FAMILY STORIES

Back Row: Claude, Richard Lutton; Front Row: Susan, Margaret, David.

grandmother, Isabella Snow Noyes, was born in Batchellerville, New York in 1863 and moved with her family to Waterloo in 1880 where she and James were married in 1882. My mother, Jessie Belle, was born in 1889 and married Claude Lutton in 1911.

   My father at that time was an engineer with Allis Chalmers Co. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He moved to Harlan, Iowa as manager of the municipal light system where my brother, Harold, and I were born. At the commencement of World War I, the family moved back to Waterloo where my father managed the family farm. In 1923, they moved to Valley where Claude was employed by the Nebraska Power Company and where my sister, Katherine, was born. In 1928, he was transferred to Ashland as local manager of Nebraska Power (subsequently Omaha Public Power District), which position he held until his retirement in 1947. My parents continued to live in Ashland until their deaths. All three children graduated from Ashland High School and attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. Harold Lutton lives in Wilmette, Illinois. Katherine Eagle lives in West Yellowstone, Montana.

   After graduating from the University of Nebraska College of Law and spending four years in the army during World War II as a special agent in the Counter Intelligence Corp, I returned to practice law in Ashland to 1946. In 1948, I married Margaret Peters, daughter of J. Fred and Clara Peters, longtime Yutan residents. My wife had graduated from the University of Nebraska and worked in Chicago before moving to Ashland. Our children are graduates of Ashland High School and attended the University of Nebraska. Susan lives in Florida; Richard married Leslie Armstrong and lives in California; and David married Susan Duranski and practices law with me in Ashland. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is a sixth-generation resident of Saunders County. David, his Grandfather Peters and I represent three generations of graduates of the University of Nebraska College of Law who have practiced in Saunders County.

   We enjoy the life and activity in our agricultural community. I served as city attorney for 25 years and as Veterans Service Officer for 30 years. We are active in the Congregational Church where Margaret (Peg) has been church organist for 30 years. By Claude D. Lutton, Jr.

   My great-grandparents, Jan and Rozara (Bulusek) Mach, and their seven children, Joseph, Anna, Mary, Rosalie, Christina, Alzbetha and John (my grandfather), immigrated to the United States from Czechoslovakia. They arrived in Nebraska in 1870. They homesteaded eighty acres in Elk Precinct in Saunders County. In November, 1870, they purchased eighty acres in Chester Precinct from the Union Pacific Railroad, for the sum of three hundred and twenty dollars.

   Their first home in Nebraska was a dugout, later replaced by a sod house. A few years later a log house was built. As the years passed, it was covered on the outside by lumber. The sleeping quarters for the children were on the upper floor, to which the only access was from the outside by climbing a ladder to an upstairs door. My father, Rudolph, was the last child born in the log house in 1909. The present house was built in 1910.

   In December of 1875, after becoming exhausted from trying to catch his team of runaway horses, Jan developed pneumonia and died. His was the first burial in the Evangelical Presbyterian Cemetery near Prague. His death left the responsibility of managing the farm to Rozara.

   In June, 1886, their daughter, Alzbetha (age 20) was found dead in the garden from a rattlesnake bite.

   John, my grandfather, took over the farm at the age of fourteen. On one occasion, in the bitter cold weather, John, as a young man, bringing home flour that had been milled in Wahoo, froze his fingers on his left hand, which left permanent damage to the tips of them.

   John married Anna Pospisil (daughter of John and Barbara Cernik Pospisil) on August 27, 1895. Their children were: Bessie, Cristina, Edward, Emma, Tillie, Libbie, Agnes, Rose, Rudolph (my father) and Adolph.

   Rozara continued to live on the homestead with John and Anna until her death in 1912. In her older years, she became totally blind. But that didn't keep her from walking to church, singing hymns and leading the others in singing.

   John and Anna spent the remaining years of their lives living on the family homestead with their son, Rudolph. They celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary in 1945. Anna died in July, 1946. John died in January, 1949.

