Marshall County KS Archives Biographies.....Sedlacek, Joseph A. 1853 - ************************************************ 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@yahoo.com May 18, 2007, 7:01 pm Author: Emma E. Forter (1917) JOSEPH A. SEDLACEK. Joseph A. Sedlacek, one of the well-known and successful business men of Bremen, Marshall county, where he conducts an extensive business in hardware, furniture, automobiles and musical instruments, was born in Bohemia on June 21, 1853, the son of John and Katherine (Pecenka) Sedlacek. John and Katherine Sedlacek were also natives of Bohemia, the former having been born in 1802 and the latter in 1821. They were reared on the farm and received the educational advantages of excellent schools. After completing his education, John Sedlacek engaged in farming until 1874, when he retired from active life, but lived on the home place. In 1878 he came to the United States to visit his son, Joseph A. Sedlacek, and remained in this country two years, when he returned to his native land and died on the home farm in January, 1889; his wife died in 1878. Mr. Sedlacek, before his marriage to Katherine Pecenka, had been married to Anna Jenik, who was born in 1794 and died at the birth of her son, John, who lived to be forty years of age. She was a highly educated woman. John Sedlacek later married Katherine Pecenka, and to that union nine children were born, of whom three are now living as follow: Frank and Wesley, of Bohemia, and Joseph. Mr. and Mrs. Sedlacek were devout members of the Catholic church and were held in high regard. John Sedlacek was a man of much prominence and for five years was royal game warden of his district, a position of much moment. He was also a veterinary surgeon and had an extensive practice, throughout the territory. He was a strong advocate of the best schools and the highest class of public improvements. Joseph A. Sedlacek had the advantages of good schools and supplemented his primary education with three years in a school of practical education at Moravia. After completing his education he engaged in business for himself and in 1876 came to the United States. He spent nine months in this country and then returned to his native land, but the next year he returned to America, and located in Marshall county, Kansas, where he purchased one hundred and sixty acres of land in section 31, Logan township. This he developed and improved and engaged in general farming and stock raising for ten years, when he rented the farm and moved to Bremen. When he located on his farm it was all wild prairie and the only improvements were a dugout and a well. He was in a position to make many needed improvements, as he landed in the county with over seventeen hundred dollars, which he brought from Bohemia. A frame house, good barn and corn crib were erected and in time many other valuable additions were made on the place, which, with the cost of land bought of Mr. Brennen, amounted to one thousand and twentv-five dollars. When locating in Bremen, Mr. Sedlacek purchased two lots, on which he erected a two-story business block and residence at a cost of thirty-five hundred dollars. The upper floor of the business block he devoted to a public hall, and in the lower part he installed an up-to-date hardware business which he conducted with success until 1908, when the premises was destroyed by fire, his loss being several thousand dollars. The fire that destroyed his property also burned the greater part of the business section of the town. The year he had the fire he rebuilt, this time building a structure of brick, thirty-two by sixty-eight feet, and two stories, the upper story being devoted to a hall and four bed-rooms. The new building was in time completed at a cost of eight thousand five hundred dollars, and Mr. Sedlacek soon established his stock, valued at nine hundred dollars, which now stands at seven thousand five hundred dollars. In addition to his mercantile business, Mr. Sedlacek was for two terms justice of the peace and postmaster of the town from April 13, 1908, to January 1, 1915, when his son, who is associated with him in business, assumed the office. Joseph A. Sedlacek was united in marriage on August 2j, 1878, to Anna Pecenka, the daughter of John and Anna (Flidr) Pecenka. John and Anna Pecenka were natives of Bohemia, where the former was born in 1825 and the latter in 1830. They received their education in good schools in their native land. After completing his education, John Pecenka engaged in grist-milling in his native land and continued in that business until 1861, when he came to the United States. On his arrival in this country he and his family proceeded to Iowa, where the father rented a farm and engaged in general farming for eight years. He then came to Marshall county, where he homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres of land and at the same time pre-empted one hundred and sixty acres. With much hard work and strict economy he developed the farm and soon had it under a high state of cultivation, and here he engaged in general farming and stock raising until his death in 1902. For many years he was recognized as one of the substantial and progressive men of the township, where he and his family were among the prominent and respected residents. Before his marriage to Anna Pecenka, John Pecenka had been united in marriage to Kate Kasper, who died at the birth of her daughter and when her only son was two years of age. Anna (Pecenka) Sedlacek was born in Bohemia on January 15, 1857, and when four years of age came with her parents to the United States. She received her education in the public schools of Marshall county. Mr. and Mrs. Sedlacek are devout members of the Catholic church and have always taken a deep interest in the social and civic life of the community. To them have been born the following children: Anna and Emilie, who died in infancy. Anna was a graduate of the Marysville Modern Normal College and later clerked in one of the stores of her home town. Her death occurred when she was twenty-eight years of age. John J., who was born on May 7, 1890, in Marshall county, was reared in Bremen, Kansas, and graduated from the common schools and from St. Benedict's College at Atchison, Kansas, where he completed a four-year course of instruction in two years, receiving the degree of Master of Accounts, and was graduated in June, 1907. After completing his education he clerked for a time in one of the stores at Marysville, after which he came to Bremen, where he is now associated with his father in business, and is postmaster of that place. On August 27, 1913, John J. Sedlacek was united in marriage to Katherine Jedlicka, the daughter of Frank and Ludmila (Hora) Jedlicka, who were natives of Bohemia and later settled in Washington county, Kansas, where they are now the owners of two hundred and forty acres of fine land and are among the prominent people of that section. Katherine (Jedlicka) Sedlacek was born in 1891 and received her education in the common schools. She and Mr. Sedlacek are the parents of two children, John J., born on December 13, 1914, and Katherine M., born on February 16, 1916. The family are devout members of the Catholic church and active in the social life of the community. 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/sedlacek445gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/ksfiles/ File size: 7.8 Kb