FAMILY STORIES

Paul Pleskac Family

retiring and moving back to Omaha in 1945. Both came from Czechoslovakia before meeting and marrying in Omaha. They had nine children, Paul being the first boy after two girls.

   Paul's father bought a farm near Weston for his son, James, to farm, but James was killed in World War II. We were asked to move there. We brought with us our two little daughters, Julie, now Mrs. Rick Falleck of Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, and Alice, now Mrs. Richard Meduna of Colon. After moving there we had Michael, David, and Richard, all married and living in Lincoln, Barbara (Mrs. Ervin Opp) of Emporia, Kansas, Rita (newly married to Mark Kavan), Paul, Jr. and Frank.

   In January, 1982, we retired from the farm to Weston. Our son, Paul Jr., has taken over the dairy and farming.

   At one time my grandfather, John Nabity, owned the Loma store. Later on it was owned and operated by Jerry Pleskac, Paul's uncle.

   Our daughter is working on our family tree. We are discovering we have relatives in Saunders and Butler Counties. Both grandparents on my mother's side had come from Butler County. Lucille Pleskac

   Paul and Elaine Plybon were married October 20, 1973 at Plasi, Nebraska in a small country church near Prague.

The Plybon Family

   Paul was born June 24, 1950, in Aurora, Missouri and spent his first nine years living in that area with his parents -- Clark and Jackie (Jasa) Plybon. Also, in his family are two brothers -- Rodell and Lee, and a sister, Moriah Maly. In May of 1960, they moved to Weston, Nebraska. Paul's mother was originally from Wahoo. Her parents, Jerry and Helen (Nolte) Jasa, owned the land the Saunders County Hospital was built on. The Care Center now sits where their house was.

   Paul attended rural grade school and graduated from Weston High School in 1968. He served in the United States Navy, spending a year in Vietnam.

   Elaine, the daughter of Anton and Helen (Sedlacek) Mach was born August 29, 1950. She lived on the farm homesteaded by her great, great-grandfather, Frank Mach, all of her childhood and school days. Besides Elaine, there were five sons -- Larry, Dale, Joe, Roger, and Lyle. They all attended District 83 grade school and Elaine graduated from Prague High School in 1968 and then attended Lincoln School of Commerce. She worked in Lincoln for five years before their marriage.

   Wahoo was the first home for Paul and Elaine. They lived in Wahoo for two years, Cedar Bluffs for two years, and moved back to Wahoo in December of 1977.

   Paul has worked for Farmers Co-op since they have been married -- in Cedar Bluffs for four years, Ceresco a year and a half, and now as the manager of the Farmers Co-op Grain in Ithaca.

   Paul and Elaine have three daughters -- Jill, born September 19, 1975; Kari -- February 3, 1978, and Suzanne, July 1, 1982. Jill attends St. Wenceslaus Catholic Grade School and is a member of Brownie Troop #67. Kari is attending pre-school run by Mrs. Jill Johnson and both girls are taking gymnastic lessons.

   The Plybons are members of St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church. Paul is active in sports and Elaine is a member of the Wahoo Mother's Study Club and Merry Mixers Extension Club. By Paul Plybon

   Ben and Elaine Pokorny live in the rural Wahoo area. Ben was born southwest of Wahoo. His maternal great-grandparents, Vaclav Houfek and Katerina (Novotny) Houfek and John and Rosalie (Bulusek) Mach all came from Bohemia, Czechoslovakia, in 1874 and settled in the Prague area. Ben's grandparents, John Houfek and Rosalie Mach, were married in 1884 and also lived near Prague. Their retirement years were spent in Weston. Ben's parents, Josep F. Pokorny, born in 1881, and Frances (Houfek) Pokorny, born in 1888, were married in 1923.

   Ben's paternal grandparents, Vaclav and Veronica (Veskrna) Pokorny, came to Saunders County from Czechoslovakia also. They came in 1878 and purchased 80 acres southwest of Wahoo for $500. After a fire destroyed their home in about 1920, they spent their retirement years on an adjoining farm that was owned by their son, Joseph F. These two farms are now a part of the family farm on which Ben and Elaine live.

   Elaine was born in northeast Iowa. Her parents are George and Amelia (Beran) Buresh. Ben and Elaine were married in 1955. Mr. and Mrs. Buresh are now Saunders County residents, moving here in 1968 from Riceville, Iowa.

