FAMILY STORIES

father's footsteps through the deep snow and being taken to school with horses and buggy in rainy weather. I also went to St. John's Parochial School in Prague and graduated from Prague High School. Upon completion of a summer school course at the University of Nebraska, I had attained my ambition of becoming a teacher. I taught in rural schools and Abie Public School.

   Almost every weekend there was a dance nearby -- Weston, Prague, Abie, Scott's Lake, etc. -- which many young people attended. It was at one of these dances that Leonard and I met. On June 20, 1950, we were married.

   We have lived in the vicinity of Touhy all our married life.

   Farming is only one of Leonard's interests. He bought a straight truck and went into business, hauling livestock and grain. Soon he bought a corn sheller and two more trucks. The busiest times were when farmers delivered their sealed corn to the government bin sites in the fall, and when the government sold the corn and it had to be delivered to elevators. Leonard also purchased a semi tractor-trailer for livestock. Eventually, when combines replaced corn pickers, he sold the shelling equipment but continues livestock hauling. Another of his interests is buying cattle on order.

   I have helped on the farm -- at one time we milked thirteen cows by hand -- and continued teaching except when the children were small. At present, I teach at St. John's Catholic School in Weston. After many years of night classes and summer school, I graduated from the University of Nebraska. I am also an organist in St. Vitus Church in Touhy.

   We lived in Touhy while the children were growing up. They attended rural school and Neumann High School in Wahoo. They always had ponies or horses for pleasure riding. A favorite summer time snack was the big double dip ice cream cones that Elsie Pekarek sold for five cents. Sleighriding down Touhy Hill with all the neighborhood children was great fun.

   We had five children. Duane died in an automobile accident. Collette, Mrs. Gary Evert, R.N., is assistant unit director in surgery at Bryan Memorial Hospital. Randy, whose wife is Debra Dare, is an engineer who works at Molex. Paul delivers lumber outstate for Central Lumber Company. He and his wife, Kimberly Streeter, have a son, Jason. Renee is an engineering student at the University of Nebraska. They all live in Lincoln. Submitted by Maxine Louise Masek

   William, born Nov. 28, 1900, and Mary Houska Masek, born March 4, 1907, grew up in the Plasi area in Elk Precinct. William was the oldest child of John and Emma (Kubik) Masek. Mary's parents were Felix and Jindriska (Tetrev) Houska.

William and Mary Masek 45th Wedding Anniversary -- July 1974

   Bill and Mary were married July 16, 1929 and farmed near Plasi. In 1931, they moved to a farm just north of Weston. In 1932, they moved to the George Ecklund (Peter Ecklund homestead) farm four miles south of Weston. They lived there for 24 years. After a short stay near Loma, they purchased the Charles Maly farm east of Touhy. In 1975, they retired to Weston where they still live today.

   The children of William and Mary are Leonard, Gladys, Grace, Genevieve, Larry, and Georgianette.

   Leonard of rural Valparaiso married Maxine Jambor of Prague. Their children are Duane (deceased), Collette (Gary Evert), Randy (Debbie Dare), Paul (Kim Streeter), and Renee, a student at UNL. There is one grandchild, Jason, son of Paul and Kim. All are of Lincoln. (See Leonard John Masek.)

   Gladys and Ernest Cajka of Wahoo have six children, David, Laurie Loughney, Elizabeth, John, Julie and Ernest. (See Ernest Cajka.)

   Grace and Bill Carrier of Phoenix, Arizona have two children, Bill Jr. and Janet.

   Genevieve married Ed Muench of Hillside, New Jersey, where they have resided since their marriage. Their children are: Cheryl (Dan) Moriarty, Spokane, Washington; Brian, a law student at Creighton University, Omaha; and Kathy, a cadet at the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

   Larry and Shirley (Pallas) Masek have three sons and a daughter. David and Dale attend Neumann High, and Mark and Amy attend St. John's School Weston.

