The Autobiography of L. Sedlachek

The Autobiography of L. Sedlachek
Building Contractor
Big Game Hunter
World Traveler

Years 1883 – 1964

To my dear cousin Emma Vondra from Ludwig Sedlachek (dedication written on the first page)

My parents wedding picture
I, Ludwig Sedlachek, was born December 3^rd, 1883, two miles west of Two Creeks, Town of Mishicot, Wisconsin.
My parents names were Jacob and Anna Sedlachek.
Father was born in Mlynec near Klatovi, Czechoslovakia, Europe, and came to this country when he was 19 years old.
Mother was born in Hlatovi, near Nova Kdyne, Czechoslovakia. With her parents she arrived in this country when she was 15 years old. They came to live in Manitowoc, Wisconsin, where mother had an older brother living, Jacob Matek, and two older sisters, Mrs. Panos and Mrs. Pabian. In Manitowoc is where mother met and married father, in the year of 1874. It was fathers second marriage, was divorced from his first wife, with who he had a son, they lived in Chicago. Father, after he arrived in this country, went to Chicago where he had a brother 3 years older than he, and 2 younger sisters who came later. One was named Josephine, married name was Mencel. The younger sister'’ name was Mary, married name was Vondra. They located in Highmore, South Dakota, where they had a big farm. They had 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls. (Rita Sporrer, who is typing this, says this information is not correct-—they had 15 children, 13 of whom survived infancy.) Father with his brother Joseph worked at the carpenter trade. He was in Chicago at the time of the Chicago fire in 1871. Later on father moved and settled in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. At first, he worked in a carpenter shop building furniture, later on he had his own shop.
In the year of 1880 he bought 30 acres of vacant land, on which he built a log cabin in which I was born. He also built a barn. Had no water there. For many years had to haul water from Lake Michigan, a distance of 2 miles. Later father had a well dug, and installed a pump. He spent most of his time building houses and barns for other farmers. Year of 1888 he bought another 40 acres, also vacant, but better land than he first bought. He used the 40 acres mostly for pastures and wood.
In the year of 1892 he sold both farms, then he bough 60 acres of improved farm one mile north of Larrabee, Town of Gibson, Wisconsin. This was a much better farm than the others. Here he built a new house, a granary, chicken house and enlarged the barn.
In 1901, he bought an adjoining 20 acres. Two years later he bought another 20 acres which adjoined the first 20 acres, so now he had a 100 acre farm. He also had quite a number of bee hives, that he enjoyed working with. He had a carpenter shop where in the winter months he built cabinets. He died in 1919 at the age of 69.
My mother had a very hard life, gave birth to 13 children, 2 died at birth, she raised 11 of us. Not only did the cooking and house work, but also helped with outside work. She spun the wool, then knitted our socks and mittens and made our clothes. I remember my first clothes bought in a store.

My oldest sister Josie died in Chicago, where she worked, from typhoid fever. She was 21 years old.

Emil, next to her, my oldest brother, was born in 1876. When he was 17 years old he left the farm to learn the carpenter trade by working for a builder named Joe Rice in Mishicot. The first year his wages were 50 cents a day and board, next year he received 75 cents a day, the 3^rd year $1.00.
End of page 2
Insert picture—my birthplace
Insert picture—me- age 16
p. 3
Then he went to Superior, Wisconsin, where he worked for Schmidt Bros. Railroad contractors. In the year of 1900 he returned to Larrabee and married Mary Oves, a farmer’s daughter. He stayed at his wife’s home one year, then with his wife, he returned to Superior, where he again worked at the carpenter trade.
In the year of 1907, he entered the building and contracting business. He was very successful. In the years that he was building, he built all the big buildings that were then built in Superior. These are a few of them, the new high school, the State Normal School, Masonic Temple, the Telephone Building, and a large amount of store and business buildings.
But while in his best years his health failed, he gave up building and in 1929, he with his family moved to Los Angeles. The last 8 years of his life he lived in retirement. He died in 1934. His wife Mary died in 1952.
They raised 6 children, 4 boys and 2 girls. Ida, the oldest, lived in Superior all her life, married a railroad engineer, had no children. After a long illness died in 1960.
Emanuel the oldest son has worked in the Great Northern railroad office for 44 years. Is married and has 3 children.
Earl, 2 years younger than Emanuel, lives on a farm at Lake Amnicon, 20 miles south of Superior. He inherited the farm from his parents. He never married.
Audrey, the second daughter, came to Los Angeles with her parents. She worked in an office as a stenographer for 2 years, was married, had a son, two years later she died in 1935.
Raymond and Eugene, the two youngest boys, in their early years worked with their father and me. In 1949 they also entered the building, contracting and real estate business, at which to date they have been very successful. They built a 26 family apartment building in Studio City, which they own. In Fontana, California, they invested very heavily in vacant property. This turned out to be very profitable. Both are married, Raymond has 3 children, 2 girls and a boy. Eugene has a son only. Each built a beautiful home that they live in. They also own considerable property in Los Angeles and Burbank, California.

