TCHCC Kalich House History - Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural

TCHCC Kalich House History
History of the Kalich Family
by Gloria Schwenke East
In 1883, Josef Kalich (also spelled Kahlig/Kahlich) 51 years old,
with his wife Magdalena Hauptmann Kalich, 39 years old, came
with their families to Galveston from Moravia, Austria, now the
Czech Republic, having left Bremen, Germany, on the vessel
Weser on the ninth of September, and arriving on the First of
October. They brought the following children: Josef, 19 years;
Franz, 17 years; Anna, 14 years; Eduard, 7 years, Stefan, 5 years,
and Antonín, 2 years.
The Josef and Magdalena Kalich Family
They were a German-speaking family from Haebendorf (Polouvsi),
a little village near Jesenika n/Odrou, not far from Nový Jicín. This
area of northern Moravia was colonized by German families as
early as the 14th and 15th centuries. A group of German
Moravians from this area of Moravia emigrated to the High Hill
area of Fayette County as early as 1860.
Josef Kalich was the son of farmers in Jesenika. In November,
1863, he was commander of Patrol 332 of the Field Foresters. He
married Magdalena Hauptman, daughter of Antoni and Elizabeth
Hauptman from Jesenika.
The Kalichs lived near Weimer for three to four years and then
bought 299 acres of land situated 17 miles southwest of La
Grange in Muldoon League # 13 on Rocky Creek, a tributary of the
Navidad River, in Fayette County. They purchased the property
from William and Theresa Herder on June 12, 1888, for $4,300-payable in ten years.
The following gives an account of their children:
Josef Jr. married Ludmila Grohmann; they had twelve children,
most whom lived near Victoria and Cuero.
Franz married Mary Schenek; they had four children. Franz bought
117 acres of the family homestead across the creek, but then died
in 1903 at 37 years of age from tuberculosis. Mary later married
Frank Florianic an remained on their farm.
Annie married Rudolph Kretschmann; they had four children (one
died), but Rudolph died early, so Annie was left a widow with three
children to rear. Anita, Ella, and Hattie lived part-time with Edward
and Marie Kalich while Annie worked in the hotel in Schulenburg.
Annie later married Dick Fishbeck.
In 1904, Edward, the grandfather of Gloria Schwenke East,
married Marie Lux, who immigrated from Mittlewald (Strdolesí)
County of Prerov, Moravia. They had six children: Edna (1909 2000) who married Otto Schwenke whose mother was Anna Sulak;
the daughter of John Sulak, Adela (1910 - 1970) the mother of the
Gloria Schwenke East; Alfred (1912 - 1975); Harvey (1915 -1943);
Marvie (1919 - 1998); and Ruben (1925 -1984).
Edward and Marie remained on the homestead with their family
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The red arrow marks the location of Polouvsi
in north Moravia
TCHCC Kalich House History
and grandparents; Magdalena died in 1918, and Josef died in 1930
at 98 years of age. Edward and Marie’s oldest daughter, Edna,
married Otto Schwenke and moved away. Alfred married Hattie
Humplik and left the farm. Harvey died at age 26 of a heart attack
while having a sprained knee treated. Marvie served in WWII as a
cook in a Tank Division of Patton’s Third Army; his division landed
on Normandy Beach on D-Day. This left 18-year old Rubin and his
parents to run the farm. Adela and Marvie never married; they both
lived out their lives on the farm. Marvie died in 1998 and Adela in
1970. Rubin married Lillian Krenek. They lost an infant daughter.
Their son Jonathon, who married Peggy Barta, now lives on the
old homestead farm in a house adjacent to the place where the old
dwelling donated to the TCHCC was located. Jonathan and Peggy
have two daughters, Karey Ann and Christina. He is a graduate of
Texas A&M University and works as a banker in Flatonia and
manages to keep the farm going as well. His father, Rubin, died in
1984, and his mother, Lillian, remains on the farm.
Edward Kalich died in 1957 at 81 years of age. Marie (Gutta
Mama) died in 1970 at the age of 89, having lived as a faithful
wife, mother, grandmother, and caretaker of relatives who needed
her. She loved to grow flowers and always had a beautiful garden
near the house. The grandchildren loved to go visit the farm in the
summer, especially to eat the good food produced on the farm,
such as homemade molasses, milk, eggs, ham and sausages
from the smokehouse, honey from the beehives, and fruit from the
many trees on the farm. If it could be grown, they knew how to
grow it.
Stefan Kalich married Bertha Ladewig and settled in Freyburg.
