František and Marie Posekany

František and Marie Posekany

This page has considerable overlap with my Posekany page, which give the details of the descendants of František and Marie. This page has more details of their life in Bohemia.

František M. Posekany was born in Cetoraz, a small town in the Tábor region of southern Bohemia, on 16 Oct 1840. I don't have any definite information about his parents or siblings, but there are two other Posekany branches that came from Cetoraz, and there is some evidence that they were related in some way. See the Mystery of the Three Brothers.

Marie Macek was born in the nearby town of Obrataň, on 19 Mar 1846. František and Marie were married in 1868, Bohemia, before immigrating to the United States. Once in the US, František, or "Franz" and Franz Jr were both called Frank. Marie and Marie Jr were both called Mary.

They traveled on the ship Braunschweig, and arrived at the port of Baltimore on 23 May 1874, along with a 5 year old daughter Marie, and infant son, Franz. Franz Sr is described on the passenger list as a carpenter, but he became a farmer in Iowa. His brother (at least I think they were brothers) Joseph immigrated, with his family, in 1884, and settled near Chelsea. See the Posekany Branches page.

The Braunschweig was practically new, having been built in 1873. On the passenger list, the name is spelled Posekani.

Bohemia was part of Czechoslovakia, which was part of the Austrian Empire until the Austrian War of 1866. Under the compromise of 1867, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was created, and Bohemia fell under the Austrian side of the empire. They were still under the tight control of the Germans. Religious and cultural suppression forced many Bohemians and other Czechs to leave their homeland, and many set their sights on America. Thousands of Czech immigrants came to Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

Iowa

How and when the Posekany family came to Iowa is not clear, but they settled near Chelsea, Iowa, and eventually bought a farm, northeast of Chelsea. The plat map of Salt Creek Township in the 1892 Atlas shows the 80 acre Posekany farm, about a mile NE of Chelsea.

I don't have any pictures of František and Marie, and in fact I only have pictures of two of their children. There is a wedding picture of Agnes and Emil Behounek, and one of Albert and Josephine Klober, and another small picture of Albert in a horse-drawn wagon, on the Posekany page.

Marie had several names

I've seen several last names for Marie. Perhaps she was married before František, but how many times? Names for Marie (Mary) Posekany (1846-1914):

Family records and her obituary have her named Marie Vlach Posekany.

Marriage record for son Anton has her listed as Maria Tábor. Probably a mix-up; they came from the Tábor region.

Marriage record for daughter Mary has her listed as Mary Macek.

Marriage record for daughter Agnes has her listed as Marie Hruska.

Obituary of son Charles lists his mother as Marie Ulach.

1885 Census has Jim Matsak, age 72, widowed, living with Frank and Mary and family. Must be Mary’s father. Matsak is probably Macek, and Jim was probably Václav, in Bohemia. So on this slim evidence, I think her father could have been Václav Macek, b. 1813 Bohemia, d. aft. 1885 Iowa.

Three Boys Died in Childhood

František and Marie's first child, Marie, lived to old age. Their next three children, all boys, died in childhood. The information is conflicting. I think that, in some cases, they placed a stone as a memorial, even though the body is not there.

The obituary of Albert Posekany says “Preceding him in death were his parents; five brothers, Vincent, Frank, Joseph, Antone and Charles; and a sister, Mrs. John (Mary) Herejk; and one grandchild, Donald Dean Posekany. We can account for Antone, Charles, Mary and Donald Dean. We are left with Vincent, Frank and Joseph.

The History of Tama County, Iowa 1987, section F839 gives dates: Vincent (1871-died in infancy), Frank (1873-1877), Joseph (1875-1877).

There was a 13-page document written by Shirley Ann (Novotny) Behounek in 1970, that has the descendants of Frank and Marie Posekany. It seems to be very carefully researched, using family information, and it was done before the internet made it so easy to transmit mistakes. Shirley wrote that “It is believed that some small children died on the way over to the United States.” Furthermore, she says that Vincent died in infancy and is believed buried in Dvorak Cemetery; Frank and Joseph died of diphtheria at age 6 and 8, and are buried in Stayskal Cemetery.