   Rudolph, my father, married Helen Kaspar (daughter of August and Mary Ourada Kaspar) in April 1935. To them three daughters were born: Irma, Donna, and Mary Ann.

   Irma married Robert Wilt in October, 1956. They live in Omaha. They have four sons: David, Steven, Randall and Russell.

   Donna married Herman Ostry in September, 1960. They have three sons: Michael, John, James, and four daughters: Theresa, Christine, Lori and Deanne. They live on a farm near Bruno.

   Mary Ann married Theodore Polivka in August, 1963. They have two sons, Kurtis and Jesse, and one daughter, Rebecca. They live near Lincoln.

   Rudolph and Helen are still farming the original family homestead, west of Prague, reluctant to retire. Irma Mach Wilt

   The earliest history of the Mach family began with Frank and Katherine Busek Mach, when they came to United States in 1871. They homesteaded the land from the Union Pacific Railroad in Elk Precinct, Saunders County in 1877. They were both born in Lucice, Klatovy, Czechoslovakia.

Anton Mach Family. Taken -- 1970

   In later years, the farm was handed down to Vaclav (son) and Anna (Simanek) Mach in 1890. They both were also born in Lucice, Czechoslovakia. Vaclav, born in 1859, came to the United States in 1871. Anna, born in 1863, came here in 1868. They were parents of seven children. The 6th child was Joseph A.V. Mach. Joseph and Agnes (Sedlacek) were married June 21, 1920. She was the daughter of Anton W. and Frances (Hanis) Sedlacek and was born 1/4 mile west of the Plasi church. They purchased the farm from his father in 1925. They had three children -- Anton, Wilma, and Agnes.

   Anton is the fourth generation living on the family farm. He was born June 13th, 1921. He went to and, graduated from, rural school District #83. He stayed on the farm, helping his father until 1942 when he was drafted into the army. He served in W.W. II until 1946, when he returned to the farm. On Sept. 9, 1947, he and Helen Sedlacek were married in St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Agnew, Nebr. Helen is the daughter of Ignatz and Mary Belik Sedlacek. They are now members of SS. Cyril and Methodius Church of Plasi. Anton is a member of American Legion Post 254 in Prague, a past school board member, and is on church committees.

   Helen was born (Aug. 2, 1924) and raised on a farm near Raymond, Nebr., attended school in Dist. 56, Lancaster County, Raymond High School and University of Nebr., and taught in a rural school and Weston Public School.

   They acquired the farm where they are now living in 1950, and are the parents of six children. The children attended rural school Dist. 83, Prague Parochial School and all graduated from Prague High School.

   Larry attended Southeast Community College in Milford and served in the Naval Reserves. In 1979, he married Margaret Coleman of Ulysses. They live in Lincoln and are parents of one child, Ross. Larry presently works at Goodyear.

   Elaine attended Lincoln School of Commerce. She married Paul Plybon of Weston in 1973. They are parents of three children -- Jill, Kari, and Suzanne. They live in Wahoo.

   Dale went to an Electronics Institute in Des Moines, Iowa and Southeast Community College in Milford. He now lives in Lincoln and is employed at Notifier Co.

   Joe also attended Southeast Community College and is employed as a body and paint man in David City. He married Julie Svitak in 1981. They live in David City.

   Roger is employed at Land O' Lakes in Schuyler and lives at home.

   Lyle works at Walker Muffler in Seward and also lives at home. Submitted by Anton Mach

   Frank Mach and his wife, Katherina Busek, came to the U.S. in 1871. Frank Mach's parents were

Frank and Katherina Mach

page 313

Joseph Mach and Katie Votava, both of Bohemia. Frank's parents were farmers at heart. They truly enjoyed the outdoors. Not too much is known about Katherina's parents. Only that her father's name was Kaspar Busek and that they were from Bohemia.

   Frank and Katherina raised seven children: Joseph, Vencel, Mary, Magga, Barbara, Thomas, and Charles.

   All the children grew up in the Elk precinct of Saunders County. Charles died as a youth.