They had five children. One son Nolan, died in a Japanese Prison
Camp in WWII.
Anton married Mary Strnadel and they also had five children. They
settled near Engle. One son, Marvin, was killed in an accident in
Houston at the age of 28.
The Kalichs have always been a hardworking, fun-loving, simple
and peaceful people. They immigrated to Texas to escape the
wars and battles of the Old County. Their farm survived the
depression, the wars, and other hard times. The family has a letter
written by Edward’s father-in-law, John Lux, asking them to move
the family to Los Angeles, California, where he would start them
out in one of his rent houses, which is now a part of Hollywood.
They refused the offer and stayed on the farm. Many of the
neighboring farms have been given up and sold to “city people”
from Houston. Ironically, the Hollywood property was later lost
during the depression, because of the inability to pay taxes.
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TCHCC Kalich House History
Reflections on the Kalich House Restoration Project
By Marvin Marek, Kalich House Restoration Project Coordinator
In August of 1999, the Board of the Texas Czech Heritage and
Cultural Center (TCHCC), felt the need to have a visitors center on
its site adjacent to the Fayette County Fairgrounds. It was further
decided that an old farmhouse ought to be sought for this purpose.
The house might later be used as an element of a living history
museum that would universally depict the role of the Czech
immigrant farmer in the development of Texas and Fayette
County. The later is often referred to as the cradle of Czech
immigration to Texas because it contained the largest
concentration of Czech immigrants. This fact influenced the
selection of the site for the statewide effort that is presently
underway.
Several homes were offered for this purpose. One near Hillje,
Texas, was offered by Sylvester Vacek of Wharton, Texas,
appeared to fit the need, but the logistics of making the long move
appeared too challenging and costly. Shortly thereafter, in January
2000, it was learned that Mr. and Mrs. Jonathan Kalich, who lived
near Engle, Texas, had an old farmhouse that really symbolized
the progress of the Texas Czech immigrants. The house was built
in three to four stages, and even incorporated an original an
original, one-room cabin. This room's underpinnings and wallframing contained hand-hewn timbers, indicating that it was built in
the later part of the 19th century. It appeared that Providence
favored the TCHCC's pursuits.
Marvin Marek ad the Kalich house Grand
Opening. Photo Couresy Ted Kaspar
The Board of Directors chose to accept the offer, and established
a budget of $62,000 for its relocation and restoration. This amount
was equivalent to an earlier estimate for the possible construction
of a new building of approximately equal size.
John Kana of Kana Brothers, Inc. volunteered to move the house.
He accomplished the move, setup, and leveling in June of 2000.
Thereafter, volunteers and contractors were sought to restore the
house. As fortune would have it, a generous individual and a
professional homebuilder from Ennis, Texas, volunteered to
furnish the skilled manpower needed for the carpentry work. Robert
Slovak, owner of Slovak Construction Company, constructed new
porches and repaired almost all of the other wooden elements of
the house. Arnold Pechal of Temple, Texas, installed the electrical
wiring. A host of other volunteers performed most of the other
tedious tasks required to complete the project.
Approximately eighty individuals ranging in ages from two to eighty
volunteered
their
time,
some collectively representing
organizations. Their combined volunteer time totaled at least 3,109
hours. They came from Ennis, Austin, Houston, Corpus Christi,
Temple, and points in between--even from abroad, from our distant
ancestral homeland. Pavel Smyd, a Catholic priest who serves a
church in Moravia, a short distance north of Brno, assisted Arnold
Pechal with the electrical work that had to be installed to meet the
City of La Grange's commercial code. The priest's father was an
electrician and he had learned the trade from him. (Reeder's Air
Conditioning & Heating, Inc. assisted with the local electrical
permits and code compliance.) Jerry Elzner of Corpus Christi
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The Grand Opening Ceremony for the Kalich
House
TCHCC Kalich House History
brought a work crew comprised of Jaroslav Sijansky and Mirek
Prasivka to contribute a day's work. Both were citizens of the
Czech Republic. Also, many locals did their part. Johnny Polasek,
Elmont Vivial, Ed Vasek, and Elo Goerig were always responsive
to calls for assistance. During the final stages, they were constant
work companions. Elo Goerig, President of the Catholic Union of
Texas, with its headquarters in La Grange, even supervised the
final touches to the house after I left for a trip to the Czech
Republic in late July. (The occupation of the house had already
been set for August 1). Ed Krivacka assisted in coordinating work
performed by the roofing contractor. He also repaired several of
the window sashes. Members of the Kalich family came out to
help paint the exterior and interior of the house that some
remembered well.