František and Marie immigrated in 1874, along with a 5 year old daughter Marie, and infant son, Franz. That's according to the Baltimore Passenger lists. If Josef had died on the voyage, he would have been buried at sea, and not listed in Baltimore.

The 1880 US Census for Salt Creek Township, Tama County has the Frank (35) and Mary (35) with 3 children: Mary (13), Frank (2) and an unnamed infant son (1/12). Mary is the eldest, and the infant son would be Albert. The 2-year-old could be one of the three boys. It says he was born in Iowa. This might make it seem as though Frank had lived past 1877. However, Anton is missing, and he would be 2. This must be Anton, not Frank.

The 1885 Iowa State Census for Salt Creek Twp has Frank (45), Mary (38), Anthony (6), Albert (5), Charly (1), Mary (16), Mary (?8), and Jim Matsak (72), in one household. This census does not give the relationship to the HoH. It seems that Frank has aged 10 years and Mary only 2 years in the past 5! Anthony and Albert are both present. I suspect that the third Mary is a sister of Frank, and Jim Matsak is the father of Mary (Frank’s wife). It makes sense because Macek is one of her possible maiden names. So I think she was born Mary Macek, and possible had a husband before Frank.

Anyway, it looks like the 2-year-old Frank in the 1880 Census must be Anthony, or Anton Vencil Posekany (my g-grandfather).

Summary: Vincent (1871) died on or before the crossing. The marker in Dvorak Cemetery, if there is one, is just a memorial. The family arrived in Baltimore, 1874, with Franz, Marie, and children Marie and Franz (who would be called Mary and Frank in the US.) Then Joseph was born in 1875, Chelsea. Then Frank and Joseph both died in 1877, were buried at Stayskal, so Mary was the only child, until Anton was born in 1878.

So I think Shirley is wrong about Frank and Joseph being 6 and 8, and the 2-year-old Frank in the 1880 census is really Anton.

1909 Letter from František Posekany to Marie (Posekany) Pistulka

Translation:

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.

The obituary above spells her birthplace Vrobatan. I can't find this on any maps. It must be Obrataň, a small village just 3 km from Cetoraz. It also establishes that František and Marie were married in 1868, and that she died in the home of her daughter, Mary (Posekany) Herejk, in Elberon, Iowa. (Actually, I think they had a farm near Elberon.) Newspaper unknown. The second obituary is shorter, but corroborates this fact.

F. Posekany awarded the Kriegsmedaille

There was a F. Posekany who was awarded a Kriegsmedaille in 1880 by the Austrian Emperor, for service in the Dutch Eest Indies. I don't know whether this is our František or not. If so, this award came after František immigrated to America, and he may not have been aware of the award.

Recall that František was born in 1840, married in 1868, his first child was born in 1869, he immigrated with his family in 1874, and the award was granted in 1880. Perhaps the reason he didn't marry until age 28 is that he was in the military.

It seems that the East Indies Army was recruiting sailors from all over Europe, including Bohemia, in the early 1870s. It was actually illegal, at one time, to send Dutch citizens to fight in the Indies, because of the high mortality rate, but even so, men from other countries were enlisting.

I don't know why the Austrian Emperor gave a medal to a Bohemian for service in the Dutch military. Maybe someone who knows a little European history can explain this to me.

The notice appeared in several Dutch language newspapers. I have done my best to read these articles, and here I will discuss what I have found. I hope that someone reading these words will be able to help me understand all this.

The first article appeared in the AlgemeenHandelsblad, an Amsterdam-based liberal daily newspaper, on 2 Feb 1880.

Page 1, columns 3-4, from the article Besluiten en Benoemingen, in the Algemeen Handelsblad, 2 Feb 1880.

