Kautzky Kronikles

Kautzky Kronikles 2000

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Mary (Kautzky) Book's Life Story			Joseph Kautzky's LifeStory
Paul Kautzky's Life Story

Kautzky Glimpses into the Past and Present

Contact: Dennis Loghry

Updated: June 05, 2004

Kautzky History-written in 1990 by Mary Anna (Kautzky) Book

Young Mary (Kautzky) Book	Adalbert Kautzky – old Kautzky homestead at Ritschka, Bohemia early 1800’s. He was the hunting companion of Count Kolowrat of Reichenau – expert marksman and skilled mechanic in manufacture of hunting weapons. Later appointed game warden and forest overseer of territory adjacent to the village of Ritschka. The Count donated land and materials for their home. He married a lady who worked as a maid to the Countess. They had four boys – two joined the Austrian army and two remained in Ritschka. Adalbert, Jr. was the oldest – stayed at home and married a girl named Rose. They are our grandparents. He succeeded his father in business and took over the homestead. They had seven children – four girls and three boys. Veronika, Rosalia (Mrs. Feichtinger), Josephine and Theresia – the boys were Joseph, Adalbert and Eduard.
Edward Kautzky &Anna (Kautzky) Hummell Kubitschek Family	Joseph (the oldest) married Anna Biedermann. Her sisters were Mrs. Kubitschek (Paulina Biederman) , Mrs. Kastner and Mrs. Sommer. Brothers were Joseph, Anton, Edward and Franz. The Kubitscheks came to America about 1870 and settled in the Perry neighborhood – 80 acres now owned by Joe & Nancy Rohner. Joseph and Anna had six children – Joseph, Anna (Hummel), Franz, Rudolph, Pauline and Edward. They bought a home in Oberdorf, a suburb of Rokitnitz. The mother passed away in 1879 and the father in 1881. Anna (18) and her youngest brother Edward (7) came to America in 1881 spending 15 days on the ship enroute to here. The Kubitschek family came to America in 1870 when Mary Kubitschek (the oldest) was nine years old. She had two brothers, Frank and Adolph and a sister Pauline. They lived on the Kubitschek farm in Washington Township. On November 4, 1878 Mary was married to Jacob Forret and they lived near Waukee. They took Edward Kautzky into their home as a foster son in 1881 after he arrived in this country, and he lived with them until 1900 when he was married. Edward went to a country school which was the first school in Dallas County, Iowa (a marker stands there now). Frank and Adolph Kubitschek settled in Eagle Grove and owned and operated a furniture store and funeral home there until they retired. Pauline became a dentist in Omaha and later married Frank Christnen. The Forrets moved to Nebraska where they homesteaded 160 acres near Gordon. Edward attended school while they lived in Nebraska and while there was able to take nine violin lessons, paying for them by selling Prairie Chickens he had hunted and shot. He used the name of Eddie or Fritz Forret until he was married. Pauline Kubitschek Christen, her husband Frank, and their 9-month-old baby returned to Bohemia with her parents. The baby died on the ship.	Anna and Paulina Biederman Pauline and Frank Christen
Jennie and Pauline (Slaninger) Young Jennie and Pauline (Slaninger)	Aunt Kubitschek wanted to return to her old home in Bohemia, so Jacob Forret bought their farm and lived there until Edward was married in 1900 to Jennie Slaninger. He had just bought a farm about three miles north of the Kubitschek farm. The Forrets then moved to a small acreage just north of the Frank Slaninger home and stayed there until March 1920 when they moved to a home in Perry. Mr. Forret passed away May 11, 1932. Mary Forret continued living in the Perry home until her death on April 7, 1940. Now to turn to the Slaninger history. Joseph Slancana (Slanina, Slaninger) was born in Bohemia on January 10, 1826. He was married to Mary Schimbersky and they came to Iowa in 1853. They had a four-year-old daughter, Mary Magdalene, born March 14, 1849 near Prague, Bohemia, died 1943. They settled on a farm near Solon, Iowa. Joseph’s first wife, Mary, passed away on February 20, 1865. He and daughter Mary (16 now) moved to Boone, Iowa where Joseph ran a saloon. On April 12, 1866 he married Anna Kubitschek a sister of Frank Kubitschek (father of Mary Kubitschek Forret). On April 18, 1867 he purchased the Slaninger farm in Washington Township, just south of the Washington Twp. Consolidated School. To this union six children were born – Frank on May 24, 1867, Josephine on January 20, 1869, Anna on August 27, 1870, Anthony on September 20, 1872 and twin Pauline and Jennie on July 15, 1874. On January 30, 1875 Grandpa Slaninger attended the wedding of his daughter Mary to Anthony Gosselin at Adel. He became ill shortly after and passed away March 12, 1875 when the twins were 8 months old. Grandma Slaninger rented the farm to a family who lived in the same house with them until Frank was old enough to do the farming. The older girls worked as maids or hired girls when old enough. Grandma, the two boys and the twins lived in Nebraska for a time in a sod house – Grandma and the girls came back in a couple of years on account of Indian scares. The twins also worked out when they were old enough.	Slaninger Family Mary Magdalene (Slaninger) Gosselin