   Ben and Elaine have four children. Karen, an elementary and special education teacher, is presently teaching 5th grade in the Lincoln Christian School. Laurie, a senior nursing student, attends Midland Lutheran College, Fremont, Nebraska. Janette is attending Grace College of the Bible in Omaha, and Jim is a seventh grade student at rural Dist. #44. Submitted by Ben Pokorny

   My husband, Emil Pokorny, and I, Garnet Pokorny, will celebrate our 30th Anniversary on Nov. 14, 1983. Emil was the youngest son of Henry Sr. and Louise (Dostal) Pokorny. His mother died when he was two and a half years old. He has three brothers and four sisters.

   Emil's father was born in Saunders County and his mother was born in Trebomyslicech, Czechoslovakia and came to the U.S.A. as a young girl.

   I was the youngest child of Mr. and Mrs. James S. Svoboda of Prague. I have two brothers and one sister. My parents will observe their 60th Anniversary on May 1, 1983. They were both born in Saunders County.

   Emil and I were married in the old St. John's Catholic Church in Prague. He served two years in the army, 1½ years in Korea, 1951-1953. Our son, Keith, who also served three years in the Army, 1½ years of this time in Okinawa, is now married to Rose Ann Johnson of Swedeburg. They have a boy, Curtis, almost three years old and a girl, Jean Marie, almost three months. Darlene, our daughter, married Howard L. Sheets and lives in Fremont. They have a daughter, Danielle, who will be nine years old in July, 1983.

   On Feb. 26, 1983, Emil and I will live on this place eight years. We lived by Wahoo for twenty-two years and dairied and farmed until we bought the present place we live on. Emil now works for the bridge crew of Saunders County, also farms a little on the side, and we raise a few cattle. We like living on our little farm and hope to enjoy many years here. Submitted by Garnet Mae Pokorny

   Henry Jr. and Virginia Benson Pokorny were born and raised in Saunders County, near Wahoo, Nebraska. After renting for several years, they purchased a small acreage in 1973, near Weston, where they still reside. They are the parents of two sons, Wayne and Deward, who served their country during the Viet Nam War.

Henry Pokorny Family, 40th Wedding Anniversary, March, 1982

   The Pokorny family began when Joseph and Mary Caha Pokorny were married in Czechoslovakia in 1867. They immigrated to America and settled south of the Czech Presbyterian Church, Wahoo. Henry Jr. is one of eight children of Henry Sr. and Loiza Dostal Pokorny. His interests are crop and livestock farming, music, horseshoe contests, and threshing bee reunions.

   The Benson family began when John Peter Benson of Halland, Sweden came to America in 1873. He settled near Cambridge, Illinois, where he later married Nellie Person Johnston also of Halland, Sweden, in 1879. In 1883, they came to Nebraska and homesteaded northeast of Wahoo. John Peter Benson became a United States citizen in 1913. Acorns were planted by hand on the homestead and it became known as "Oak Leaf Farm."

   A son, Albert, who married Aletha Barton in 1914, took over the homestead in 1916. Virginia was their only child. Her formal education was at Mead Public School #72 and secretarial studies at the old Lincoln School of Commerce. Her parents retired to Wahoo in the late 1940's. The homestead is now owned by the Joe Koranda family since 1950.

   Aletha's father, Stewart Barton, along with Albert Perry, ran one of the Livery Stables in Walton many years ago. Her mother, Lydia, served with the Wahoo American Red Cross Unit.

   Virginia's ancestors date back as far as 1795 of Swedish, Pennsylvania-Dutch, Scotch-Irish, English and German ancestry. In 1976, she compiled and wrote the Weston 1876-1976 Centennial Booklet. Her many interests include being a permanent member of the Weston American Legion Auxiliary Unit 308 and a member of the Saunders County Historical Society; belonging to the Happy Matrons Club; serving as clerk on the Chapman Precinct Election Board; on the Saunders County Senior Citizens Advisory Board as Chairperson-Elect; and, at present, compiling her Family History.

   Pictured with story are, left to right, Wayne Pokorny, Phyllis (Dauel) Pokorny, Virginia, Henry Jr., Kathleen (Meduna) Pokorny, and Deward Pokorny. Submitted by Virginia Benson Pokorny

   Frank and Pauline (Krska) Polak immigrated to Nebraska from Sedlec, near Trebic, in Moravia (then the Austro-Hungarian Empire) in 1875. Like thousands of their countrymen, they left their beautiful homeland of mountains, forests, and meadows

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Frank and Pauline Polak

because they were tired of the struggle for a livelihood, for law, and for civil and religious liberties.