   Georgianette, married to Dick Hansen, lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

   Bill remembers many events of his grade school years in Dist. 19 in Elk Precinct. The enrollment was large with as many as 40 students and one teacher. Many attended only during the winter months, staying at home at other times to help with the farm work. Some students were 16 and 17 years old. One teacher treated the children to the first oranges they had ever eaten. Mary traveled to Wahoo to take eighth-grade exams at the County Courthouse.

   The 30's were hard years. Crops were poor. Corn was two feet tall with three or four-inch ears. Kalo was tried as a crop one year. Hogs were $3.25 a cwt. The federal government put a limit on the number of hogs a farmer could raise. Many farmers gave away little pigs rather than destroy the surplus. Farmers worked on W.P.A. projects to earn extra income. The women raised large gardens and chickens, ducks, and geese, so they always had plenty to eat.

   Bill and Mary are enjoying their retirement years. They take airplane trips to visit their out-of-state children. They raise a large garden, piece and tie comforters, and make quilts. Bill enjoys reading and watching television. Mary is a member of the Nite Owls Club. Both are members of St. John's Church, Weston.

   Bill and Mary celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary in July, 1979 with a family supper and dance at St. John's Auditorium.

   I recall the constant activities and never a dull moment spent with my parents, Julius and Frances Zetocha, sisters Irene, Bettye, Margaret, and Bonita, brothers Julius Jr., and Ernest, as only a large family can provide.

   I began my education with my daily walk through a grove of trees to a country school situated on the D.L.D. Highway crossing, four miles north of Milford in Seward County. In 1928, my parents returned to Saunders County and I finished my K-8 grades in Dist. III in Touhy, Nebraska. I enrolled as a freshman in Valparaiso High and transferred to Wahoo High where I graduated with the class of 1940.

   During this period of my life, I met Joe Matejcek, son of John and Mary Cizek Matejcek of Brainard. He was the youngest child of a family of nine, namely -- Mary Tlamka, Frank, James, Anna Hotovy, John Jr., Antonie, Josephine Bruner and Rose Skoda Moravec.

Joe and Frances Matejcek

   Joe attended "Yanka" School Dist. 78 and Holy Trinity Parochial School and graduated from Brainard High. He remained at home to help his father farm with mules and raise Duroc hogs and Roan cattle. He was drafted into the army in 1942 and we were married during his first furlough. We lived out of a suitcase, having to move every six months or so.

   When World War II ended, Joe, our only child, Donna Rae, and I moved on the Matejcek home place, north of Brainard, to become grain and livestock farmers. Farming was changing from mules to tractors, from pull type to mounted, and the cornpicker and combines were putting in their appearance. A whole new era of farming was on the horizon.

   The Rural Public Power District was expanding and we traded our 32-volt Delco for the new power line. This enabled us to have indoor plumbing and to watch that new invention "Television."

   We were active in community affairs, especially the American Legion and its auxiliary. Joe was a board member of the Rural Fire District and I a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary of Wahoo. Our daughter, Donna Rae, was an active member of the Merry Mixers 4-H Club and East Butler High School activities. This kept us on a merry-go-around of activities.

   We enjoyed traveling and visited twenty-one states and Mexico. Joe had a tour of infantry duty in Europe which included England, France and Belgium.

   My main source of entertainment was roller skating, but after marriage we settled for ballroom dancing. After Joe's death in 1969, I prefer to spend a quiet evening of watching television and baby sitting with my grandsons, Robert, David and Aaron Steager.

   In the year of 1969, Donna Rae married Ben Steager, son of Louis and Mary Hanis Steager of David City. Together we built a brick duplex on the Matejcek farm. We continue to raise Hereford cattle.

