FAMILY STORIES

most important holidays to him was Memorial Day, and another was Thanksgiving Day.

   Mr. and Mrs. Templeton had 7 children. Flora married Harvey McCroskey and they had 12 children: Lorenzo, Edith (Zears), Lola (Barlow), Ethel (Byrd), John, Davis, Francenah (Lane), Orlo, Emma, Harvey, Donald, Ira, and Billie Paloma, a foster child. Ida May married George Hugh Gilchrist, and they had 3 daughters: Eloise (Johnson), Marie (Elmer), and Leila (Johnson). Horatio (Ray) married Hattie Hughes. They had 6 children: Ruby (Isaacson), Ralph, Lorene (King), Dorothy, Vernice (Johnson), Audrey (Ault), and Warren Hughes, a foster son. Daniel married Annette Buck. They had one son, Arthur LeRoy. After Nettie's death, Dan married Bessie Johnson. Perry married Ina Hills. After her death he married Bernice Crinklaw. Orlo Manser married Annie Bodley. They had 3 children: Orlo, Lucille (Mendenhall) and Annabelle. Bessie married Horatio (Ray) Lilley, and they had one son, Norman.

   Both Mr. and Mrs. Templeton died at Wahoo, she on June 20, 1929, and he, on October 20. 1936.

   Andrew Russel Tennant was born in Wayne County, Pennsylvania, April 16, 1848. He grew to manhood in Pennsylvania. He was a member of the Baptist Church and was choir master there for a number of years.

   He was united in marriage to Effie J. Brown of Lebanon Township, Pennsylvania, August 24, 1870.

   To this union were born three children.

   Charles Warren, who died in Denver, Colorado in 1923, is buried in Sunrise Cemetery, Wahoo.

   Remington James of Wahoo, who died in March of 1955, is buried in Sunrise Cemetery, Wahoo.

   Edith Paasch of Colorado Springs, who died in 1963, is buried beside her husband at Fremont, Nebraska.

   Andrew Tennant moved to Nebraska in 1882, where he homesteaded in Sherman County. In 1913, he retired and moved to Wahoo, Nebraska, due to poor health. He died in January, 1918, and is buried in Sunrise Cemetery, Wahoo.

   His wife, Effie, resided in Wahoo, moved to Valparaiso, Nebraska for about two years, and then returned to Wahoo. She spent part of the last two years of her life with her daughter, Mrs. Edith Paasch of Spirit Lake, Iowa, until her death in 1940. She is buried in Sunrise Cemetery, Wahoo, Nebraska.

   Remington James Tennant was born in Wayne County Pennsylvania, February 2, 1876. At four years of age, he moved to Sherman County, Nebraska, with his parents, Russell and Effie Tennant. In 1906, he was married to Mary Alice Leininger who was born in Sherman County, Nebraska, February 1, 1880. They homesteaded at Dunning, Nebraska. Due to poor crops and prairie fires, they moved to Wahoo, Nebraska, in 1913. Mr. Tennant ran his own dray service. This consisted of hauling freight from the depots, as well as taking passengers to and from the depots. He later drove a delivery truck for the Winter Department and Grocery Store. After this he became a railroad foreman. When there was talk of laying off workers, he and his family moved to Valparaiso, Nebraska, where he ran his own business for about two years. The family then moved back to Wahoo where he again worked as a foreman for the railroad. From this job he went to the Wahoo Municipal Power Plant in about 1924. He worked there until his retirement in 1950. To this union were born six children.

   Helen Edith, 1907 -- Mrs. John M. Burns -- died in Sun City, Arizona, October 10, 1978. They have one son, Jack, of Omaha, Nebraska.

   Ross Alvin, born January 9, 1909, married Odell Fletcher of West Virginia. They had one son, David, in 1938. He lived for only a few hours. They now reside in New Market, New Hampshire.

   Lorene Effigene, born September 15, 1910, married Harry F. Falke, son of William and Emma Falke of Wahoo, on February 9, 1936. They have two sons, Douglas R. and Harry W., both married and living in Wahoo.

   Marjorie Aileen Proctor, born in 1913, married Ralph D. Proctor. They have two children, Captain Robert Proctor of Coronado, California, and Gayle, Mrs. Dave Ross, of Fort Smith, Arkansas. Marjorie now resides in Paris, Arkansas.

   Vera Alice Mann, born April 21, 1915, married Howard Mann. They have three children, Howard, Ross and Evelyn. She resides at Seal Beach, California.

   Lois L. Cooper, born April 19, 1917, married William Cooper, and lived in Blair, Nebraska. She has two daughters, Mary Rosenbahm of Noel, Missouri and Jean Fast of Las Vegas, Nevada. Lois now resides in Noel, Missouri.