   Frank was a skilled cabinet maker, but he possessed an innate love for the soil and the joy of working with it; so he settled among the farmers of Saunders County. He took advantage of the Homestead Act of 1863 which allowed each bonafide settler 160 acres of land which he could, after paying $14 for filing and proving ownership for five years, claim it as his own. Frank Polak took claim to a homestead in Elk Township, registering for 80 acres. His Warranty Deed is signed by Chester Arthur, our 21st president. He further enlarged his possessions by applying for an additional 80 acres under the Timber Culture Act. This farm, 2½ miles south of Plasi, was the Polak homestead.

   Seven children were born to this couple, six boys and one girl: Joseph, supposedly died enroute from Europe; Frank, who married Mary Kubik, lived in Prague and Wahoo; John, who married Anna Kubik and later Emma Lorenc Buresh, lived in Prague and then in Valparaiso; Adolph, who married Josephine Ratkovec, moved to Brainard; Vaclav, who married Anna Chmelka, lived on the homestead near Plasi; Mary, who married Vaclav Havlovic, moved to Brainard; and Jacob, died as a youth.

   The names of Frank and Pauline are listed in the early records of SS. Cyril and Methodius Church in Plasi. They were faithful members, contributors, and workers. This was the church where they worshipped and from which they were buried, Frank in 1907 at the age of 70 and Pauline at the age of 97 in 1930. Both are buried in the Plasi Cemetery. -- Sister Pauline Polak, ND

   Both Richard's and my roots are in Saunders County. Richard's great-grandfather, Frank Polak, homesteaded 80 acres in Section 28, Township 15 in 1882 and 1895, and obtained 80 acres under the Timber Claim Act.

Richard Polak Family Oct. 24, 1981. Left to Right: Karen Polak, Dale Stewart and son Robert, Joan Polak Stewart, Rita Cernohlavek Polak, Richard Polak, Bride -- Deb Creighton Polak, Groom -- Mark Polak, Diana Polak Kucera, Adam, William Kucera, Ann Polak.

   I was born on a farm just east of the Saunders-Butler County line to Emil and Kristina Osmera Cernohlavek. Emil's parents and grandparents are early pioneers of Saunders County.

   Richard, born in Polk County, is the son of Ivan and Frances Sedlak Polak. He attended Holy Trinity Grade School, Dwight Assumption High School, and Creighton University, and served two years in the army, 16 months being spent in Korea and Japan. He is now manager of the Butler County Rural Public Power District.

   I attended school in Brainard and Midland College, taught one year in a rural school, and then worked two and one-half years for Anderson Auto Co. in Wahoo.

   Richard and I were married at Holy Trinity, Brainard, September 25, 1954. We are the parents of five children. Diana married William Kucera, both graduated from Kearney State College, and are parents of one son, Adam. Mark is married to Deb Creighton and is a Physical Therapist in Norfolk. Joan, a graduate of Queen Anne Beauty School, is married to Dale Stewart. They live on a ranch by North Platte and are parents of two children, Robert and Sara. Karen, a graduate of Kearney State College, teaches in Madison Junior High in North Platte. Ann is a freshman at the University in Lincoln, majoring in nursing.

   The children all attended St. Mary's Grade School and Aquinas High in David City. They were all members of the National Honor Society and active in sports. Ann presently holds the state track record in the 100 meters.

   Dick and I have been active in the church, school and community. He is presently serving on the St. Joseph Villa Board and I am a trustee for the David City Public Library. Submitted by: Rita Polak

   Since 1715 the Pollack family were "smiths" in Dalarna and Varmland, Sweden, living and working at iron forges in various "bruks" (works) until the ore gave out.

   In the early 1800's, the family worked the iron forges at Järna, Dalarna, where three children were born to Anders Adam Pollack and Cathrina Helsing. They were to become the first and only Pollacks to immigrate to America.

   In 1843, they moved to Femta ° Foundry, Norra Ny parish, where the father was foreman. Femta ° today consists of remains of a later-day sawmill on the site. A vigorous stream can be crossed leading to the nearby site of the Pollack home and a few remaining stones. The stream now carries logs from the beautiful Varmland forests over the rocks and downstream.