   We belong to Holy Trinity Catholic Church. Joe is buried in the New Holy Trinity Catholic Cemetery. Submitted by Frances Zetocha Matejcek

   Jacob Matejka, a farmer in Kouty, Czechoslovakia, and son of Josef and Marie (Nestrojil) Matejka, came to Saunders County about 1875. His wife was Rosalie Jirovsky, daughter of Jan Jirovsky and Marie Navratil. They had four children: Katherina who married Frank Cernohlavek; John, married to Josephine Cernohlavek; Frank married to Anna Novotny, and Frances who was married to Joseph Vondra. According to information passed down by

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his daughter, Frances, Jacob came to this country first and his family followed later.

Jacob and Rosalie Matejka

   Rosalie's grandchildren remember two things about her. One, she always wore a black heavy bead choker type necklace and the other, she always had white peppermint candies for the children.

   Jacob and Rosalie were devout in their religion and walked several miles to church. This probably contributed to their long life. Both were in their 90's when they died. Submitted by: Rita Polak

   Alfred and Ellen (Gillihan) Maxwell came to Saunders County in 1885 from Page County, Iowa. They brought with them their small daughter, Verna Grace, an old second-hand walnut chest, and 16¢.

Jim and Nettie McClean, Febr. 21, 1912

   After renting ground for a while, they bought a farm in Pohocco Precinct where their second daughter, Nettie Lenore, was born September 23, 1887.

   Ellen's ancestors in Hardin County, Kentucky fought on both sides in the Civil War and her great-grandfather, Clammans Gillihan, served with Col. John Gibson's Seventh Virginia Regiment in the Revolutionary War.

   The Al Maxwell's became well-known farmers in the early 1900's. Al owned a Maxwell car, one of the first in this part of the country. Ellen worked for the Red Cross in World War II.

   The two Maxwell sisters married McClean brothers, Knox and Jim. Both sets of newlyweds settled on farms in the area, raised their families there, and remained on their farms all their lives. Descendants from these two families still live in Saunders County. On Jim and Nettie's farm lives their granddaughter Patti (McClean) Lindgren, and her family, and on Knox and Verna's farm lives their grandson, J. Alexander McClean, and his family. The Orval Boettner's live on the old Maxwell place.

   Ellen Maxwell McLean was a charter member of the Pohocco's Woman's Club. Submitted by Dorothy Boettner

   Fred was born in Saunders County in 1924. His father, Fred W. Mayer, was born in Oklahoma Territory in 1893, and also farmed in Saunders County. His grandfather, Karl Fredrick migrated to this country from Germany. Like his father and grandfather before him, farming became his way of life, and was the only son to follow in this profession. After graduation from Mead High School, he served with the Army in Korea. Then after his discharge, he married Delores Tank in 1947.

Deloris, Julie, Fred, Sharon Mayer

   They started their married life in Saunders County, working on a farm. Then, in 1951, they rented the William Pickett farm, and started farming on their own. They started a dairy herd, and sold Grade A milk, as well as raising a hatching flock of chickens. Several years later, Fred began farming the Ambrose Johnson farm, and part of the Charles Aufenkamp land.

   During these years, two daughters were born: Sharon, in 1950, and Julie, in 1956. Sharon started school at "Hillside" country school, later attending Mead Public School. Julie began her school days at Mead, and both girls were cheerleaders there.

   4-H was an important activity in both girls' lives, and were able to participate in the State Fair Style show with their sewing achievements. Delores served as a 4-H leader for 13 years. She also is active in Extension, and Garden Club, and enjoys acrylic, and china painting.

   The family have been active through the years in the Emanuel Baptist Church, where Fred serves as Deacon. Fred also serves on the Mead Farmers Union Elevator board, and also served several terms on the Pohocco Precinct board.

   In 1962 they purchased the Hans Neilsen farm, and moved one mile north to their very own farm home. Culminating a dream of theirs, his father's before him, and his grandfather's before that!

   Some of our fondest memories are of Family -- like the summer Cousin Jack Mayer and family arrived, tent and all, and we suddenly had 10 little Indians, (eight for the first time) on the farm. Keeping them all in tow, fed, safe and clean was something never to be forgotten!

