John and Josephine Doskocil
John and Josephine Doskocil
John and Josie Doskocil
John Josef Doskocil m. Jane Josephine Brabce
Grandfather John Doskocil was losing in an effort to support his family and maintain his health, he worked in a factory that produced among other things, stoves with nickel plate and also tables and chairs. The tables and chairs were mostly of the curved rod design that was found in soda fountain parlors of the time. The stoves had an abundance of nickel plate process which is probably the primary thing that contributed to his increasing problem of coughing up blood. He decided, much to the dismay of his wife Josie, to take the advice of a long time friend, John Lastovloc, who by this time had moved with his wife, Laura, to a farm on a hillside on Plum Creek, Crawford Co., near Eastman, WI. Josie fought the idea of leaving all their family and friends in Chicago, moving to a farm far away. Even though they had in childhood lived in farming areas in Bohemia, John and Josie knew more about the rites of survival on Maxwell Street, than which end of a cow was to be milked, let alone how to pick a goose or chicken. The two Bohemian men finally prevailed and Josie was to learn the life of a farm wife and mother.
Anthony, Hattie, and Evelyn were born in Berwyn (Chicago), IL...youngest son, William, was to be born on the WI farm. Life is hard on a farm, but it is good too; despite the old house burning down and the family having to live in the granary while neighbors came to help build the new house. The granary offered few comforts with its mattresses of corn husks, but the neighbors helped with clothing and furniture to make it livable. The lumber for the new house was donated by the local lumberyards...the early 1900s time period was different, in some ways, better, I think. During this time, Josie's mother, Evelyn Belovou Brabce, passed away while ironing clothes, probably a heart attack. Vaclava, Josie's father, decided he had to get away from the familiar sights and sounds of Chicago...to be on a farm that in many ways was like the homeland he left so many years before. The stay of Vaclava lasted the granary time and extended into the new house period...family visits from Chicago relatives were many and lasted usually about two weeks. They came on the train and were picked up at Prairie Du Chien, WI, about 25 miles away. At first the team of horses and wagon or buggy was used but when daughter Hattie's husband bought a car, that was faster and more convenient. Not a fast mode of travel either way, so long stays were in order and usually came about 2 or 3 times a year. Living in the granary didn't faze even the most citified of the friends or relatives...all pitched in to help. It had to be a great time to be living with all the aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends coming and going...and so much room in the new house when it was finished. Vaclava Brabce would have had a busy time to overcome his grief on that hillside farm of Plum Creek, but age has a way of creeping up on us all and so it did with Vaclava. He yearned to return to Chicago for a visit and left for his daughter Annie's home. His health was failing and he was to die before he could return to Plum Creek. As per agreement, each of his children were to give $200 to help the family where he passed away, to cope with the expenses...a point that was a rather touchy subject for years to come...eventually all was put aside and the family was close from that point forward.
John and Josie were to learn the ins and outs of raising a family on a Crawford Co. farm in the years before they retired to a house in Wauzeka, WI. Things had to be learned like how to save the best goosedown, how to pick and then dry mushrooms on screens on top of the wood cookstove, and most of all, how to get the best price in the Chicago market. The money for these products was big even in today's dollars. Other things had to be learned too, like making a corn or grain shock that would stand up in bad weather. The land was rich, the trout stream clear and cold for drinking and for keeping the milk cans cold too. Once in a while, on a special occasion, for keeping a few bottles of beer icy-cold. Even Josie had to agree that it was better than the days of working in a sweat shop as she had done at the age of nine while in Chicago.
One would have thought that Josie was the "boss" of the family, but when John decided to move to that farm on Plum Creek, near his friend John Lastovloc, they moved. Little is known at this point as to how John L. and John D. came to be friends, perhaps as boyhood chums or maybe at the stove factory. How or why John L. happened to come to WI is not known either. We do know that although John L. and Laura didn't have children, they loved family and were glad to have the Doskocils as neighbors. Each year at Christmas they played Santa Claus for the Doskocils. You must keep in mind that money was scarce and people "got by"...treats were few and far between. This being understood, you can imagine how a dressed up Santa, carrying a burlap bag over his shoulder, with something for everyone, would have been appreciated. Inside the bag and very ceremoniously delivered was always a can of pipe tobacco for John, a pretty new plate for Josie, and a toy for each of the kids. Sometimes it was writing paper for letters and such...much to the delight of young son William, who still "believed".