[The large marking was made by the software I used to convert the pdf to jpg.]

I guess “jl” means “this year”?

I think the German Medal for the campaign against France in 1870/71 only applies to Hedeman.

From the internet: “koloniaal werfdepot” is the “Colonial Recruit Depot” which was the main yard depot for the East Indies Army, located in Harderwijk, Netherlands.

This title of the article, Besluiten en Benoemingen, means Decisions and Appointments. My attempt at a translation:

By Royal Decree of 30 Jan ?? to the conditions for service in India soldiers destined E. W. Hedeman and F. Posekany, both of the Colonial Recruit Depot, at their request, are authorized, the first to wear the German medal for the campaign against France in 1870/71, and the latter the Austrian Kriegsmedaille Medal.

This is a little garbled, because I just translated words and not the sentence structure, and it's not clear whether Hedeman went to both India and France, but it does seem that F. Posekany was "destined" for India. To the Dutch, India may have meant anywhere in South Asia, including the Dutch East Indies. The Netherlands had declared war on the Aceh nation, near Sumatra, in 1873.

The soldiers Hedeman and Posekany had apparently requested the right to wear these medals. The requests may have been made many years earlier, but I don't know why the Army would wait until 1880 to grant the requests.

The Kriegsmedaille had been established in 1873 by Franz Joseph I, Emperor of the Austrian Empire. The "royal decree" must refer to Franz Joseph.

The day after this article appeared, the same announcement appeared in three other Dutch newspapers. The wording is slightly different, so by looking at all of them, I might make up for my poor understanding of Dutch.

De standaard 3 Feb 1880, Page 2, col 5, in the article De-Staats Courant, or The Current State. A newspaper published in Belgium, but Wikipedia says it was founded in 1918. The first paragraph concerns E.W. Hedeman, and I've included it just in case he turns out to be connected to F. Posekany, more than just having his award announced on the same day. Below is my attempt at translating the second paragraph.

On conditions for the service in Indie destined soldier F. Posekany of the colonial yard depot is done deliberately by his request, authorized to wear the Austrian Kriegsmedaille.

I'm not sure about this newspaper. “Nieuws van den Dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië” was published from 1895 to 1900. This paper doesn’t say “voor Nederlandsch-Indië” and it’s from 1880. The name has also been a subtitle for De Telegraaf, based in Amsterdam.

This must have seemed important to someone, as it appears on page 1, top of column 1. My attempt at translation:

At Kon. besl. is the for service in Indie destined soldier E.W. Hedemann, the colonial yard depot, upon request, authorized to wear the German medaiile, established in memory of the campaign against France in1870/71; id to the soldier F. Posekany to bear the Austrian Kriegsmedaille;

“Kon. besl.” is some kind of abbreviation.

“id.” is another abbreviation.

The rest of the paragraph seems to be about someone else.

Authorized: to wear the German medal, established in memory of the campaign against France 1870/71, by E.W. Hedemann, soldier destined for service in India from colonialwerfdepót - To wear the Austrian Kriegsmedaille to F. Posekany, soldier destined for service in India, from Colonial Recruit Depot.

A couple of months later, another note appeared in the Algemeen Handelsblad:

Leger means Army. My rough translation:

By royal decree authorized to wear: The Austrian Kriegsmedaille to the soldier F. Posekany, and the German medal , set for the Campaign understated France in 1870/71 , to the soldier E.W. Hedemann; both intended to do service in Indie.

The rest of the paragraph seems to refer to another soldier, P.D.W. Wilken.

In summary: A soldier named F. Posekany, from the Colonial Recruit Depot in Harderwijk, Netherlands, served in the East Indies Army. On 30 Jan 1880 he was awarded the right to wear the Kriegsmedaille, by the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph I, for this service.

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Updated on 6 Jan 2021 by William Haloupek. Contact haloupek at gmail dot com.