   Then there was the day Grandma Mayer first tried out our riding mower, and suddenly found her dress skirt-less! (the blade ate it up!)

   The many hours in the bean fields -- the singing -- discussions -- pulling "cackleberries," (cockleburs) the muddy shoes -- the blisters!

   Raising baby calves, teaching them to drink out of a bucket, and then turning them out to pasture. How they could kick up the dust, with that first newfound freedom!

   1982 finds us retired from the dairy, chickens, and calves, but still farming. Sharon currently lives in the Denver, Colorado area. Julie married Ron Raver in 1977, and lives in Mead. In 1981, they presented us with our first grandchild, Nicholas Donald, so another generation has begun. Could another dream be culminating? Only time can tell! Submitted by Mrs. Fred J. Mayer

   Henry Damascus Mays, born on Dec. 13, 1861, died July 28, 1923. Henry's parents were born in Ohio. His wife, Amelia D. Meyer, was born in Illinois, Dec. 20, 1864, and died June 13, 1919. Amelia's parents were in Prussia. Nine children were born to this union at Memphis, Nebraska. They were Emma, Ida, Lizzie, Geneva, Sylvia, Arthur, Howard, Nellie, and Herbert.

   Emma J. Mays Conrad (Mrs. Albert) was born April 27, 1884 and died Feb. 11, 1979. Her husband, Albert Conrad, was born Mar. 21, 1879 and died June 18, 1954. Emma lived the longest of any of the children. She had one son, Ernest Conrad, Elm Creek, Nebraska 68836.

   Ida Mays Knight (Mrs. Henry W.), Salem, Oregon, was born in 1886 and is deceased. Henry Knight is deceased. The children were Flossie, Helen, Ralph, and Phyllis, all deceased, and Arthur.

   Lizzie Bell Mays Hanson (Mrs. Elmer R.) Wahoo, Nebraska was born on July 8, 1888 and died Jan. 17, 1965. The children were Mildred Robbins, Donald, deceased, Lyle, Lorraine Retzlaff, Forrest, and Doris Schuelke.

   Geneva Mays Thomas (Mrs. Burt), Fremont, Nebraska was born on July 13, 1890 and died Nov. 17, 1918 with no children.

   Sylvia A. Mays Edmundson (Mrs. Ivan), Hamilton, Montana, was born April 27, 1892 and died Sept. 28, 1943 with no children.

   Arthur D. Mays was born April 6, 1895. He died of a burst appendix on Aug. 28, 1912 at 17 years of age.

   Howard Mays, born May 20, 1897, died Oct. 2, 1944. His children were August and Marjorie, both deceased and Kenneth. His wife, Alma Manske Mays was born April 20, 1894 and died Feb. 1, 1956.

   Nellie Crystal Mays Coe, Los Angeles, California was born in 1899 and died March, 1965. There were no children.

   Herbert Mays, Los Angeles, California was born in 1903 and died before 1944. He married but there were no children.

   Henry D. Mays had 5 brothers, Levi, Ashland; Nels, Wahoo; Martin, Wahoo; Bill, Memphis; and Joe, Memphis.

   Henry D. Mays, Memphis, owned 80 acres in Marble Precinct, Sec. 34, and rented Sec 33, 20 acres.

   My Grandfather Mays had a large apple orchard. I remember Snow apples to make apple cider and Whitney Crabs to make jelly. In those days, they didn't have to spray the apples.

   My mother Lizzie would take Donald and Mildred in a single horse buggy and visit our grandparents. My mother, later, with three children now, including Lyle, drove the 1914 Ford car to visit them.

   Amelia, my grandma, died in 1919 and Grandpa moved to the city of Wahoo where he resided until his death. Nel, Sylvia, and Herbert resided with him. After Grandpa's death in 1923, Nel, Sylvia, and Herbert moved to the West Coast. By Granddaughter Mildred Hanson Robbins

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