FRANK TUCH, SR., FAMILY
Frank Tuch, Sr., was born in Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, on March 27,
1845. His father, also Frank Tuch, died of an apparent heart attack
while eating dinner. He came to America in 1870 with his widowed
mother Josefa Tuch and two sisters and their husbands, Vac and
Antonia Cerny, Vincent and Veronica Laska. Another sister Marie and
her husband Vac Ondracek did not wish to come. Those who came all
settled near Braidwood, Illinois.
Date of birth and death of Josefa Tuch, mother of Frank Tuch, Sr.,
is unknown. She is buried in a plot on the Tuch homestead as is her
granddaughter Rosie Tuch, age 3. There were no cemeteries in the
area at that time. Pischelville Cemetery was established in 1886.
[pg 429 side by side photos Frank Tuch, father of Frank Tuch, Sr.
Mrs. Frank [Josefa} Tuch, mother of Frank Tuch, Sr.]
Frank’s future wife, Marie Jirasek, who was born December 24, 1844,
came to America one year later. She and Frank were married in 1871
in Joliet, Illinois. In 1872 Bessie, their first child, was born.
Frank worked in the coal mines, receiving small pay for the hard
work. While living near Braidwood, Will County, Illinois, Frank
became a naturalized U. S. citizen. He took his oath and renounced
all allegiance to the Emperor of Austria. Bohemia at that time was
under Austrian rule.
[pg 429 photo Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tuch, Sr.]
The Frank Tuchs and the Laskas decided to move farther west to seek
a better life. They arrived in Niobrara, Nebraska, by train and then
got team and wagon transportation to what was then L’Eau Qui Court
County. The area, later Western Precinct, was known to many
settlers, as Pischelville named after Anton Pischel (1869), a
settler who owned the first store and operated the first post office
in the Czech settlement. A number of settlers were already here. It
looked like an ideal place. Water was close as well as wood for
fuel. The Laska family moved into Boyd County and filed on a
homestead near Lynch, Nebraska, but the Tuchs preferred to remain
here. A homesteader, John Prasek, was willing to relinquish his
claim and go elsewhere. This pleased the Tuchs. They bought the
homestead and immediately settled in the one-room, log house vacated
by Mr. Prasek. Soon after, they began to clear more land for
cultivation and bought a few head of cattle to start a herd and a
team of oxen to help do the field work. Not too many months after
when Mr. Tuch went to the pasture one day to get his team of oxen,
he found them missing. Looking toward the river he saw something in
a heap on the other side. The Indians had driven the oxen across the
river and slaughtered them on the river bank. They took the best
parts of the carcass and left the rest to lay. To replace the oxen,
Mr. Tuch purchased a team of horses.
In 1885 a two-room log house was built. The house had real siding
bought from a lumber mill. The cedar wood shingles were homemade and
they wore like iron.
Many hardships were endured by the pioneers. Among them were
drought, grasshoppers, and prairie fires. Sometimes fields of grain
were destroyed along with buildings. One prairie fire just missed
the Tuch home, scorching one side of the new log house. Their field
of corn that was ready for harvest was completely destroyed.
Not far from the Tuch farm on the banks of the Niobrara River lived
some friendly Indians in teepees and huts. Sometimes they would come
to Tuchs asking for food and offer, in exchange, their beadwork
and/or tobacco made from the kinnikinnick plant.
About every two years, a group of these Indians would join hands
chanting Indian songs and cross the river into South Dakota to visit
relatives and friends on the reservation. They would stay several
months before returning home.
Following the death of the two Brabenec children, who were killed by
Indians just a short distance southeast of the Tuch place, the
government built a fort on what is now the Glen Elis farm. A
detachment of soldiers was stationed there to protect the white
people.
[pg 429 photo Frank Tuch, Sr., family - from left: Frank J. Tuch,
George Tuch, Frank Tuch, Sr., Bessie, Mrs. Frank Tuch, Sr., holding
baby Rosie, Agnes, Emma, Grandma Josefa Tuch holding Pauline. Their
last child, Mary who was born in 1887, is not in the picture. This
is the two room new log house with siding built in 1885]
Mr. and Mrs. John Chvala and three children came to America in 1690,
later coming to Knox County in Western Township to the Pischelville
area to seek a place to live. The Tuch family welcomed them into
their home to live until the Chvalas could be on their own. The
Tuchs had only the two-room log house, but they let the Chvalas have
one room. One-and-a-half years later, the Chvalas moved to a farm
near Monowi, Nebraska. This was in 1890, the same year Vincent Jilek,
owner and operator of the Steele Creek mill since 1870, had the mill
and his farm for sale. He decided he had made enough money and
preferred to move back to his former home in the state of Virginia
with his wife and family of five children: Rosie, Henrietta, Henry,
Bessie, and Emil. Frank Tuch purchased the mill and farm and some of
the family moved there. They continued to farm both places and
operate the mill. Frank’s two sons, George and Frank, Jr., were of
great help to their father. People came from far and near bringing
wheat, corn, and rye to be made into flour. Often in place of money,
extra grain was brought. From this extra grain, besides what the
Tuchs raised themselves, flour was made and sold to stores in Dorsey
and Knoxville and Marshall’s Store in Niobrara. A ferry boat
operated by means of a cable, crossed the Niobrara River just west
of the Tuch homestead. Frank, Jr., hauled bags of 500-1000 pounds of
flour with a wagon and team to these stores. The flour had to be
unloaded onto the ferry and transported to the other side where
another team and wagon took it to the stores in Lynch. Mrs. Tuch
lived at the mill place. She gave free lodging and free meals to
customers who came long distances.