There was a time when volunteers were few, and I felt an intense
urge to find a face-saving excuses to surrender responsibility for
managing the daunting project. But Providence always seemed to
provided the needed inspiration. It always came in human form. At
one of my lowest points, Bungy Hartshorn appeared out of the
woods of Ledbetter. (As all of you know, Ledbetter is located near
the community of Nechanitz, which was named by Wenzel
(Vaclav) Matejowky after his native village of Nechanice. It is
most likely the village near Hradec Kralove in East Bohemia.
Matejowsky purportedly was the first Bohemian to settle in Fayette
County.)
Bungy is a person who loves to paint, and is blessed with a lovely
smile, and a simple "can-do" attitude--and, to boot, is not even of
Czech extraction. A crew of good ladies and gentlemen joined us
and stuck it out to the end. Some were there nearly daily; Georgia
Funderberg, Carol Kitchen, and the Vivials who reside on the Bluff.
Carol spent hours sitting on the front porch in the heat, tediously
grinding away the rust and accumulations of old paint that coated
the old, exposed, square door lock sets she had either removed
from the doors within the house or purchased at antique stores.
She used a dental-like drill and small bits to do the job. Carol
enjoyed the camaraderie of the other volunteers while they
performed the other, myriad "larger" tasks around her. Pat Parma
of Richmond was on the site frequently as well as contributing
materials and assistance. Bungy even had her daughter Ballen
Keen help with the painting. Moreover, Ballen and her husband
opened their bunkhouse on their ranch to Judy and me. She
allowed us to escape motel life in La Grange, and the life of our
Houston metropolitan community of Missouri City, as well. We are
indebted to her for the many nights we were able to spend in her
peaceful, rural environment. That was a treat in itself! This mother
and daughter are indeed two of my favorite non-Czechs, and
generous contributors to their adopted community. County Judge
Ed Janecka and Commissioner David Noak assisted us with
several aspects of the project, and we appreciate their help.
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Marvin Marek, Bungie Hartshorn, and
Cathleen Noska
TCHCC Kalich House History
I could continue, and perhaps should. Each and every person on
the list of volunteers played a very important and vital part of this
collective effort. I cannot thank each of them enough. I regret that
time and space do not allow be to include all of the great
experiences we shared.
The restoration was essentially completed by the end of July of
2001, and under budget. The entire project lasted only fourteen
months from start to finish. The cost of the project was
approximately $40,000.00, far below the estimated cost of
$62,000.00. Nine individuals and organizations provided cash
donations of $35,590.00. Another thirteen individuals and
organizations contributed $15,360.00 of in-kind donations--in reality
being the equivalent of cash donations. My best estimate is that
another $10,000.00 - $12,000.00 of personal expenses were
incurred by those individuals traveling the longest distances to La
Grange. The monetary value of the house based on volunteered
time, donated materials, and services and payments to
contractors is conservatively $95,0000.00. Had we solely
employed contractors, the cost would have been much greater.
The businessmen and citizens of La Grange must truly appreciate
the benefits that accrued to their economy from this particular
effort. Surely they will join us in developing the remaining elements
of the Texas Czech Center. The Center will not only benefit the
economy of the community, but enhance its cultural life as well.
During the restoration process, particularly after being inspired by
the individuals mentioned above. I realized that this building was
not only composed of wood, metal, and paint, but it possessed
something more. It became more than just a symbol of an
historical era and an expression of the achievements of the Czech
immigrants and their descendant's. It came to embody their spirits.
That same spirit united and animated all of the wonderful
volunteers.
The volunteers can now claim the unique distinction of being
responsible for the construction and restoration of the first building
on the site of the Texas Czech Heritage and Cultural Center. I am
sure that each of them is as proud of the house as I am.
Thank you all for all of the work you have done; but thank you
most of all for increasing my awareness of the spirituality of our
shared event. We are indeed possessed with that same great
pioneering spirit of our Czech forbearers. May we continue to be
conduits of, and contributors to, the blessings contained in our
beautiful legacy.
Young Czechs Preserving Their Heritage
By Pat Parma
It all started a little over a year ago when three little boys were a
part of a team of volunteers who traveled to Eagle Lake to pick up
a conference table and desk that had been donated to the Texas
Czech Heritage and Cultural Center, La Grange. It was hot, but it
was well worth the effort, for they traveled in a big U-Haul truck
from Richmond with their first destination being Eagle Lake. With
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The donated flags and flag poles located
next to the Kalich House
TCHCC Kalich House History
the help of their dad and uncle they loaded the donated furniture
and proceeded to La Grange. Once in La Grange, all of their
muscle power was needed again to help move everything into the
office for the center.
