A transcription of pages 195-469,
Family Histories from the Verdigre Centennial Book
Thanks to the Verdigre Library and its volunteers for making this available.
 
The index below only includes the husband and wife for each family.
The maiden name for the wife is used if listed.
For other names, use the search on the Home Page.

Index's A-I, J-P, & Q-Z

JOHN A. UHLIR

John A. Uhlir, also known as Johannes Agustus Uhlir to his family, was a survivor who was born into the nationality group of Czechs who were subjects of the Austrian government during the nineteenth century before immigrating to the United States.

[1834-1919]The cowards never started and the weak perished along the way. Only the strong survived.

Early in his forties, John A. Uhlir and his wife, Marie (also known as Orena and Mariah) nee Novak, two sons, Vaclav F. (June 26, 1863-February 1, 1910) and John Benjamin (February 4, 1869-February 13, 1952) and an infant daughter Marie (July 6, 1875-January 31, 1943) left their home in the village of Veltruby in the town of Kolin in the county of Caslov in Bohemia, a province of Austria-Hungary. They boarded a steamship in the Anker Linie Dampfer Post in Hamburg, Germany, and headed for the U.S.A.

John A. Uhlir was born in June of 1834 in Bohemia. He died 85 years later, in 1919, in the showcase two-story, nine-room house with three exits and a pantry which he and his son John B. and family had completed around 1903. The log cabin that John had built as a homesteader in which two of his children died and where seven of his grandchildren were born became the wash house. His wife, Marie, died in 1902 before the house was completed. Arden Uhlir, his great-grandchild, now owns this property and recently remodeled the home.

John A.’s father served in the Austrian army for at least twelve years and was killed in battle. His wife remarried and had two children. When she was dying, Major John A. Uhlir was given leave from the Austrian military.

As a young person, John lived under the oppression of the Hapsburg rulers of the Austrian Empire. In 1848 when John was but fourteen years old and in military school, a revolution broke out for a few months and the entire Austrian Empire seemed on the verge of a breakup. Many Czechs deserted the military. The Austrian government tightened its control, German was the only language allowed to be spoken for official use and for instruction in the schools. In about 1866-67, when John’s first son, Vaclav, was about three years old, the Bohemians and other nationality groups again revolted. The Czechs, as subjects of the newly-created Dual Monarchy of Austria-Hungary (they were subjects of Austria), were granted more freedoms. The Czech literature, art, and poetry were revived as well as many of the customs. The government, however, was harsh.

When Marie Novak, also born in June of 1834, and John married, most Czechs lived in little villages and managed a bare subsistence living from the small plat of land given them by the wealthy landlords for whom they worked. Like others, the desire for freedom and land plus the idea that his sons would eventually be conscripted into the Austrian army encouraged John A. and Mariah to immigrate to this country.

John A. and his family arrived in New York sometime between 1874-1877. While in New York, Anna was born in 1878 and Fred in 1880. Anna and Fred died before 1900. They were buried in unmarked graves on the farm. When and where the sixth child was born is yet to be known.

John B. Uhlir remembered attending the 1876 New York World’s Fair where the Uhlirs had a cigar stand. He spoke of a Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia. Marie Hrbek, nee Uhlir, remembered the horse-drawn street cars on the Bowery in New York.

The family remained in New York about five years. Mariah’s relatives in Cleveland knew Vac F. Minarik of Knox County who came from the same town and county in Bohemia and told John that a homestead west of Verdigre was available. John, who wanted land, packed up for his journey to Nebraska. Enroute they stopped in Chicago where Marie remembered attending a performance by Buffalo Bill Cody.

The Uhlirs arrived in Niobrara, Nebraska, in about 1880-1882 where they lived before moving to their homestead in Washington Township west of Verdigre. John Uhlir declared his intent to become a citizen on October 8, 1884, and received his citizenship papers on April 2, 1890, at the age of 56.

John A. filed for the patent on the Northeast Quarter of Section 9 of Washington Township on May 18, 1883, and in five years - in April of 1888 - received the patent through a railroad company. Later he received another patent for 160 acres located in the Southeast Quarter of Section 9 in Washington Township on November 6, 1890, where he built his homes.

John A. Uhlir, a military man who had become competent in construction during his military service, had been very well educated in Europe and spoke both the German and Czech languages fluently.

Vaclav F. Uhlir married Marie Holan, daughter of Matej (Mike) Holan, Sr. John B. Uhlir and Marie Uhlir married a sister and brother of the same family, Anna and Adolph Hrbek, children of Matej (Mike) Hrbek, Sr.

John A. would be proud of his approximately 25 grand-children, several great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren.

John A. (Johannes Agustus) and Marie (Orena, Mariah) Uhlir are buried in the Pischelville Cemetery located west of Verdigre, Nebraska.

- Submitted by hazel (Uhlir) Devine

Pages 433, 434