James was the first born child of John and Marie (Sedlacek) Vondra. He was born January 6, 1877 in Hoslov (Usilov), Klatovy, Plzen, Bohemia and attended a few months of school before he came to America with his family in the spring of 1884.
Jim did have a girlfriend for a period of time and wanted to marry the girl. There was a difference in religion. The girl was Methodist and Jim was Catholic. It was for this reason that they did not marry.
Homestead information shown below includes information about Jim's homestead. Jim was one of the people who won the lottery for land, and was fortunate to have land close to his parents land. Requirements for proving up on land included residency on the land. Jim lived on his land during this period of time, but then moved back home and for a period of time rented his land out. In 1930, his land was rented to his niece, Nellie Bouzek Coates, and her husband Albert Herrick Coates. During this time, he was a lodger at another ranch.
He had his threshing machine and did custom work for others. He also did custom plowing for others. He did census work in 1905, as can be seen when looking at census cards for his family.
He passed away December 19, 1947. He suffered from Parkinson's disease. (as told to Rita by Jim's sister, Josie Vondra Sporrer)
This is a snip from the records of Jim's birth in Bohemia.
Jim, as he was called by his family, was born January 5 and baptized
January 6, 1877. The family was living at Usilov house 38. The records says
that he was katolik (Catholic), a male and was legitimate. His father is Jan
Vondra, kovar, a blacksmith of Usilov house 38, son of Matej (Matthew) Vondra, kovar,
blacksmith, or Usilov house 38 and Marie Zitek from Mezholz.
Jim’s mother is Marie, daughter of Jakib Sedlacka, Rolunska,
(farmer) of Mlynec house 6 and her mother, Joseph, born Marek of
___________. The last 3 columns tell the
sponsors, the priest, and the midwife.
The following document tells of homesteads that were awarded. Jim, his father, and his sister Agnes, each received homestead land. They all proved up on their land.
The following document tells of homesteads that were awarded. Jim, his father, and his sister Agnes, each received homestead land. They all proved up on their land.
Jame Vondra, World War I draft registration
James' threshing machine
1905 Census Card for Jim
1915 Census card for Jim
1935 census card for Jim
Jim owned this farm from 1906 until 1942. We see from census records that he lived other places. Perhaps he rented his place out to someone else.
No comments:
Post a Comment