Edward and Jennie's wedding picture Group Photo at Edward and Jennie Kautzky's weeding reception	On September 14, 1900 Jennie Slaninger and Edward Kautzky were married at St. Patrick’s church in Perry and moved to the farm he had purchased which is now occupied by his son Joseph and grandson Greg. They farmed on this farm during their life and bought additional land as they could. They were the parents of four children, Mary Anna, born October 6, 1901, Edward Francis, born October 1, 1903, Paul Jacob, born January 15, 1908 and Joseph Anthony, born November 13, 1912. Joseph still lives on the home farm. Edward and Jennie Kautzky farmed with horses and farm equipment made to be used with horses. About 1911 he bought his first tractor, a McCormick Deering 15-30. They raised horses, cattle, hogs and chickens and even geese for a short time. When hogs were ready for market the neighbor would bring wagons pulled by horses and the hogs (four, five or six, according to size) would be loaded into each wagon and taken into Minburn where there was a stockyard. From there they would be shipped by rail to market. Trips to Perry for groceries and to attend church were made by horse and buggy. Taking grain to Perry was made with wagon and horses. The first mattresses were made of ticking filled with corn shucks or clean straw. Methods of farming changed during the lifetime of our parents starting with farming by horses and going to tractor farming. A team of horses pulling a wagon along the cornrows usually in October and November did corn picking. Bang boards were higher on the right side of the wagon so the ears of corn could hit them and fall into the wagon. A husking peg or corn hook was used to pull the shucks off the ears. A box was kept on the side to hold the perfect ears to be kept for seed for the next year. Mother and Father worked together one year at picking corn while I stayed home from school for two weeks to care for year-old Joseph and do the housework. They would get three loads per day. Oats harvesting was much different then than now with horses on a binder to cut and tie it into bundles. The bundles were later hauled on hayracks and stacked in stacks about twenty feet high. Our father always did the stacking as he could arrange the stack to be perfect in size and shape so that it would shed the rain properly. Usually in October the threshing would be done. Later the bundles were put in shocks and the threshing was done much earlier. Cooking for the help for threshing was a big job but some of the neighbor ladies usually came to help prepare and serve the food – not only dinner, but supper too. The man who had the steam engine and threshing machine would travel from farm to farm during the threshing season. Corn shelling was also a neighborhood affair.	Thresing oats with tractor and horses if you look close on the left side you will see the McCormick Deering Tractor Threshing oats with horse and wagon
I assume that this is the first Mitchell Car.	About 1912 the first car, a Mitchell, was purchased. This shortened the travel time when the roads were good. There were no gravel roads and so it was mud roads when it rained. During spring thaw there were mud holes in parts of the road and men with horses would hitch them to the car to pull it through the mud holes. The car was jacked up and put on blocks in the garage during the winter. In Washington township there were nine rural or country schools. We attended No. 4 about a mile north and east of home where all eight grades were taught by one teacher. In 1921 the Washington Township Consolidated School was built so that the country pupils would have the opportunity to attend high school and the boys still be able to help their fathers with chores and farming. Many graduated from eighth grade at No. 4 and attended Perry High School by staying in homes in town during the week. I graduated with a Normal training (teaching) certificate and taught one year at No. 4. Washington Consolidated School opened the next fall. Edward helped his father with farming and attended some farm courses during the winter. Paul and Joseph both graduated from the Consolidated High School. Editors note: Several graduates of of Washington Consolidated school have formed a preservation society for the school. They hold several functions a year to help raise money to help preserve the school. If you are interested in helping out with the preservation you may contact Rita and Jim Reves, Joe and Alice Book or Dave and Kathy Book.
	Grandma Slaninger lived in our home following the marriage of Uncle Tone and Aunt Pauline in 1903 and stayed with us until her death on March 1, 1911. Mother and she talked in Bohemian.
	Washing clothes by washboard and tub was a backbreaking job. Rubbing the clothes with soap and water on the board until dirt was loosened. The white clothes were put in a boiler of hot water and soap to make them white, then into the first rinse water with a clothes stick to lift from the boiler to the tub. Then through another rinse water and use the wringer to squeeze the water from the clothes. Then ready to hang on the line to dry. Later a washing machine with a dolly in the top to stir the clothes in the water was enjoyed but was still a lot of work & still a long way from our washers and dryers of today. Ironing was a hard job using three irons heated on the cook stove. A detachable handle was used, as the iron cooled to get a hot one. There was lots of ironing as there were no perma press fabrics