My second sister, Anna, in 1896 married Louis Mueller. He inherited his father’s farm. They had a son, Albert. https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?https://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Mueller&GSfn=Albert&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=51&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=106819577&df=all& page=gr&GSln=Mueller&GSfn=Albert&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=51&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=106819577&df=all& 
He inherited his parents farm, is married, has 2 daughters, Grace and Betty. Grace married Richard Tringali, has 4 children, and lives in Prospect, Illinois. Betty, unmarried, works in an office in Manitowoc, lives with her parents on the farm. Anna died in 1963 at the age of 85.

My sister Julia, 3 years older than I, married Edward Leamon in 1909, in Superior, Wisconsin. They conducted a clothing store in Allouez, Wisconsin, where they also lived. In 1914 they moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he did some building. In 1924 they moved to Los Angeles. Here too he did some building. They both died in 1952.

Rose, my sister 1-1/2 years older than I, was married to John McDonald in 1902 in Superior, Wisconsin. There they were in Superior, Wisconsin. There they were in the restaurant business. Later they also moved to Detroit, had a restaurant there. In 1920 they came to live in Los Angeles, operated a restaurant in Hollywood.
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They did well with all their restaurants, but Rose had a kidney operation, from which she did not full recover, died in 1924, John her husband 2 years later.


Mary, my youngest sister, married John Melnarik in 1904. He inherited his parents farm of 60 acres. They had 5 children, 3 boys, 2 girls. In later years they bought 40 more acres. He died in 1940. In 1953 Married Frank Wanek, he died in 1956.


Joseph, 3 years younger than I. He was a railroad depot agent and telegraph operator for the North Western railroad in Cleveland, Wisconsin, for 40 years. He married a farmer’s daughter by the name of Ida Hake. They built a very nice home in Cleveland, where they lived till he died in 1951. They had one son named Ralph, is married and has 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.


Rudolph, 5 years younger than I. When 20 years old, came to Superior in 1913 to work for our brother Emil, and learn the carpenter trade. In 1916 he left Superior for Detroit. There he became foreman on construction jobs. During World War I he enlisted and served 12 months. At the end of the war he returned to Detroit, was married to Bertha Schieder in 1923. In the same year he entered the building and contracting business. Was very successful, built several hundred houses in Detroit. In the year of 1948 they moved to Zephyrhills, Florida. There they had 2 nice orange groves, containing 25 acres, and nice home where they lived. They had no children. Rudolph died May 16, 1964, was buried May 19^th. He lived 4 days after a heart attack. Elsie and I flew there, were with him 2 days before he died. My brothers Louis and Harry with his wife were there also. We and Louis returned to our homes 2 days after the funeral, Harry stayed there 10 more days.
Bertha, his wife, had a stroke a few hours before he had the heart attack, she too was not expected to live but a day or two, but lived 44 more days. Rudolph had a military funeral, had a very large attendance. He had very many friends, loads of very nice flowers.


Louis, 3 years younger than Rudolph, inherited our parents farm. In 1920 he married Emma Zeman, a farmers daughter. They have a son Raymond and a daughter Elaine. Both are married. Raymond has 2 sons and a daughter. Louis bough an 80 acre improved farm for Raymond, near Zanders, one mile north of Louis’ home. Raymond with his family lives on his farm.
Elaine with her husband lives in Waukegan, Illinois. They have a son and a daughter. They have a very nice home.
My brother Louis has been Town Chairman for the town of Gibson for about 18 years. Has retired from farming activity since 1956.


