CHARLES AND ANTONIA [SEDLACEK] JERMAN
Charles Jerman was born November 16, 1874, to Anton and Mary Jerman
on a farm in Bohemia. They came to a farm near West Point, Nebraska,
in 1881 where they lived and worked for many years. Anton lived from
1831-1903 and Mary lived from 1837-1921.
Charles had five brothers: Joseph, Anton, Frank, John, and Vaclav,
and four sisters: Marie, Toni, Kate, and Barbara.
Antonie Sedlacek was born September 8, 1882, to Matej (Mike) and
Anna Sedlacek in New York City shortly after her parents arrived
there from Bohemia„ They moved to a farm at Spencer, Nebraska, where
they lived for many years. Mike lived from 1844-1922 and Anna from
1854-1904. Antonie had four brothers: Joseph, James, Louis, and
Anton, and three sisters: Mary, Fanny, and Annie.
Charles' married sister at Spencer told him about the pretty,
curly-haired Antonie Sedlacek and they were married in May of 1904.
They lived for seven years on the farm near West Point where three
of their children were born: Frank - 1906, Marie - 1907, and Ervin
-1909. Other children born later were: Stella - 1911, Charles, Jr. -
1913, and Helen - 1917 at Spencer, and Viola - 1919 at Verdigre.
Antonie missed her family at Spencer so they bought a farm near
Spencer and moved there with their family. Two years later they
moved to town where Charles successfully man aged the Farmers
Elevator for five years.
Their children were growing up and the parents thought a farm was a
good place to raise a family, so in 1918 they bought a farm 5 1/2
miles northwest of Verdigre from Mike Prokop. Viola and a stillborn
baby girl were born there.
The whole family loved music and during those years the family went
to dances on Saturday or Sunday night, either in the basement of the
Jelen Schoolhouse where Henry Prokop and Charles Liska furnished the
music, or the dance pavilion near the top of the hill on the west
edge of Verdigre, or the ZCBJ Hall.
Charles was a self-made man and though he was always active as an
American citizen he never ceased to be a Czech patriot. He was able
to read, write, and speak fluently both the Czech and English
languages. Charles and Antonie taught their children to speak Czech,
and all married into Czech families except Frank and Viola who lived
and married in Connecticut.
Although both parents completed only four grades in school , they
were interested in the education of their children and tried to
convince their neighbors to send their children at least to high
school. He was a leader in his community and was always interested
in civic affairs, being elected three was always interested in civic
affairs, being elected three consecutive terms as president of Lodge
Karlin in Spencer; he
was a director of rural school boards for 19 years; president of
Loge Bila Hora in Verdigre; president of the Sokol organization; for
several years he was president of Washington-Western Telephone
Company; president of the Farmers Union Cooperative Association in
Verdigre, and of Farmers Union Riverside Local. He also held offices
in his township and with the cemetery association.
[pg 288 PHOTO Charles and Antonia Jerman in 1904]
Antonie was a dedicated mother and wife, loving, and very kind. She
loved to sew, cook, and keep house. On September 30, 1930, Antonie
died of burns, resulting from the explosion of a stove.
Charles stayed on this farm until 1938. He rented and moved to a
farm east of Niobrara for a couple of years. Then he bought a house
in Niobrara and lived there until his death at 82 years of age,
following a stroke on January 8, 1957.
All the children went to rural school District No. 40, which was
11/4 miles from their home. They drove with a team of horses and
buggy and at the school was a barn where the horses stayed until
they were ready to go home after school. Helen and Viola went to
grade school in Verdigre the last several years, and they all
attended Verdigre High School.
Frank married Estelle Wilson in Bristol, Connecticut, where he
practiced dentistry, They had three children, Albert, Charity, and
Marjorie. Frank died in 1977.
Marie married Bosh Chocholousek and they had two children, Dean and
Alice (Anderson). Bosh died in 1942.
Ervin married Evelyn Liska and they reside in Wayne, Nebraska.
Stella married Alex Liska, Evelyn's brother, and they have three
sons, J. Jay, Kenneth, and William, Stella and Alex also live in
Wayne.
Charles, Jr., married Wilma Tichy and they have two daughters, Donna
(Sage) and Janet (Harms) .
Helen married Joe Farnik and their children are Charles, Dennis,
JoEllen (Miller), John, and Gary
Viola married Harold Mitchell and they have three children, Bette
Lee (Miller) and twins Donald and Deborah (Stoddard).
There are 41 great-grandchildren and one great-great- grandchild,
Hayden Sage.
-Submitted by Helen Farnik
Pages 287, 288
