General Notes

[basham.ged]
1910 Census Lavaca County Texas; E D 133, Family 170
1920 Census Lavaca County Texas; E D 128, Sheet 14
HISTORY OF THE JILEKS as compiled by Mary Mueller
August 8, 1959 Grandfather, Frank Jilek, Sr., was born February 9, 1
85 8, in Prahatice, Bohemia, and died on June 19, 1836, in Moulton, Te
xa s, at the age of 78. Grandmother, Mary Fikac Jilek, was born Septemb
er 1 0, 1859, in Natolice, Bohemia, now Czechoslovakia. Her maiden name w
as Ma ry Fikac. She died on November 26, 1944, at Moulton, Texas, at t
he a ge of 85. Grandfather, Frank Jilek, Sr. and grandmother, Mary Fika
c, we re married February 22, 1881, in Lomecka, Natolice County, Bohemi
a. They w ere married by Fr. Vaclov Majer. Their witnesses were Matej Stro
pek and Ma tej Riha. Immediately after their marriage on February 22, 188
1, they le ft their native country, weeping, sobbing and waving their la
st farewe ll to their parents, brothers, and sisters, a farewell that w
as for eterni ty, and sailed for America, landing in New York on May 25, 1
881. From N ew York they came by train to Flatonia, Texas, in Fayette Coun
ty. Grandfat her had one silver dollar left after the trip, which he ke
pt in his pock et for over one year. He took it out of his pocket quite fr
equently, exami ned it, and then put it back saying, "I must not spend i
t, but keep it... it will multiply for us". And it did. After being in Ame
rica for several m onths, grandmother received her first letter from her m
other in Europ e. In this letter her mother advised her to be kind, faithf
ul and tr ue to her husband...to have faith in God and to always pray to H
im for gui dance. There is no doubt that her prayers were answered. This l
etter she c herished very much and always kept it in her bible. It is ve
ry probably th at the letter and bible are still in the possession of so
me of our senior s.
Their first four years in America were spent in Fayette County. Grandfa
th er worked for two years on the railroad as a section hand and earn
ed fr om 80 cents to $1.00 a day while grandmother washed clothes for so
me of t he railroad workers. She carried water in a bucket from a nearby c
reek a nd washed the clothes in a wooden tub, hued out of a large tree tru
nk. F or this chore she received only a few pennies...but better a few pen
nies t han nothing at all. She also made shirts for the railroad worker
s, by han d, and charged 25 cents per shirt. The two years that grandfath
er work ed on the railroad he was able to come home but once a week. Grand
mother h ad to live alone with the small babies and had several frighteni
ng experie nce, but her faithful dog always came to the rescue. After t
wo hard yea rs of railroad work, grandfather accumulated enough money wi
th which to b uy a team of horses, a wagon and a turning plow, and to re
nt a so called " improved farm" (because the tree stumps had been clear
ed away). The farm c onsisted of thirty acres of cultivated land with a l
og cabin on it. All t he land was tilled with a "Mold board" plow, and t
he seeds were dropped in to one furrow by hand and were covered with the n
ext furrow by the plow. T heir crop was cultivated in like manner. Their f
irst cotton was tak en to a small gin which was operated by hand and the l
int was pressed wi th the feet into a box and then tied up into a bal
e. At that time, grandfa ther Jilek had the honor of being the first m
an to invent the "walking pla nter", which was quite an improvement over t
he hand dropping seed metho
After their first crops were harvested and sold, there being no b
an ks in which to deposit their money, it was placed in old shoes and bu
ri ed in various places on the premises. Corn, ground into meal, and wi
ld gam e, which was plentiful, were some of their principal foods. Their w
eapon w as a "muzzle loader"> The wearing apparel was mostly made of cott
on and w as known as ducking and calico and was available from five t