	Winters were very cold with lots of snow making travel by bobsled and horses used a lot. The snow stayed on the roads most of the winter. Walking to school was difficult as you waded through snow up to your knees at each step. You wore heavy coats, sweaters and leggings from your overshoes to your knees. You had to dry the leggings around the stove at school to be dry to return home at evening time
	Cows were milked by hand and butter churned from cream with a barrel church which you turned with a handle sometimes for a short time and sometimes it took a long time before the butter separated from the buttermilk which was then drained from it. The butter was then rinsed with several batches of cold water to get all the buttermilk from it using a wooden butter paddle to mold it into one pound packages of butter. Cases of eggs and butter were taken to town to exchange for groceries. A big garden was raised with all kinds of vegetables to be used immediately and to be canned for winter use.
Hog Slaughter. These pictures were actually taken on the Book Farm. Edward with his Horses and Buggy	Hogs were butchered on the farm and the meat cured by being put in a barrel with a brine solution poured over the hams and bacon to be smoked later. Shoulders were generally ground and made into sausage which was fried down, put in stone jars, covered with meat fryings and lard and kept in the cellar until used. The barn was built in the fall of 1907 by our father with the help of John Forret who was a carpenter. A hired man, Francis Waldron, also helped. A new home was built in 1922 just south of the old house, which was later sold to replace a house that had burned on the Joe Conner farm. One spring Saturday in 1912 my father and I were on our way to Perry with the horse and buggy. Ice on the river was beginning to melt and big chunks were piled against the Graney bridge supports. We passed over the bridge and were a short distance around the curve when we heard a loud pop. When we arrived in town, the first thing we heard was that the Graney Bridge was out. We had to return home by the Wolfe Bridge on the road a mile west of the one we usually traveled. Sometimes when the river was low we could ford the river south of the bridge instead of going the extra miles. Another trip to Perry to take music lessons stands out in my mind. I went to take my music lesson and then walked to the grocery store to wait for my father. It was raining hard and we had gone to town in the car. Dad loved to go to the movies and he didn’t know it was raining – you can imagine what that can do to a mud road. When he came he wanted to start home right away. We slid around a lot so he got out and wrapped a halter rope he had bought around the wheel. We finally arrived home but mother wasn’t too pleased that we didn’t buy any groceries.	Hog Slaughter 2
	Kautzky family reunions were held each year for awhile starting about 1927 at our home until gas rationing made it hard to get gasoline for leisure trips. As many as 135 came from Des Moines, Fort Dodge, Eagle Grove, Panora and other places to enjoy the cooperative dinners, visiting, playing ball, etc. Father played the fiddle and so we held dances at different homes on Saturday evenings. Waltzes, Polkas, Two-step, and Square Dances were all enjoyed with Dad playing the violin and the girls accompanying him on the piano. Mr. Collins called the square dances. Outdoor plumbing facility was the outhouse until after the new house was built with its bathroom. Trips out there were especially not pleasant in the winter. Toilet tissue was pages of old Sears catalogs. Edward married Bernice Crellin and they were the parents of four children; Edward B., Francis, Donald and Louise. Mary was married to Joseph Wayne Book and they were the parents of eight children; Joseph, Edward, Marie, Rita, Lawrence, Cecilia, Philip and David. Nona Crellin was the wife of Paul and their children were; Robert, Alice and Daniel. Joseph was married to Rosann McCarthy and to this union seven children were born; Jon, Rosemary, Nancy, Stephen, Virginia, Christine and Gregory.
	Edward Kautzky, Sr. passed away July 9, 1958 following a month’s serious illness at the age of 85. Jennie Kautzky passed away November 29, 1969 at the age of 95. Wayne Book passed away on February 14, 1955 of a heart attack after suffering with asthma for several years. Bernice Kautzky passed away on February 22, 1956 of a cerebral hemorrhage. Edward died on September 12, 1958 following a heart attack. Their daughter Louise Alfers died in February of 1972. Nona (Mrs. Paul Kautzky) died March 7,1967 of a heart condition. Rosann (Mrs. Joe Kautzky) died November 19,1984 after a long illness with emphysema. Edward Book died October 4, 1983 as the result of a heart attack.
	Note: The above was a work in progress at the time of Mary’s passing in 1990. She had not yet finished this work and had not yet made grammatical corrections or fixed spelling errors.

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