   Remington died in 1955 and his wife, Mary Alice, in 1965. They are buried in Sunrise Cemetery, Wahoo, Nebraska. Submitted by Doug Falke

   Adolph Emil Tenopir was born at Cedar Hill October 27, 1925, of Emil and Lillian Tenopir. Father passed away February 3, 1981. Adolph married Vinette Joan Southwick of Omaha, Nebraska at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church in Omaha on Aug. 9, 1958. We honeymooned in the Black Hills, South Dakota, and Colorado. Our first home was on a farm near Malmo, Nebraska. We lived there one year. It was different for me, because I was a city girl and we had no plumbing. But I loved it. We then moved to a farm east of Cedar Bluffs where we lived for 10 years before moving to the present location, northeast of Cedar Bluffs.

   We have 5 children: Michaelene (Mickey), born March 3, 1960; Greg, born April 6, 1961; Theresa, born Aug. 20, 1963; Pat, born January 21, 1966; and Robert, born April 25, 1968. Mickey and Greg live on their own. Mickey is a beautician at Valentine, Nebraska. Greg lives northwest of Cedar Bluffs on an acreage where he raises hogs and sheep and is also a truck driver for a Fremont Coop. Theresa is a part-time student and also works at Immanuel Hospital in Omaha. Pat and Robert attend Cedar Bluffs High School and play football. Adolph started them in the hog business, also.

   We raise hogs and cattle and farm about 300 acres. Adolph loves to build things. In his spare time, he makes things with his welder.

   I enjoy sewing and cake decorating and playing the guitar. We attend St. Mary's Catholic Church in Cedar Bluffs, where I taught Catechism for many years. Now I play music for the children and at Masses.

   Adolph's ancestors came from Czechoslovakia. I'm what you call a Duke's mixture of English, Irish and Hungarian. My English ancestors came over on the second crossing of the Mayflower from England.

   Adolph and I met at a dance at Dance Island in Wahoo on my birthday. We were introduced by our best friends, Emil (Bud) and Betty Wesely of Cedar Bluffs. Betty and I have been friends since grade school days. Bud and Adolph have been friends and neighbors for years.

   We live in a beautiful part of Saunders County. It's close to the Platte River on the bluffs, near the Boy Scout Camp, Camp Eagle, and Camp Calvin Crest. We go hiking and have picnics on the camps and the children have always camped and fished on the camps. Our life here in Saunders County has never been dull. We love it. Submitted Mrs. Adolph Tenopir

   Emil Tenopir was born to Albert and Anna Tenopir at Milligan, Nebraska on August 3, 1898. They moved to Oklahoma on a farm until 1919. Then they moved to Nebraska, where he met Lillian Wesely, born at Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska to Joseph and Lizzie Wesely on Mar. 29, 1904. They met at a dance at Cedar Hill and married in Fremont, Nebraska on February 18, 1925. They were blessed with two children, Adolph, born at Cedar Hill in 1925, and Helen, born at Cedar Hill in 1927.

   Emil and Lillian lived at Cedar Hill on a farm when married; then moved to Morse Bluff, Nebraska, on a farm. From there they moved to east of Cedar Bluffs on a farm in 1930. In 1950, they moved to a farm north of Malmo, Nebraska, until Emil retired in 1963.

   The day of Emil's farm sale on the farm at Malmo was a memorable one. It was November 22, 1963, the day President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. Everyone was running in and out of the house to listen to the news reports. It was a really cold, dreary day.

   Emil and Lillian moved to Colon, Nebraska on an acreage until 1978, when Emil had a severe stroke and had to be placed in a care center. He died February 3, 1981. Lillian makes her home in Fremont at the present time.

   Adolph married Vinette Southwick of Omaha, Nebraska on August 9, 1958 and has 5 children: Michaelene, Greg, Theresa, Pat, and Robert. They reside on a farm northeast of Cedar Bluffs, Nebraska.

   Helen married Frank Jirovsky at Cedar Bluffs on May 11, 1949. They have 4 children: Cathy, Mary Jane, David, and Frank Jr. They are all married. They all reside now in Fremont, except Frank Jr. He and his wife reside in Cedar Bluffs.

   Lillian and Emil have 9 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren.