Harry, my youngest brother, was born in 1895. When 17 years old he came to Superior, there he worked for his brother Emil. In 1915 he left Superior for Detroit. There for some time he worked with Rudolph, also the Ford Motor Co. He served 4 years in World War I. After the war, he returned to Detroit, was married, and for 30 years worked as a foreman for the Square D Company, an electric manufacturing shop. In 1959 this company moved from Detroit. At present time he is in retirement. He has only one child, a married daughter who has 2 daughters. They all live in Detroit.
End of page 6
Picture --Father
Picture—Mother
Page 7


I, Ludwig Sedlachek, was born December 3^rd, 1883. When I reached the age of seven and eight years, had to drive our cattle to pasture, on the new farm father bought. It was a little over one mile from where we lived.
There were no fences there to keep the cattle in the pasture, so I had to stay and watch them all day. The days there seemed terribly long. My mother used to give me a lunch to take with me, but about 10 A.M., I usually thought it would be noon, and eat my lunch. Then about 5 p.m. I would drive the cattle home.
Father never liked to work with horses. At his old home in Czechoslovakia, they used oxen. They were so big and fat, that when they were led into the stable they scraped both sides of the door jamb. Emil, my brother, then twelve years old, had to work the field with them, which he did not like. Often times he cried because they would not mind him. When the flies were bad they had to get rid of them would make a dash for a tree to rub them off. After having them about a year, father traded them off for a team of horses.
In the fall of 1899, when I was 16 years, my father hired me out to work with a threshing crew. For this work I received $1.00 a day. But father missed me more than he thought he would. After three weeks he made me stay home, but I earned enough to pay father’s threshing bill, and myself a new suit of clothes.
I, up to the age of 17, did about everything there was to do on the farm, which I never liked. At 4:30 A.M. father called us. First I had to feed the horses, then help milk the cows, then before breakfast I had to haul the milk with an old horse and a 2 wheel sulky that father made, to a cheese factory, 2 miles away. There, before I could unload, I was delayed by other farmers who were there ahead of me. By the time I returned home it was 7:30 or later, and I was very hungry.
After breakfast there was always a lot of other work to do on the farm, like cleaning the barn, plow and cultivate the grain fields. At 6 P.M. we again had to milk the cows, feed the horses and bring in bedding straw. The busiest time of year was when we had haying and harvesting of the grain to do. That was in the months of July and August, always the hottest time of year.
When I was 13 years old I thought I could ride a 2 year old horse that was quite wild. We kept him in a pasture. So one Sunday P.M. when no one else was around, I took a bridle, caught the horse and put the bridle on him. I wrapped the bridle reins around my hands, then led him to a high log, from the top of this log I jumped on his back. He took off, I held on for a while, till he made a sudden turn which threw me off. With the reins wrapped around my hand, it took some time before I could unwrap it, so could not let go of him. In the meantime he dragged me over logs and brush. My back was badly bruised up, but I kept that to myself, did not tell anyone.
Two miles from home was the Mishicot River, where during the summer months on Sundays I with other boys my age would gather and spend the afternoon swimming. When it was later in the summer and to (sic) for swimming, I would meet with another boy named John Forman. We used to wrestle and box hats, it was good training.
He too was dissatisfied with home life, we two were planning on running away, had decided what we were going to take with us. We were going to leave in the spring. I was then 17 years old. But in the month of March father told me I could leave and go to Superior to work with my brother Emil. He was 7 years older than I. He was there working with a bridge crew for the Great Northern railroad.
I left home April 7, 1900. Father took me to a railroad station in Manitowoc. There he bought me a railroad ticket for Superior and gave me $2.00.
I arrived in Superior the next day, where my brother met me. There I was given employment with him. His wages were $2.25 for a 10 hour day. I received $1.50. In July of the same year, I with a lot of other men was laid off. I then got work as a water boy with Schmidt Bros. Building contractors, who were constructing a foundation for a very large steel wheat elevator. When that was finished I got work on the steel construction. I worked there all winter and till July of next summer. There I received $2.25 for a 10 hour day. Upon my discharge the steel company gave me a railroad ticket for St. Paul, Minnesota. I went there but could not find work of any kind. I then bought a harvest ticket for $5.00, on which I could travel to any part of North Dakota. So I boarded a train and stayed on till we reached Jamestown, where the farmers had a heavy crop of wheat. I got off the train expecting to find work there, but there were a lot of other men also looking for work. I did not find it easy to get work. After a few days a farmer hired me. I helped making hay and shock the cut wheat, for which I received $1.50 a day and board. When that was over I got work with a threshing crew, 8 of us each with a team or horses and a hay wagon, would drive in the shocked wheat field, pick up the shocked wheat and when we had a full load haul it to the threshing machine, where we unloaded by pitching the bundles into the thresher. For this I received $2.25 a day.