   The family attended the lovely old Norra Ny wooden shingle church of handmade shingles, completed by the villagers in 1764.

   In 1847, the Pollacks moved twenty miles south to Helg ° Foundry near Ekshrad, site of another 1700 wooden shingle church. It is noted for many iron grave-markers made by local smiths.

   In 1849, they moved to Fredriksberg, Säfsnäs parish, Dalarna, where the father was foreman and the family worked at Fredriksberg Foundry. One little building remains from the original foundry, located near beautiful lake "Säfssjön."

   Nearby the family lived on Pollackvägen in an area still known as Pollackhultet (Pollack woods), all undoubtedly named for the family. The original house, old barn, and many old trees remain.

   Grandmother Johanna Christina Pollack rode the church boats to confirmation instruction three kilometers across Säfssjön, and was confirmed in the Säfsnäs church. She was later employed in the parsonage.

   The first group of the family immigrated to America in 1868, and the remainder in 1869. The three oldest Pollack children and their spouses went to American in 1868: Maria Carolina (married to August Helsing), Anna Charlotta (married to Carl Olof Bäckman), and Anders Adolph Pollack (married to Emma Bostrom). Helsings farmed northeast of Malmo, Nebraska, and Bäckmans farmed near Boone, Iowa. Anders Adolf Pollacks went to Omaha, then in 1875, homesteaded northeast of Malmo. A dugout was their first home. The farm remains in the family and is a "Centennial farm." Three children died of diphtheria in 1885.

   The remaining group of Pollacks came to America in 1869, via Hull, England by S.S. Hero; then by railway to Liverpool, and by ship to America. This group consisted of the parents, Albertina (married to Pete Sundeen), Johanna Christina, and Per Johan Pollack. Sundeens farmed south of Malmo.

   Because Per Johan was only fifteen, his parents were able to homestead a farm northeast of Malmo.

   Johanna Christina worked at Brandeis Restaurant in Omaha. In 1875, she married Johan Fredric Jackson in Fremont. He had homesteaded a farm near Malmo, where they first lived in a dugout. They became parents of seven children, and lived their entire lives on this farm. Fred Jackson died there in 1909, and Johanna in 1927. Submitted by Mrs. Everett Lindorff

   Patricia Ann Lindquist was born Oct. 24, 1942 in Wahoo to Theodore (Ted) and Ruth (Hanke) Lindquist. She attended Swedeburg School and Wahoo High School where she enjoyed participating in the activities, such as band, Barber Shop Quartet, Triple Trio, and the musical "Oklahoma," the class play "Diary of Anne Frank," and slumber parties with her classmates. She enjoyed 4-H and appreciated the time her leaders would take to give her extra help. During the 1952 polio epidemic she was afflicted with polio, but with much therapy, she had full recovery. She attended University of Nebraska and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Vocational Homemaking Education. She taught school at Grant and Venango, Nebraska where she met Roger.

Mr. and Mrs. Roger Poppe, Gregg and Eric

   Roger William Poppe was born Oct. 12, 1935 near Cook, Nebraska to Leonard and Bertha (Lipps) Poppe. He attended rural school and Cook High School. He enjoyed musical activities and being in class plays. He served in the army in Germany.

   Roger and Pat were married June 18, 1965, at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Wahoo. Presently they are operating their own farm near Cook, where they recently built a new home. Roger is a dedicated Pork Producer and a diversified farmer. Pat still teaches Home Economics and received her Master's Degree in 1983 in Educational Psychology, to qualify her to be a Secondary School Counselor. Her hobbies are sewing and needlework. The family is active in many church activities.

   They have 2 sons, Gregg Lynn, born Nov. 5, 1967 and Eric Kent, born Dec. 20, 1968. They attend Nemaha Valley School at Cook, where they are both honor students and are members of the math contest team. They are active in the school athletic programs and the school band. Both have been active in 4-H. Gregg has had the Reserve Grand Champion hog. Eric has had the top graded carcass. Both have represented their county at the State 4-H Livestock Judging contest. Each has won numerous trophies and honors.

   "HOW THEY LIVED"

   Across the lush prairies of Nebraska they rode their horses. Freeman C. and his older brother, Frank, traveled on horseback from Wheaton, Ill. in the year of 1870.

   Reports of abundant supply of timber and water and lush crops of wild grass sounded like a dream to Freeman, who made the trip to see for himself.

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