Family history notes from Edith Leacock and Margaret Carr

Without corrections (except for some spelling) – See footnotes

     Grandfather Jilek

Jakob Jilek was born in 1885¹ in Bordalinka² near Prague (Old Bohemia) a province of Austria.  He had two brothers: John and Adolph.

Jakob’s wife Anna (born Anna Shepone³) in 1834, was married to an Aschenbrenner who died.  She was later married to Jakob Yelick.  She and her husband Jakob came to America in 1890 with their children, James, then 7 years old, Mary and Sylvester (Mike)  Anna’s son by her first marriage (Joseph Aschenbrenner) also came with them.  He had a son named Frank Aschenbrenner.

Grandpa left his brothers in Europe and came to America with his wife and children: A stepson, Joseph Aschenbrenner and his own children: James, born October 28, 1882, Mary , born April 1885 and Sylvester (Mike) born 1887.  At that time they were subjects of the Polish Government.  In Poland when the sons reached the age of 12 years they were taken into the army.

Grandfather and his family fled the country where he and his brothers farmed for the overlords and were allowed a share of the proceeds.  In the winter, they wove baskets, carriages and chairs, and sleighs, which they sold for extra money and saved to come to America.  There were many Bohemian peasants leaving at the same time that grandfather and his family were leaving.  All of the people were no accord with their rulers and all had sons whom they wanted to keep in their homes a little longer.  I wish I knew how they got out of the country⁴, but they had to have enough food to last them six weeks.  The women baked bread and they smoked meat, which was packed in trunks.  They allowed themselves two meals a day of smoked meat and bread.  I believe they came steerage, in an old wooden sailing vessel.  This was about in 1887 or 1888.  James, our dad, was about seven years old at this time.  He told me that when the meat trunk⁵ would be opened the sailors would gather around and beg for meat, it smelled so good.  They slept with their food to keep it from being stolen.

Sylvester became lost the third week out and it was feared that he had fallen overboard.  He was about three years old.  One-day grandfather heard of a child in the hold of the ship with the sailors.  He went looking and found the boy drunk and the men having a wonderful time watching him stagger around.  But, what a happy reunion that was when the child was returned to the family⁶.

There were Bohemian people in Plattsmouth who had signed papers as sponsors, to the effect that they would see that Bohemian immigrants who came here were settled and would not be a burden on the community.  Jobs were waiting at the Burlington shops.  Grandfather worked in the shops for many years, then returned to his trade of basket making.  While working for the railroad he wove the cane seats and backs for the train coaches.

Papa has told me many stories of the Old Country.  How the bread was baked for instance.  The bread was prepared in the home but not baked there, since there were no ovens in the homes.  In fact, there were no board floors.  The floors were packed dirt.  In the center of the community was a huge brick oven perhaps two or three in some areas.  In the early morning a man would build a good fire and heat up the ovens, which were round shaped.  The women would bring the bread down to the ovens and it was placed on large paddles with long handles, which were used to push the bread into the ovens.  The men who ran the ovens baked the bread.  In the evenings, the young folks gathered around the ovens and talked.  Papa would climb, with the younger children near his age, up on the top of the ovens where they would lie on their bellies on the warm bricks and listen to the older folks talk and sing.

Most of the younger children herded geese.  The women worked in the fields the same as the men.  The children too young to do field work tended pigs, and geese and milked cows.  I can almost see them now.  The boys wore dresses then, the same as the girls⁷.  Austria is still a beautiful country. Bohemia is no more.

Some of grandpa’s baskets (the large tall waste baskets) are in use in the Cass County Court House.  Some of them have been donated by various people to the Cass County Museum.

The following article was written by Margaret for the museum display, explaining a little bit of how the baskets were made.

Jacob Yelick was born in Bordalinka, Near Prague “Old Bohemia” in 1855 and came to Plattsmouth about 1890 with his wife Anna and children Mary, James and Sylvester to make their home in a free country.

He worked for a number of years in the Burlington Shops.  Upon leaving the shops, he took up the old family trade of basket making.

Early mornings he would walk five or six miles into the timber surrounding Plattsmouth and cut and trim green hickory and willow trees.  These hickory “logs” about five inches in diameter and five feet long were carried on his shoulders to his home.  Willows were used to weave (or braid) the trim around the top of the baskets.  No machinery was used in the basket - - all work was done by hand.  The logs were stripped of the bark and cut into long thin strips about one inch wide.  These were then soaked in water to keep them pliable.  A small hand axe, shaving knife and a “draw” knife were the only tools used.  A large wooden instrument called a “helper”, which was similar to a sawhorse, and contained a seat was operated with a foot lever and was used to hold the strips of wood while they were being worked to make them smooth and thin enough to weave.

The hickory was used to make the body of the basket and braided trim was of willow.  Several styles of baskets were made: market baskets, deep round baskets, and an oval shaped basket, which sometimes has a lid attached.  These baskets were very durable and some of them, which were made in 1880, are sill in the family and being used.  Several of the deep round baskets have been in use as wastebaskets in the County Court House for a number of years.

About once a month, usually on a Saturday, Mr. Yelick would take several baskets on his shoulders, go to the Missouri Pacific Depot, board the train for Omaha and sell his baskets.  He always returned in the late afternoon with a happy smile and “goodies” for the grandchildren.  I remember some happy days, watching our grandfather at his work.  He was a kind quiet man and very proud of his American citizenship, which he received in 1906.

The old basket weaving art is a lost one as far as our country is concerned. The sight of one of “his baskets⁸” brings back many memories.

Mrs. Earl Carr

This information was taken from his naturalization papers:

Grandfather Jakob Jilek applied for his citizenship papers on October 31, 1896.  He was naturalized and became a citizen of the United States on September 18, 1906.  The judge of the Cass County Court at that time was Paul Jessen. The sheriff was C.D. Quinton. Clerk of the District Court was James Robertson. He was sponsored by Ed Donat and John J. Janda.

His signature on the papers is spelled Jakob Jilek.

1. Correct date is 1855.
2. Cannot find any reference for Bordalinka.
3. More correctly could be Spohn.
4. We don’t know the exact overland route, but they sailed from Bremen, Germany on the ship Trave, traveling steerage, arriving in New York City on June 21 1890.
5. It is believed that this ‘trunk’ was actually one of Jakob’s baskets.
6. An interesting note in the arrival manifest of the Trave, states that Sylvester died during the voyage. We know differently.
7. Another family story relates how the children also wore wooden shoes.
8. Jakob’s baskets can be identified by the unique braid around the rim.