   Frantiska Cihal was born in Zasovice, Moravia, Sept. 28, 1885. She dreamed since childhood about going to America. As she neared the age when she would be expected to marry, she decided to go to America where the opportunity for a good life would be greater for her and her future children. When her eldest sister, Veronika, and brother-in-law, Zimola and family, planned to migrate to Colon in Saunders County, Frantiska, then 18, decided to accompany them. Her parents provided her passage, a Bible, and a large black trunk filled with clothing, homespun linens, and goose down feather bed and pillows -- her dowry.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tesar, Fanny Tesar-nee Frantiska Cihal

   She regretted much leaving her younger sister, Marie. She did look forward to being reunited with her brother, Frank Cihal, three years her senior,

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who had migrated to Butler County with their aunt and uncle, old Matej Dvorak Sr. and family, who settled near Bee, Seward County, in 1902.

   Frantiska left Moravia April 8, 1904 and embarked from Bremen, Germany April 12 on the steamship Kaiser Wilhelm. Her passage was arranged by F. Missler in steerage class. She enjoyed the ocean voyage, especially visiting with the other young people. The happiest moment came when they sighted the Statue of Liberty.

   She arrived in Wahoo with the Zimola family. She went to work as a housemaid for Mr. and Mrs. Henry Fisher who were of substantial means. He owned the Prague Grain Elevator with Thomas Simanek. The Fishers had two young sons, one of whom studied medicine. The Fishers discouraged Frantiska from learning English. She had practically no opportunity to mingle with people who spoke English. Even though they discouraged her from learning English, she wanted to be more American and changed her name to Fanny. Throughout her life until her death on July 28, 1958, she used Fanny as her legal name.

   Mr. Fisher arranged for her to meet one of his early elevator customers, formerly of Prague and 17 years her senior, who was an established farmer at Tobias, Saline County, and also widowed. She agreed to marry Frank Tesar Sr., who, with his family in 1894, moved from east of Plasi church near Prague to Saline County. She was married one month after she was introduced to the groom. They were married on Jan. 8, 1906 in the St. Wenceslaus Church of Wahoo, by Rev. Matej Bor. Witnesses were the bride's brother, Frank Cihal, and cousin, Frank Vybiral.

   The newly-wed couple moved to the groom's farm near Tobias, Nebr.

   The bride's younger brother, Albert Cihal, followed her to Nebraska in 1908. He bought a farm one mile north of Valparaiso in 1947. He lived in the Valparaiso area many years.

   Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tesar Sr. raised seven children. They were Frank Jr., Rudolph, Jeffy, Anton, Ed, Albie, and Milo.

   Fanny Tesar, widowed in 1927, with her brother, Frank Cihal, went on the ship "Normadie" to Czechoslovakia for a visit in 1936. She saw her mother, aged 84, who died next year. Her sister, Marie, had died at age 42. Her youngest sister, Anezka, also had died. Her father died at age 92. Two brothers, Josef and Tomas, were killed in World War I fighting for Austria against their will.

   Fanny was happy to return to America. Her children were always grateful to their mother, who moved here to insure a good future for her descendants in this land of opportunity. Submitted by Albie Tesar Rasmussen, daughter; Frank T. Tesar, son

   Jakub (Jacob) and Marie (Hruza) Tesar arrived in New York harbor with their four small children June 11, 1870. They came from Tavikovice, Moravia. They were weary after sailing for 52 days on a windjammer. They rode in a train and covered wagon to Saunders County. There, a Mr. Vanous, a relative, had located earlier near Prague.

Jakub and Marie Tesar Homestead. Seated: Jakub and Marie; Standing, L. to R.: John Tesar, Sr., Anna Kucera, Anton Tesar, Frank Tesar Sr.; Far Left: Unknown.

   The Tesars had $30 of their life savings to stake them when they arrived in Saunders County. After Mr. Tesar paid $14 to file for his homestead, and purchased an old stove, the family had $8 with which to buy immediate necessities.

   Mr. Tesar selected a home site near a creek approximately three miles south and one-fourth mile east of Prague, described as W½ NW¼ Section 24, Elk Township. The Tesar family fashioned a crude dugout shelter. The roof of the dugout was made of limbs and dry prairie grass, covered with soil. The roof leaked when the hard rains came.

   Mr. Tesar's immediate problem was to provide food for the family. He obtained some corn and rye from settlers who had come a few years earlier. Mrs. Tesar and the children ground the grain with a small kitchen grinder. From the ground meal, Mrs. Tesar cooked mush and baked bread and pancakes. They supplemented their meager diet with small wild game. The family used snares and handmade nets and traps to catch the wildlife.

   Because their diet consisted mostly of corn, it eventually caused the family to suffer from poor health. Their blood would not clot normally and sores healed so slowly that abscesses were common. When spring came, their health improved for they ate the wild onions and other greens. Later, they learned that the Indians and early settlers did not suffer from this condition because they ate the dried fruit of wild roses (rose hips). Rose hips are high in Vitamin C content, which their diet lacked in winter.