Until I began this part of my research on grandparents, John and Josie, I always thought of them as, shall we say, "cool and reserved". That has changed as a picture emerged of a fun loving, family oriented concertina playing kind of guy. One of the things they loved to do was a card playing get together with the neighbors...lasting until dawn...the kids had a great time too. Next day chores were rather sleepy-eyed, but it had been a fun outing! Barn dances were held fairly often too, many times at the new Boyland's barn; John's concertina playing always included. Years later when they had a car, coming back from church in Eastman or a visit to a neighbor in that area, one part of the downhill road had a ditch for water to cross and was aptly named by John as he gleefully speeded and splashed through it , the "watch me go through it" section. Josie was the more religious of the two and held to strict followings of the church. She was a "friend", but the church was the law. The traditional Virgin Mary portrait, with years of saved palm leaves safely tucked around the frame, was proudly displayed in the most prominent space in the home.
Nearby on the large wooden table with a large glass globe light in the center...kerosene type and later a two burner gas one...you would usually find Josie's bee's wax and the stuffed red needle holder, ready for repairs or the start of a new item of clothing. Her sewing skills had been abused as a nine year old in a Chicago sweat shop...but were now done with love , and also necessity for a growing family. Back of the Plum Creek home (east side) was a well tended garden with a section for those tame berries. Lots of wild ones in the woods too. If you were trying to escape doing the dishes for a while, you continued on the garden path to the two-holer that sat among the apple trees. It was fully equipped with the catalog that was outdated and long since softened by pages being turned while father John pointed to things that needed English words, so all could learn. As was true of most immigrants of the time, Better to use the English words, so all could learn and forget the Bohemian". The exception being a private conversation, not to be shared.
One of the ways to get into trouble with John was to touch his concertina when he wasn't around, like way up on the hill, across the trout stream, making hay. He always seemed to know...even when it's spot was carefully marked and it was put back perfectly. Years later it was explained that the music (?) could be heard loud and clear all the way to the neighbors. One of the times that the volume was good was the annual neighbors picnic, held every forth of July, about 3 miles downhill, by the Boyland place, near the spring, east of the farm. Located next to the trout stream, on a flat pasture...plenty of room for the teams to play ball, tag, hide and seek, and of course swim. The horses were tied so they could graze the afternoon away while waiting for the uphill trip home.
The area is now grown over and is home to many wild turkeys...still, if you stand there quietly on a hot summer day, gaze at the sparkling trout stream, and let your thoughts wander...you'll be able to hear the sounds of those families and neighbors from those long ago Forth of July picnics...who knows, maybe they somehow still return there...just for the day. A recent trip, July 1995, with John and Josie's daughter, Evelyn Doskocil Greene, Mom, telling of those happy times, was sad at the same time...the new house had been torn down and tears came to her eyes...Mom died five months later. We must keep alive the memories of the "back times" as Mom called them...the memories of the families and friends, the flowers, and the old freestanding four person swing where many a decision was made, a place to court or just relax and talk after a long day...a place to gently swing and wonder what "Boots" is barking at now... that swing that sat in front of that house she loved...Ah yes, THE MEMORIES!
American Immigrants, 1891
JOHN and JOSEPHINE BRABCE DOSKOCIL
Hopefully, the flavor of life growing up on the Doskocil family Plum Creek farm has not been lost in it's condensation for these pages and that future generations may feel a connection to their roots. My sources have included for the most part, Mom, Evelyn Doskocil Greene, her sister, Aunt Hattie Doskocil Geitz, and lastly , my own memories of times and conversations there. Researched and written by Grandson, John William Greene in 1996
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