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

JOSEPH VECERA FAMILY

Joseph Vecera and Frances Lapesh were married on July 10, 1882, in the small town of Plasi, Nebraska, near Wahoo in Saunders County.

Joseph was the son of Josephine Nozicka Vecera, who was born in Vanec, Moravia, on November 19, 1821. Joseph was also born in Vanec on November 29, 1857. Joseph came to America by sailboat in 1882. He was the only one of the twelve children in the family to come to this country. His mother came from Moravia to live with him and died at Verdigre on October 22, 1906.

Frances Lapesh was the daughter of Frank Lapesh, who was born at Velemovic, Moravia, on March 25, 1844, and Catherine Duda. Catherine was also born in Velemovic on March 25, 1840. Frances was born at Trebic, Moravia, on January 1, 1861. Her brother Joseph was born there on March 9, 1869, and died on November 20, 1957. He married Rose Pavlus of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and they had three children: Otto, John, and Leopold. After the Frank Lapesh family came to the United States, they lived near Wahoo, Nebraska, then in western Nebraska, and finally settled near Verdigre on the “Old Jules” Sandoz homestead.

[pg 447 photo Joe Vecera, Sr., family - men in back: Jim, Joe, and Frank; middle: Mary [Vecera] [Havlicek] Jelinek, Joe Vecera, Sr., [father], Frances [Vecera] Jedlicka, [mother] Frances [Lapesh] Vecera, Anna [Vecera] Jedlicka, and in front: Rosy [Vecera] Hanzlik]

After Joseph Vecera and Frances Lapesh were married, they farmed near Wahoo for several years where their first three children were born. The lure of large tracts of free land led them to homestead near Sidney and Lodgepole, Nebraska, where three more children were born. They built a sod house and used mainly buffalo chips for fuel because the nearest wooded area was 30 miles away in the Wildcat Hills. Shortly after moving there, they were stricken by a drought and wild horses out of the Wildcat Hills destroyed what crops remained. They did have plenty of rattlesnakes, though, including one in the house above Grandma Josephine’s bed. They were also troubled by Indian scares.

A traveling priest stopped by at six-week intervals to offer Mass at their house.

They sold butter and eggs to the soldiers at Ft. Sidney.

As the children grew older, the lack of schools influenced them to move to a more populated area so they came to Verdigre where their last child was born. They had many hardships, but by hard work and saving, they accumulated three farms, a store, livery stable, and tavern in Verdigre. Joseph and Frances both died at Verdigre, he on November 17, 1917, and she on February 17, 1947.

Their seven children (in order of birth) were Mary, who married Frank Havlicek and Frank Jelinek; Joseph, who married Minnie Havlicek; Frances, who married Joseph Jedlicka; Frank, who married Sylvia Juracek; Anna, who married Otto Jedlicka; Vac, who married Lenora Shupe; and Rose, married Frank Hanzlik.

Anna Vecera, their daughter, married Otto Jedlicka on October 29, 1907, and for many years farmed east of Verdigre. Later they moved to Verdigre where he ran a shoe repair shop for many years.

They had spent more than 60 years together when Otto died in 1968. Anna died in 1976. They had two children, Victoria and Otto J. (Bud). Bud married Ethel Uhlir and they had four children (see Jedlicka family history). Victoria married Frank A. Shefl in 1934 and they live in O’Neill, Nebraska, (an “Irish” community where Czech names are about equal in number to Irish names). They have two sons, Frank O, and Michael. Frank O, and his wife Charlotte have lived on the family farm near O’Neill since his retirement from the Air Force as a Major where he served 23 years as an aircraft maintenance and logistics manager. His wife was an Air Force Captain, serving as a meteorologist (weather forecaster). They have two girls, Anna and Frances. Michael and his wife Joan life in Blair, Nebraska, where he is the manager of the S & S Farm Store. She is staff assistant at the Firstier Bank there. They have four girls: Cindy, Amy, Jill, and Marny.

Pages 446, 447