Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Pecenka, John 1847 - living in 1917 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ks/ksfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Joy Fisher sdgenweb@gmail.com July 21, 2005, 9:50 pm Author: B. F. Bowen JOHN PECENKA. Among the prominent citizens of Logan township, Marshall county, who have won success and recognition in the county is John Pecenka, who was born in Bohemia on April 21, 1847, the son of John and Kate (Casper) Pecenka, both of whom were born in that country. John Pecenka, the father of the subject of this sketch, was born in 1825 and received his education in the schools of Bohemia and there grew to manhood. When a young man he engaged in the grist-milling business, at which he worked until 1861, when he decided to come to America. On his arrival in this country he located in Iowa, where he rented a farm and engaged in general farming and stock raising for eight years. He then came to Kansas and homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land, and at the same time pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres in Marshall county. This he developed and improved and here he did general farming and stock raising until his death in 1902. The elder John Pecenka was first married to Kate Casper, who died at the birth of a daughter and when John, the subject of this sketch, was two years of age. He later married Anna Fleder, who was also born in Bohemia, her birth having occurred in 1830. Mr. and Mrs. Pecenka were members of the Catholic church and were prominent in the social life of the district in which they lived and where they were held in the highest regard by all who knew them. By his first wife Mr. Pecenka was the father of two children, one who died at birth and John. By his second marriage eight children were born as follow: Joseph, a well-known farmer of Iowa; Frank, who resides in Minnesota and is a railroad engineer; Anna, the wife of Joseph A. Sedlacek, a prominent merchant of Bremen, Kansas; Wesley, a musician of Seattle, Washington; Anthona C., a successful farmer of Logan township; Mary Pejsa, who lives at Hanover, Kansas, where her husband is a prominent dry-goods merchant; Milton is a well-known farmer of Logan township; Millie Sedlacek is a resident of Logan township, where her husband is engaged in farming and stock raising. John Pecenka, the subject of this sketch, received his education in the schools of his native country, where he lived until he was thirteen years of age, when he came to the United States. His mother having died when he was but a small child, he on coming to this country made his home with an uncle until he was eighteen years of age. He then sought work in the woods of Minnesota and later assisted in rafting logs down Black river and Mississippi river. With much difficulty the logs were at last floated to Rock Island. The raft broke at Rapid City, Illinois, where there are great rapids in the river, and Mr. Pecenka came near losing his life. He then gave up the work and was engaged in the harvest field in Iowa, where he remained during the season. He then spent a month visiting his father at Cedar Rapids, Iowa, when he returned to the farm of his uncle, where he engaged in clearing land and cutting wood until 1869, when he came with his father from Cedar Rapids, with an ox team to Marshall county. Here he and his father each homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land in , section 30, Logan township. Mr. Pecenka improved and developed his tract and has since made this his home, where he is successfully engaged in general farming and stock raising. He generally keeps about fifty head of high-grade Shorthorn cattle and as many Poland China hogs, and is today recognized as one of the substantial men of the township and county. It has only been by hard work and close application to business that he has succeeded in his work. As a child and young man he experienced many of the sterner realities of life, and after reaching manhood he was compelled to depend upon himself. Settling in the county when it was new and undeveloped, he had to battle with many of the hardships and privations common to the early settler. He has always been progressive and to him is due much of the prosperity of this section of the district. In 1874 John Pecenka was united in marriage to Mary Alexa, the daughter of John and Kate Alexa, who are among the prominent residents of Washington county, Kansas, where they are the owners of some of the best land, all of which is under high cultivation and well improved. Mr. Alexa was eighty-nine years old when he died on Christmas Day, 1916, and his widow is eighty-two. They were long known among the substantial people of the county and held in the highest regard. They were the parents of seven children, only two of whom are now living. Mary (Alexa) Pecenka was born in Bohemia in 1857 and at the age of four years came to the United States with her parents and for twelve years lived in Michigan, coming to Kansas in 1873, where she continued to live until the time of her death in 1882. She and Mr. Pecenka were the parents of four children as follow: Melia Manard, whose husband is a farmer in Oklahoma; Louisa Bower, who lives in Kansas, where Mr. Bower is engaged in farming; Mary Crevelinger, who resides in Hanover, where Mr. Crevelinger is engaged in the barber business, and Anna, who makes her home with her grandparents. In 1883, after the death of his wife, Mr. Pecenka married Kate Alexa, the sister of his first wife, and to this union have been born the following children: John, in Colorado; Helen and Wesley, deceased, and Kate and Sophia, at home. Mrs. Pecenka was born in Bohemia in 1859 and came to the United States. Mr. and Mrs. Pecenka are members of the Catholic church and have reared their children in that faith. Mr. Pecenka is a man of broad views and excellent judgment and has seen much of the world. In 1907 he visited Europe and spent five months in travel and sight-seeing. Mr. Pecenka has a well-built, modern brick house, containing eight large, airy rooms, and is equipped with every convenience for domestic comfort. Additional Comments: Extracted from: History of Marshall County, Kansas: its people, industries, and institutions by Emma E. Forter Indianapolis, Ind.: B.F. Bowen & Co. (1917) File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/ks/marshall/bios/pecenka52bs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ksfiles/ File size: 6.6 Kb