   Marriages of the children all occurred in Saunders County. Joseph married Josephine Vculek; Vaclav, or Vencel (James), married Anna Simanek; Mary married Frank Havelka; Magga married August Safstrom; Barbara married Joseph Kucera; Thomas married Josephine Pop.

   Frank Mach Sr. farmed in the Elk precinct. He died July, 1908 at the age of 82 as a result of injuries sustained in attempting to stop a runaway team the week before, which then developed into pneumonia.

   Katherina died in 1922 at the age of 96 years. Both Frank and Katherina were buried at Plasi Cemetery. They were true pioneers who worked hard, kept healthy, and went through the hard times of blizzards, diphtheria, and crop failures. They are remembered for their horse and buggy rides, picnics, family get-togethers, Czech customs handed down thru the generations, and settling in Saunders County. By Adeline Kratky Whidden

   Anton C. Machovec (1892-1974), son of Frank Machovec and Frances Albert, married Mary L. Ruzicka (1899), daughter of Anton Ruzicka and Kate Kenny, on February 24, 1919. They had four children: Anton Jr. (1920-1944), Amiel (1922), Marie (1923-1924), and Donald (1929). They have been lifetime residents of Saunders County with farming as their occupation. Anton Jr. served his country during World War II giving the supreme sacrifice, his life. He is buried at the Brittany American Cemetery in St. James, France. Amiel and Donald have carried on the family farm. Amiel and his mother live on a farm south of Wahoo. Donald is married to Marilyn Wagner. They have four children: Paul, Maribeth, John and Marisue.

   Donald A. Machovec (1929), son of Mary L. Machovec and Anton C. Machovec, married Marilyn L. Wagner (1937) April 4, 1959 at St. John's Catholic Church in Omaha. Donald was born and raised south of Wahoo. He is engaged in farming. Donald served in the Army from 1954 to 1956. Marilyn was born at Wahoo and raised on a farm near Ithaca. Before their marriage, she was employed by Schmoller and Mueller Piano Company, and later at Creighton University in Omaha. They have four children: Paul (1960), Maribeth (1961), John (1963) and Marisue (1964). Paul graduated from Southeast Community College, Milford, and is employed as a diesel mechanic in Lincoln. Maribeth graduated from Southeast Community College, Lincoln and is employed as assistant controller in Lincoln. John is attending Southeast Community College, Milford, studying machine tool and die. Marisue is studying Veterinary Technology at the University of Nebraska School of Technical Agriculture at Curtis.

   A child was born in a farm house three miles northwest of Wahoo, Nebraska, December 7, 1906 to Carrie and Martin Machovec. Dr. Joseph F. Lauvetz attended the birth. The child was baptized Franciscum Josephum Machovec on Christmas Day by Rev. Father Mathias Bor. Later, when he received the Sacrament of Confirmation, he added the name Theodore and stopped using Joseph. Later additions to this family were Wenceslaus or Wence, the farmer, Agnes Prochaska, a farmer's wife, Dr. Louis J. Machovec, the anesthetist, and Marie who died at age two.

Dr. Frank T. Machovec and Anna

   At one time there were five Frank Machovecs in the family: Frank's grandfather, Uncle Frank, Cousin Frank, his second cousin, Rev. Father Frank, and the Frank born Dec. 7, 1906.

   Frank's father, Martin, was one of the 12 children of Frank and Frances (Albert) Machovec. The children were Joseph, John, Martin, Frank, Anton, Edward, Rudolph, Antonia, Frances, Christina, Mary, and Katy.

   Frances Albert was the daughter of Simon and Mary (Lisaka) Albert. Her sister was Antonia Styskal who had 14 children. Another sister, Mary Koutny, had six children. Her brother, John, had 8 or 9 children. Whether Grandpa Frank had any brothers or sisters no one now living seems to know.

   Frank's maternal grandparents were Matej and Mary (Divis) Brabec. Their eleven children were Mike, Joseph, Anton, Louis, Theodore, Stella, Mary, Frances, Gustie, Barbara, and Frank's mother, Caroline or Carrie.

