JOHN B. UHLIR [1869-1952]
John B. Uhlir, B for Benjamin, who was described by his son, George,
as a “diamond in the rough” was born February 4, 1869, in the
village of Veltruby in the town of Kolin in the county of Caslav in
Bohemia, then a part of Austria-Hungary. He arrived in New York with
his parents, John and Marie (nee Novak) Uhlir sometime between
1874-1877. He attended school in New York, loved to read, and spoke
English very well.
John B., age 12, his parents and his siblings: Vaclav, 18, Marie, 6,
Anna, 3, and Fred, 1, left New York for Niobrara, Nebraska, late in
1880 or early in 1881. They lived in Niobrara until the family moved
to the homestead of John A. Uhlir in Washington Township (then
Western) of Knox County near Pischelville, about seventeen miles
west of Verdigre.
[pg 434 photo John B. Uhlir in 1922]
On April 12, 1890, John B. and Anna Hrbek, born July 1869, in Fort
Dearborn, Chicago, Illinois, were married. She was the daughter of
Mike Hrbek, Sr. John and his bride lived with his parents in a log
cabin his father and sons built on the original homestead. Seven of
his fourteen children were born in the log cabin: Marie Anna Pavelka,
1891-1966; infant Frank died 1893, George Cleigh (Cleo), 1894-1980;
Eleanor Martha Bradbrook, 1896-; Lillian Alice Griffith Pavelka,
1898-1940; Frederick John, September 14, 1899-July 30, 1985; Otto
William, March 15, 1901-, Mother Marie (Mariah) died in 1903 in the
log cabin.
Seven children were born in the new nine-room house completed before
November of 1903. (Otto’s son, Arden, has recently remodeled the
house.) They were: Theodore Edward, November 4, 1903-1944; Irma
Mable Pavelka, 1905-1964; Helen Adeline Beasley, 1906-; infant Ivan
died June 14, 1908; Edith Rose, 1916-1920; Marcella Phyllis Surovic,
1912-; Carmen Orene Sandoz, 1914-1973.
George’s wife, Gladys, nee Young, reports that John B. was somewhat
of an individualist, a non-conformist, who was very education-minded
and was a man of ideas. He was instrumental in building the local
rural schoolhouse, hired the teachers and often times the teacher
stayed at the Uhlir home. He succeeded in getting the first
telephone line through their area and promoted the education and
welfare of the community. He was active in the ZCBJ Lodge. His home
was a showcase home and not only local people came to visit and be
entertained, but many from more distant areas.
Sometime after 1910, the White Rivers Indian Reservation in
Kennebec, South Dakota, was placed on sale. The land was given in
allotments to the individual Indians who wasted no time in selling
it to the white buyers for a song -- “fire water,” really. John G.
bought some land which he wanted to develop into a horse ranch. He
wanted his wife Anna to join him but she settled for visiting him
during the summer in his cabin. Often the older girls kept house for
him when not in school. Since the laws concerning property and
inheritance, etc, are different from state to state, John B. deeded
his property in Nebraska to his wife Anna and she and the family
farmed it.
John B. would be extremely proud of his children, his many
grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Several sons and daughters
attained college educations and this trend is even more prevalent in
the following generations. Many served faithfully in the military.
Recently three of John B’s daughters-in-law purchased headstones for
the graves of John A. (Johannes Agustus) Uhlir, his wife Marie
(Mariah), and John Benjamin Uhlir, his wife Anna (died October 25,
1934) and the other members of the family who are buried in the
Pischelville Cemetery just west of Verdigre, Nebraska.
-Submitted by Hazel B. (Uhlir) Devine
Page 434