I stayed in North Dakota 2 ½ months. In all that time I never slept in a house, usually slept in a hay barn.
When threshing of the grain was finished, a farmer asked me to plow a field for him, which I did, for this he paid me $1.50 and board a day. I finished it in ten days. I then returned to Superior. Again worked for Schmidt Bros. They were then building a Carnegie library. At that time I joined the carpenters union as an apprentice, received 20 cents an hour, 8 hours a day. After I worked for Schmidt Bros. For 3 months, they had no more work. I then got work from a contractor named Alec McKenzie. He paid me the full carpenter’s pay, which was $3.00 a day. From that time on I always received full carpenters wages. When my brother Emil entered the building contracting business, I worked for him as his foreman.
In the winter of 1909, I with a man named Joe Barnard, boarded a train for New Orleans. There we boarded a ship for Havana, Cuba. We spent two days there, then boarded a small sail boat for the Isle of Pines, where 2 months previously I bought 40 acres of land there for $800.00. Isle of Pines is not very big, 30 by 40 miles, 60 miles south of Cuba. I spent the winter there, helped to build several buildings there, for which I did not receive any pay.
I returned to Superior and again worked for my brother. In the fall of 1911 there was not much work in Superior. I boarded a ship on Lake Superior and landed in Fort Williams, Canada, because of the building activity there.
Picture – I as a young bachelor
I worked there for a building contractor named Charley Ward. After working for him a few days he asked me if I could frame a roof, I answered that I never saw a roof that I could not frame. He then unfolded a roll of blue prints, showed me plans of a school that he had contracted to build, asked me if I could frame the roof of it. It was a hip roof with two dormers. I told him that would be a pie for me. He then asked if I would run the job, and how much pay would I want. That was a hard question because he had a crew of English carpenters. I could see that they did not like me. They seemed to know that I would be their boss, and would like to get rid of me. I answered that I was not sure that I could get along with him and his men, because they did not like me, but that I would like to try, and if satisfactory he could pay me $4.50 a day, he increased it to $5.00. Whenever I got rid of an Englishman, I would wonder what he would say to me, but he would laugh and say, I see you got rid of another Englishman. He was more than pleased with me. After the school was finished, I married Agnes Steflik, November 18, 1913. She was born in Czechoslovakia, a village named Mecin. The same day that we were married, we boarded a train for Superior, Wisconsin.
Stayed there a few days, then left by train for my old home in Larrabee, Wisconsin, where we stayed 10 days visiting my parents, brothers and sisters. Then we took a train for New York. There we boarded a ship for Bremen, Germany. There we took a train for Mecin, Prestice, Czechoslovakia, where my wife’s parents lived. We stayed there two months. Spent our Christmas there with my wife’s parents, and her sister and a brother. During that time I found my fathers old home, in Mlynec, Klotovi, and two cousins I did not know I had. One of them, John, had the farm where father was born. They seemed very glad to see me, I enjoyed the 3 days I spent there. John, besides his wife, 2 sons and a daughter, has a very nice farm, nice buildings and fat cattle.
Picture—Family reunion
While we were in Czechoslovakia, we visited the two largest cities there, Pilsen and Prague.
Prague is a very interesting city. It is claimed that it had the first university.
On our way back to Superior, we stayed a few days in London, England, also saw Edinburg and Glascow (sic) in Scotland. From there we sailed on a Scotch ship to New York. There we took a train for Superior. I again worked for my brother a few months. I grew dissatisfied and quit, started a business of my own.
The first work I contracted for was installing a new store front, and a new foundation for a tavern, and a foundation under the city fir hall building, and under a house. About the time I was almost thru (sic), Jessie Campbell, a man I knew, came to see me, wanted to go in partnership with me, I agreed. We bought a house lot and built a house on it. When it was finished we sold it to my sister Rose and her husband. That fall we built 3 more houses. The next 2 years we built 31 houses. Then Jessie Campbell decided to go to Detroit, Michigan, because that city was having a building boom. From that time on I was in the business alone. Following the next 4 years I built 72 houses, and some stores. I did some building in Duluth, but most of it in Superior.
In the year of 1921, I sold our home and other properties that we had in Superior. I preferred living in Superior, but did not like the cold weather there. August 25^th, 1921, we boarded a train and landed in Los Angeles.
We then had 3 children, Richard the oldest was 6 years, Helen 4 and Lucille 2. All three were very good children.
When we arrived in Los Angeles we stayed in a hotel. I had trouble finding a home to live in. Rentals were scarce. I finally found one at 2945 West Pico Blvd. for $65.00 a month. About that time our furniture arrived, so we moved in. Then I commenced looking for a vacant lot that I could build our future home on.