   Frank's father farmed 160 acres with horses. He liked the walking plow and walking corn cultivator. He picked corn by hand with a seventy-five percent husking hook strapped to the palm of his right hand. A team of horses pulled a wagon with bang boards against which the corn was thrown. Today this is a $75,000 machine.

   At age 7, Frank spoke only Czech. He started school at Dist 70. In his growing-up years, he played baseball, ice-skated, and had a small dog, Teddy. The dog would hang onto Frank's back as he peddled his bicycle. Frank also went horseback riding with close companions Wendell Helsing, Ned Swanson, and James Janacek, played cornet in the Dist. 70 orchestra. He acquired a threshing machine and threshed wheat and oats for neighborhood farmers.

   Then came the economic collapse of the late 20's. Corn was 13¢ a bushel, wheat, 34¢ a bushel; four of Wahoo's 5 banks closed forever. Frank's last steady job for neighbor Ed Kavan paid him top wages of $25 a month. Today, with 12 million unemployed, workers earning $10 an hour are striking for more money.

   A teacher, Anna Hills, daughter of Frank J. "Pop" Hills and Adele (Tawney) Hills, came to Dist. 70 to teach. Imagine what happened! Frank and Anna were married on Labor Day, 1933.

   A lifelong neighbor and friend, Dr. Jack Swanson, influenced Frank and Dr. Jack's brother, Roy who had been a banker, to change their careers and become doctors.

   Frank and Roy enrolled in the Kansas City College of Osteopathy and Surgery. Their wives, Gladys and Ann, got jobs in Kansas City, Missouri. They graduated in 1937. Frank became an Intern and House Doctor. He learned how to remove tonsils, adenoids, and hemorrhoids, and how to give all types of anesthesia. Then he taught other doctors what he had learned. He had a private practice. He delivered as many as 50 babies a year. Once he delivered four in a 24-hour period. He did most everything, except abortions. He didn't want murder on his conscience. In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the killing of the unborn. In 1982, there were 1½ million unborn children killed.

   Frank and Anna had 5 children of their own. They are Rev. Martin, Frances, Mary, Martha, and Ann. Frances and Robert Goode have 5 children: Theresa, Cathy, Timothy, Elizabeth, and Robert. Mary and James Cooney, not blessed by children of their own, adopted Jessica. Martha and L.D. Everett have 3 children: Christopher, Gabrielle, and Mary Frances. They lost Christopher, age 12, in a hunting accident in January, 1982. Ann and James Murray had no children. James drowned.

   Frank and Anna experienced both good and bad times. Yet they hung together. Today, there are almost as many divorces as marriages.

   Good times sometimes come to a bad ending. An urban renewal project confiscated their home and spacious grounds at 214 Garfield Avenue, overlooking the downtown area and Missouri River in Kansas City. They were forced out of their house. They moved back to Wahoo, Nebraska in 1965. The John F. Kennedy College opened that fall in Wahoo. Frank and his daughter, Ann, enrolled together. They were in most of the dramatic plays presented and graduated in 1969. After about ten years and several devastating fires, this fine college ceased to exist.

   More could be written but unless the world's stockpile of 50,000 nuclear weapons, with more being made every day, is eliminated, there won't be anyone here to read this book. Submitted by Dr. Frank Machovec

   Edmund Magher was born May 1, 1840, at Limerick, Ireland, and, at the age of eight, accompanied his parents to Canada where they settled near Toronto. At an early age he worked in the logging camps, and later became an efficient judge of lumber and was for years engaged as a marker, selecting trees in the woods most suitable for lumber and marking them for the woodsmen. He was often gone in the woods for weeks at a time all by himself, laying out the work for the loggers.

Edmund Magher

   In 1873, he made a personal investigation of agriculture in Nebraska and was impressed with Saunders County. He purchased a quarter-section of land in what is known as the Todd Valley, one mile north and six miles west of Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska, Morse Bluffs Township. He was just in time to get the full benefit of the grasshopper plague that practically wiped the fields clean. He was compelled to do other things besides farming to make a living so he taught the district school No. 9 for several terms.

page 314