Anton S. Nedved Biography


	This biography appears on pages 259-260 in "History of Dakota 
	Territory" by George W. Kingsbury, Vol. V (1915) and was 
	scanned, OCRed and edited by Maurice Krueger, mkrueger@iw.net.

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				ANTON S. NEDVED.

	Anton S. Nedved, a farmer of Jackson precinct, Bon Homme county, 
has been a resident of this state for forty-six years, arriving here in 
the '60s, when white settlers were just beginning to take up land and a 
score of years before the admission of the state into the Union. He was 
born May 14, 1861, three miles west of Prague, Bohemia, in the village 
of Chynava, and remained in his native land until the spring of 1867, 
when, a child of six years, he accompanied his parents, Frank and 
Veronica Nedved, to the new world. The family sailed from Bremen and as 
the steamer on which they had intended to cross the ocean was delayed 
two or three days they were prevailed upon to embark on a sailing 
vessel which was ready to start, as it was represented to them that by 
so doing they would save heavy expenses for board in port. The passage 
was a long and stormy one and it was nine weeks after embarking at 
Bremen that the family landed in New York city. They made their way 
direct to Cleveland and there the father found work on the canals and 
railroads. There were a number of his fellow countrymen in Cleveland 
and upon hearing of a Bohemian colony which was forming in Chicago for 
the purpose of taking up land in the west the Bohemians in Cleveland 
appointed Mr. Nedved to make the trip to Nebraska and investigate the 
opportunities there. Early in 1869 he arrived in South Dakota with a 
party who were being shown lands on the Niobrara. Mr. Nedved understood 
German as well as the Bohemian language and overheard the surveyor or 
who was engaged to mark out the lands remark that the Bohemians must 
have lived in a poor country to take up such land as was being shown 
them. Mr. Nedved with three others then left the party in the night and 
made their way down the river banks to Yankton, arriving there on the 
Fourth of July. They were all day crossing the river at that point as 
the only means of transportation available was a small fiat boat 
propelled by oars. Their wagon was taken apart and carried over, a few 
pieces at a time, and their oxen were taken one at a time after which 
their provisions were transported to the other side. They were pleased 
with the land in the vicinity of Yankton and Mr. Nedved homesteaded a 
quarter section nine miles west of that city The family joined him 
there and the residence was for a time a small cabin of cottonwood 
lumber even to the shingles. As prosperity came to him he built a 
commodious house and erected barns, granaries and all of the necessary 
outbuildings. He passed away upon his homestead in April, 1914, at the 
advanced age of eighty-six. His wife's death occurred in 1894. To their 
union were born nine children, seven of whom survive. 

	Anton S. Nedved grew to manhood upon the homestead west of 
Yankton and passed through the hardships of the early days in this 
state but has never regretted those experiences, it being rather a 
source of pride to him that he had his share in the first work of 
redeeming the land from the wilderness. His education was acquired in 
the early district schools and under the instruction of his father he 
learned valuable lessons in practical agriculture, being by the time 
that he reached his majority an able and efficient farmer. 

	On the 15th of July, 1884, Mr. Nedved married Miss Anna Smejkal, 
a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and a daughter of James and Anna (Mach) 
Smejkal, natives of Bohemia. To Mr. and Mrs. Nedved has been born a 
daughter, Bessie, who is now a student in the Tyndall high school. 

	Mr. Nedved is a democrat and a communicant of the Catholic 
church. His fraternal relations are with the Modern Woodmen of America, 
the Yeomen, and the Z. C. B. J., a Bohemian society. Mr. Nedved 
remembers a number of notable storms and recalls vividly the winter of 
the deep snow and the flood that resulted therefrom. His most 
interesting experience, however, was that in connection with the 
blizzard of the 12th of January, 1888. He had gone to town and was on 
his way home when the blizzard broke and he reached his brother's place 
without much trouble. He knew that there was not sufficient wood ill 
the house to last during a severe storm and therefore determined to 
reach home if possible. Accordingly, he put his team in his brother's 
barn and started home on foot, but after running into the well house, 
which was situated on an entirely different part of the farm than the 
residence, he decided that to attempt to reach the latter would be to 
risk losing his way and returned to his brother's where he remained for 
the night. His brother was unable to reach home from town and remained 
there all night. The wife of our subject fortunately saw the storm 
coming and housed all of the stock, remedying the deficiency in the 
wood supply by burning boxes. As Mr. and Mrs. Nedved bore their share 
of the privations that were the lot of the early settlers and as they 
labored long and diligently to make for themselves a home in this new 
country it is but fitting that they should now enjoy not only material 
prosperity but also the esteem and respect of all who are associated 
with them. Mr. Nedved always works for the good of the county in which 
he lives. He has held several minor offices. He has been clerk of 
Nedved school district No. 47 for nineteen years and served nine years 
as road supervisor, one year as township supervisor, and three years as 
president of Z. C. B. J., a Bohemian society.