Peyton Ohl at the TCHCC when the Kalich
House arrived
This move was their first exposure to helping to preserve their
heritage and culture. They would be involved again, several
months later when the Kalich House was moved onto the property
of TCHCC. The eldest traveled with their grandmother to La
Grange the day when the first part of the house was moved onto
the property. He was taken in awe when he found log floor joists
and square nails in the structure. He was given a couple of nails to
take home to show his parents.
The three traveled to La Grange again in the summer of 2000. This
time they and other volunteers from the CHS Ft. Bend Chapter
spend a day taking out sheetrock, sweeping, and sweating, but
still having a wonderful time working together. Also, this time the
boys brought their heavy machinery for dirt moving, and worked
almost all of the day. Tired after a long day, they once again put
the heavy machinery into a cardboard box and packed up to spend
the night in Fayetteville.
Peyton Ohl and Conner Vecera working with
"heavy machinery" moving soil
Little did they know but they were reliving a part of their heritage.
Their great great grandfather had settled in Fayetteville shortly
after coming to Texas in 1882. That evening they stood on the
balcony of the hotel and surveyed the square of Fayetteville. It
was quiet. The next morning the three boys took a walk around the
square and sat in the bandstand where many an afternoon concert
had taken place. If you listened closely, you could probably have
heard the sound of the Baca Band as they played for gatherings
for social entertainment. Music is a part of their life, for they knew
what their grandfather had enjoyed. This is their culture, their
heritage; this is a part of their life.
Another trip to La Grange. This time in the summer of 2001. Three
little boys, ages ten, six, and four, rode quietly in the back seat.
Occasionally they ask, "How much further?" This time they knew
where they were going for they were now very familiar with their
destination. After arriving in La Grange they had to check out the
facilities at the old jail. This is now the home of the La Grange
Chamber of Commerce. With a short trip around the La Grange
square, then all continued to the site of the Texas Czech Heritage
and Culture Center. WOW! What a change. The Kalich house now
is really taking shape. The boys had not seen the porches that had
been added. This was where they had moved dirt for one whole
day some time back. Volunteers had come from Austin, Missouri
City, Ledbetter, Richmond, Bryan, Ennis, Houston and other
places, and joined together to renovate an old house but still all
remembering that this is how our ancestors once lived. Some
even remembered with stories of how they, their parents, or their
grandparents had lived.
The ten-year old had to tell his parents that there was even a lady
working the day he visited that said that the Kalich House was her
grandparents home. He said, "It's pretty neat to be working on your
grandparents house." I hope this enthusiasm last. That ten-year
old that had worked with the small heavy machinery only a year
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Carson helping his mom, Paula Vecera, clear out
the old sheetrock
TCHCC Kalich House History
ago was now ready to lend a hand in the actual restoration
process. He wanted to paint, and paint he did. With bucket in one
hand and paintbrush in the other, he climbed a ladder and began
painting the ceiling in what is to be the gift shop in the house.
Paint splattered clothes was the fashion of the day. Everyone else
there looked the same.
Another trip back. What a difference a couple of weeks can make.
Three little boys going to visit a place that will help preserve their
culture and heritage. A fresh coat of paint on the exterior and
freshly painted walls bring the old house back to life. It is no longer
cold and gloomy, but full of life. A place you can feel at home in.
Soon rockers on the porch with families visiting and sharing
stories will preserve precious memories. For visitors, a library of
genealogy books, and histories will help them find who they are
and where they came from. Preserved artifacts make us
remember the life long past.
The Kalich House is only the first part of the center devoted to
preserving Czech Heritage and Culture. An Amphitheater is also
currently under construction. A theater that overlooks the beautiful
Colorado River valley. A quiet retreat. Texas Czech Heritage and
Culture Center will be a lasting tribute to our immigrant ancestors
who struggled so hard to make a new life in a new land. Many
suffering hardships. Life was not easy. We pay tribute to these
Czech Texas pioneers.
Those three little boys have learned a lot about their great
grandfather who came to Texas. For the immediate future, they
will be working as hard as they can to help preserve their Czech
heritage and culture, for they know that is what their Po Po
wanted.
Thank you, Peyton, Conner, and Carson.
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