencil Václav had married Charlotte "Lottie" Deiml, and they lived in Iowa, not far from František and his family. The Deimls are "still waiting for your portraits," so it seems that portraits were planned. Maybe somewhere there are some nice portraits of Vencil, František and their families!

The financial troubles of 1900 seem to have been relieved by 1922, as seen in another letter on this page.

Thanks to Denny Slehofr for this translation.

Birth/Baptism Certificate for Frank Chaloupek

A birth certificate for my gg-grandfather, František (Frank) Chaloupek.

Translation:

Thanks to Denny Slehofr for this translation.

Birth of Wenceslaus Chaloupek, 1768, in Kopidlo, Bohemia

1941 Nazi Document

Nazi document from 1941. This is a birth/baptism certificate for Matĕj Chaloupek. I believe the Chaloupeks needed this in order to prove to the Nazis that they weren't Jewish. Translation from Denny Slehofr:

This is very valuable because it gives official confirmation of Matĕj's birth date and place, and also the names and residences of his parents and grandparents. This Matĕj is the younger brother of František, whose birth certificate is also on this page, and Vencil. Both František and Vencil immigrated and settled in Iowa, but Matĕj stayed in Bohemia, at least until 1895, when his son was born. I don't know how long Matĕj lived, but he would have been 78 at the time of this document. See the Chaloupek page.

1869 Census for Kopidlo, Bohemia

1869 Census for Bohemia, in German. It shows the Chaloupek family, with Vencil and Frantisek still at home, so they immigrated after this. Translation, from Denny Slehof:

1880 Census for Kopidlo, Bohemia

The 1880 County Census. Son Joseph has taken over the property, both parents still living, Frantisek & Vencil are absent. Translation, from Denny Slehof:

From the Translator

I completed my translations of Chaloupek's Censuses for years 1869, 1880. This is the good news. The bad news is that you cannot use it as a proof of presence or absence of any person listed on it unless you have a complete copy. Original census sheets had front left and right and back data entries. Those sheets were then copied to census books, but only front sides. What you have is a copy of left front side of book records for one and a copy of left front sheet for the other. Missing front right hand sides have data about persons actually present or absent (both short and long term) among other. One census also had recorded birth dates not just years, but I would consider those entries unreliable.

Marie (1842) is also missing from the household. She had married Jan Eisenheimer in 1864, and Anna Eisenheimerová (1865) was their daughter. I don't know the date of death for either Jan or Marie, or why they were not living with their daughter.

I am not sure who Františka Šmidová (1863) could be. Katerina (Holzknechtova) Chaloupek (1819) had parents Vaclav Holzknecht (1789) and Josefa (Schlehoferova) Holzknecht (1793). When Josefa died in 1850, leaving 5 grown children, Vaclav married Anna Schmiedova (1828), and they had 6 children. I suspect that Františka Šmidová was the niece of Anna Schmiedova.

1920 Letter from Josie Posekany to the Pistulkas

This letter is from Josephine (Haijsman) Posekany, wife of John Posekany, to John's sister Marie (Posekany) Pistulka and husband Václav Pistulka. This is the first page, of 4. I don't have jpeg images of the other 3 pages, but the pdf of all 4 pages is attached, at the bottom of this page. Translation, thanks to Denny Slehof:

Notes on the Letter

This letter is from John and Josie (Haijsman) Posekany, in Chelsea, IA, to John’s sister Marie (Posekany) Pistulka, in Seaforth, MN, 6 Nov 1920.

First writer is John Posekany, writing to his sister, Marie.

John and Josie’s kids: Rose (27), Christine (24), Barbara (almost 16)

[John (58) and Josie (almost 50) lived until 1944 and 1953.]

Václav Pistulka and Marie had 12 kids: oldest 38, youngest almost 18

[Václav (65) and Marie (almost 61) both died in 1925.]

“Old parents from Cedar Rapids” must be Josie’s parents, Blazej and Barbora (Herejk) Haijsman. Blazej b. 1844 in Nebilovy, Bohemia. His death was 27 Oct 1920 in Chelsea, Iowa, according to Findagrave, so the funeral mentioned here is his. He is buried at Oak Hill Cemetery, Belle Plaine, Iowa. Barbora lived until Nov 1928. I didn’t know that they had lived in Cedar Rapids, so that is new information.

John refers to “coming home from Minnesota” so he must have visited Marie and her family in Seaforth, where their parents had also moved.

“The first year I helped Růžena and the second one Kristina.” I think he is referring to two of his three daughters, whose American names are Rose and Christine. Rose had been married for five years, and had two sons, ages 2 and 4, in Jefferson Twp, Poweshiek County, Iowa, not far from Chelsea. Their daughter was born in 1922. Christine had married in Jun 1919, but their one child had not yet been born. They also lived in Jefferson, Poweshiek, Iowa.

Now Josie writes.

“Every time I recognized a letter from Helena …” refers to Marie’s daughter, Helen Beatrice Pistulka (21), who was still single in 1920.

“He would be 76 this Christmas.” Josie’s father, Blazej Haijsman, was born 26 Dec 1844.

“All brothers and sister Mary came for the funeral.” Mary (43) lived in Star, Antrim, Michigan, and had six children. I don’t know of any brothers, except Joseph, who died in childhood.

Incidentally, Barbora (Herejk) Haijsman was half-sister of John Herejk, who married Mary Sophia Posekany (11 Jan 1869 – 23 Jun 1951), my gg-grand aunt. She was the eldest child of František and Marie (Macek) Posekany. So two children of John Herejk (1824-1907) married Posekanys, one from the Václav branch, and one from the František branch.

“My sister lives very far, in Michigan, and Karel, too, lives in Montana, and that is why we had to wait with burial 4 days.”

Apparently, one of Josie’s brothers was Karel, who lived in Montana. He was probably called Karl or Charles.

The burial must have been 31 Oct 1920, Halloween!

“Both our girls are healthy.” What about the youngest, Barbara? She was b. 1 Dec 1904 in Seaforth, and d. 11 Aug 1997. Maybe she was not mentioned because she was at home?

Kristina “stands for a teacher” so I suppose she was a substitute teacher.

Josef Vávra could be the one b. Jun 1847 in Bohemia, or his son, b. Mar 1881 in Iowa. I don’t think he is related to the Posekanys.

He was “buried in Belle Plaine cemetery like our dad.” Josie is referring to her father, who had just been buried the previous month.

Letter from Sophie (Posekany) Macek to her sister, Marie (Posekany) Pistulka, 6 pages

The envelope is not available.

Updated 3 Jan 2021 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.