Mr. Tuch raised tobacco at the mill place. The plants grew tall and
had huge leaves. A Mr. Nemec of Spencer, Nebraska, was an expert
cigar-maker. When he came with grain to the mill to be ground, he
would stay over a couple of days and make cigars for Mr. Tuch and
also take home all he wanted.
Another early settler, V. F. Mlnarik, owned a molasses press for
making sorghum molasses. Neighbors brought their own cane to be
processed. Some had as much as 50 gallons made up to take home. It
was used as a spread for bread, biscuits, pancakes, and for baking
molasses cookies.
In 1902 son George got married and bought out his father’s interest
at the mill, so the rest of the family moved back to their first
farm, the homestead. George operated the mill and farm until 1910,
selling out to Adolph Richmiller, who in turn sold to Henry Ruzicka.
The mill was then no longer in operation because the floods had
destroyed the water storage dam. To preserve its historical value,
the Ruzickas donated the mill in 1962 to the village of Verdigre.
Frank Tuch, Sr., was a charter member of the Pischelville ZCBJ Lodge
No. 8 when it first was organized in 1879. He attended all meetings
and was very active in promoting the growth of the organization,
being a member for 45 years. His wife Marie was also a member.
They both passed away on the Tuch homestead where they made their
home with their son, Frank J., and family. Marie died April 16,
1912, and Frank, Sr., on January 10, 1924. Their burial place is in
the Pischelville Cemetery.
Frank Tuch, Sr., (1845-1924) and Marie (Jirasek) Tuch (1844-1912)
had eight children. Important information about each follows.
Bessie Tuch was born August 29, 1872, and married Louis Kreycik on
June 24, 1893, at the bride’s home on the Steele Creek Mill place.
The couple lived near Lynch, Nebraska, and later moved to Canada.
Both died at their home in Vassar, Canada. Louis was born November
14, 1869, and died June 18, 1943. Bessie died January 14, 1962. They
were parents of eleven children: Rosie Gadeken, second husband
Kreycik, George and Steven (twins), Emilia Deiner, Emil, Marie
Vaagen, Charlie, Pauline, Eddie, Lottie Zimmerman, Elsie Boisvert.
Agnes Tuch, born January 15, 1875, married Frank Mulhair on May 10,
1894, at Niobrara, Nebraska. Frank was born June 12, 1868, and died
April 26, 1950. Agnes died June 21, 1934. They were parents of ten
children: Ada Moffett, Guy, Mary Dunkak, Frank, Cleo Schultz,
Pauline, Helen Knapp, Evelyn Kerbel, Peter, and Elenor Micanek. The
family lived near Lynch, Nebraska.
George Tuch, born April 24, 1876, married Mary Sarah Graham of
Cumberland, England, on March 27, 1901, at Niobrara, Nebraska. She
was born August 16, 1880, and died January 23, 1963. George died
March 11, 1957. They were the parents of four children: James, Mary
May, Lloyd, and Marvin. Their address was Verdel, Nebraska.
Emma Tuch was born November 19, 1878, and married Otto Vonasek on
March 27, 1901. Otto was born May 22, 1877, and died May 11, 1953.
Emma died June 13, 1954. They were the parents of two daughters:
Thelma Johnson, family address Walnut, Nebraska, and Lydia Hale.
Rosie Tuch died of diphtheria at the age of three: date on birth and
death unknown. Dr. Swan of Niobrara was called to treat her but
could not save her.
Frank J. Tuch, born February 6, 1881, married Rosie A. Dobrichovsky
on March 27, 1907, at Center, Nebraska. Rosie was born March 13,
1879, and died January 25, 1946. Frank died December 23, 1968. They
were the parents of three children: Walter, Edwin, and Stazie
Bartholomew. Their address was Pischelville.
Pauline Tuch was born June 15, 1882, and married Thomas Graham on
March 30, 1904, at Center, Nebraska. Thomas was born March 6, 1883,
and died December 13, 1969. Pauline died June 15, 1963. They had two
children: Mary Osborn and Howard, Lynch, Nebraska.
Mary J. Tuch, born July 4, 1887, married Joseph Dobrichovsky on
March 27, 1907, at Center, Nebraska. Joseph was born April 5, 1880,
and died June 19, 1942. Mary died June 9, 1974. They were the
parents of seven children: twin daughters who died at birth, Walter,
Charlotte Pavlik, Frank, Evelyn Hass, and Otto. Their address was
Pischelville.
-Submitted by Brian Mlady
Pages 428 - 430