   Once Mr. Tesar had provided his family with food to last a short time, he was forced to leave them to earn money for additional food and for the tools needed to develop the virgin land. His first job was at a flour mill 60 miles from home. Occasionally, he would walk home. He spent part of his wages for flour which he carried home.

   Later, Mr. Tesar worked on a distant ranch on the Elkhorn River for $1.50 a day. He spent 35 cents on himself in three months. He bought two small oxen and a heifer. It took him three days to ford the Platte and Elkhorn Rivers and lead the cattle home.

   After the young oxen matured, Mr. Tesar broke them to draw. He borrowed an old breaking plow to break a small piece of sod which he sowed to wheat. In July, the Tesars harvested their first crop of wheat. Jacob used a scythe and his wife Marie used a sickle. The children helped beat the cut wheat with a hand-made flail. Mr. Tesar hitched the oxen to a crude sled he had made and dragged two sacks of wheat to Ashland, 30 miles distant, to have it ground into flour. That fall, Mr. Tesar cut logs from the creek banks to build a house.

   The Tesars kept a few chickens but the precious eggs were eaten sparingly for they were the family's only marketable produce. Mr. Tesar carried them 40 miles on foot to Lincoln. The family raised a garden of vegetables, potatoes and peas on a half-acre of ground where they broke the sod by hand before the oxen were acquired.

   At the time the Tesars came to Nebraska, the railroad was being pushed west from Omaha. In 1869, the Union Pacific Railroad made a bid for the Texas cattle, and Schuyler became a loading point. An estimated 40 to 50 thousand Texas cattle were loaded there in the summer of 1871. The huge herds were trailed across the area of the Butler-Saunders County border. The loading point was moved to Kearney in 1872.

   The railroad also brought destruction when trains ignited the tinder-dry prairie grass. The Tesars lost everything they had except for the oxen, heifer, and two dozen hens. Mr. Tesar bartered the hens for an old dilapidated wagon. He drove this rig to an area not scorched by fire where he managed to borrow grain from more fortunate settlers to feed his family and to plant a new crop.

   The family reaped good crops for a few years, but another prairie fire devastated the area and destroyed much of what they owned. A plowed fireguard saved them from a complete loss, for their house and outbuildings did not burn. In other years, grasshoppers destroyed much of their crops. The worst grasshopper plague occurred in 1874. Blizzards of 1873 and 1888 caused human deaths and livestock loss. The national financial panics of 1873 and 1884 created much hardship.

   Mr. Tesar helped to build the first Catholic Church al Plasi (Plzen) in 1877. With the help of God the family managed to survive hardship and to thrive.

   With the exception of a small son, who died from a sudden illness, and the elder daughter, Marie Theede, who married in Saunders County, the family moved to Tobias in Saline County in 1894.

   Marie and Jacob Tesar bought several farms for they had four sons: Joseph, who later homesteaded in Alberta, Canada; Frank, who remained near Tobias; John, who settled south of Friend; and Anton, who moved to Cheyenne County. The younger daughter, Anna Kucera, remained in Saline County.

   The pioneer couple lived to see their children prosper, and enjoy an easier life. Jacob Tesar died in 1901 and his wife died six years later. When Marie Tesar died in 1907, the couple's son, Frank, father of the author, dictated a partial biography of his parents to his young bride, the former Frantiska Cihal, who was newly immigrated to America. She wrote the manuscript in Czech and sent it to Hlas a Czech language newspaper. The old newspaper clipping provided many of the facts mentioned in the present manuscript. By Frank T. Tesar

   John Texel was born in Moravia, then a province of Czechoslovakia, on July third, 1857 to George and Mary (Hoffman) Texel. He studied to become a priest until the age of nineteen, when he came to America by himself. He taught the German language and worked as a carpenter in Millard until he earned enough money to buy a homestead of 160 acres in Rushville, Nebraska. He sold this land and moved back to Omaha, where he met Barbara Vachal.

John and Barbara Texel, 1923

   Barbara Vachal was born in Ledice, Czechoslovakia May fifth, 1868 to Joseph and Anna (Laubach) Vachal. When she was eighteen years old, the family came to America. They first settled in Bruno, Nebraska and Barbara went to work at a hotel in Omaha.

   John and Barbara were married and moved to Bruno, where they started a hardware store with the money John had made from selling his homestead. Since John was a carpenter, he built the building himself. But the building, with their home included, burned down one night and John and Barbara and their children escaped with only the clothes on their backs.

   The family then moved to Prague, where John built them a house and became a traveling photographer, eventually building a gallery in which to take pictures. Later, he became a custodian at the school and practiced photography in his spare time. John died in 1927, and Barbara in 1949.

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